Albany

We moved from Parry Beach camp on the 29th of November. It was a Saturday so not ideal for a move, but we decided to chance it. We had heard of some great free camping not to far from Albany & hoped to get a spot there to explore the Albany area. First up we tried Cosy Corner, a great spot but it was really full, there where a couple of spots, but they were much to small for our trailer. Not far up the road was another camp Torbay Inlet, this was a fantastic site right on the water & had room, but it was to shady for us & we would of struggled with our solar power, as the forecast was once again for rain & cloudy weather. The other free camps were a fair way out of Albany on the eastern side so we ended up having to stay in a caravan park. We had a quick look online & most of the ones in town were almost $50 a night. We found one called the Panorama carvan park & it was $35 so we went there. The facilities were very old & most of the park was dedicated to permanent residents, but we got a really good spot right on the waterfront looking across to Albany town. It was a quiet place to camp. 

That afternoon we headed out to the Torndirrup National Park. There is lots of different bit & pieces to see, which mostly revolves around more glorious coastline. We visited Waterbay Point, Salmon Holes, Misery Beach, Fishermans Point & Possession Point. All had amazing views. 

Waterbay Point

Salmon holes

Misery beach

The next day we planned to go to the Anzac centre, but found the roads closed due to an event being on, we decided to go back the next day when it was less busy. We went for a drive out to Emu Point & the harbour & then called into the Boatshed markets. 

Emu Point

These were small but good & we had a yabby pie & a juice & bought some lovely artisan bread. By this time it was still early. We went for a drive down town but as it was a Sunday nearly everything was shut. We decided to go for a drive up towards Mt Barker for a look. It was much drier through this area, and was mostly farming land of wheat & sheep with a few wineries. As we were driving back towards Albany we came across a sign for a Thai cafe that was on a farm that did lunch on weekends, we thought we would have a look. We arrived to a cafe & a nursery attached to a farm house. We went inside & were greeted by a Thai lady & asked if we had a booking? No we just saw the sign. Okay she said we get very busy, but sit sit we will feed you. What ensured was a bizarre hour or so. The Thai lady cooked but her husband or partner was Swiss & he served & chatted happily to us, to our surprise, cars & more cars kept driving in, it started to get really busy. Our food arrived & it was fantastic, no wonder this place was busy. It was easily the best Thai food we have ever eaten. Amazing what you find out in the middle of the bush. We made our way back to Albany not believing our good fortune. The rain came in again & we got quite a bit of rain that night. 

Area around Mt Barker

The next day we had lots of jobs to do around town including getting fuel & groceries, so we got all of that done. After lunch we headed out the the Anzac centre. This is a new museum that was built to celebrate 100 years of the departure of the Anzacs to world war 1. The first & second squadrons left from the Albany harbour & it told the story of this & of the war. It was really good, but for us lacked a lot of cohesiveness, especially in terms of time, we felt it jumped around to much between the years of the war & the layout wasn't logical as to which way you should make your way around the museum. But it is well worth a look. They give you a card of one of the soldiers & you follow their journey through the war, I was given one from a soldier from a farm in Dalby in QLD that is not far from my home town so it was interesting, he did make it back from the war but died a few years later. That ended our stay in Albany. We decided to try to escape the rain for a bit & go inland up towards the Stirling Ranges for a few days. More on that soon.