We set off for Albany after breakfast. We headed to Cheynes Beach (below) which was as far away as we were going to go for the day. It's about 70 kms east of Albany. It's a nice enough spot with clear calm water & good fishing & boating options, but I don't know that it was worth the extra driving. I think it's more somewhere to avoid the Xmas holiday crowds.
Heading back toward Albany, Two Peoples Bay Reserve has a couple of little gems including a couple of interesting lakes (Moates Lake pictured). 
By far the pick of the places we visited that day was Little Beach (above & below). The photos tell much of the story, but the crystal clear turquoise water, squeaky white sand & dramatic Granite rock formations leave you speechless. At around 40kms from Albany, it's completely worth the effort. 
We didn't go too far that morning without seeing a goanna. The warm conditions had them out in force. This one was about 3 ft nose to tail.
The last side trip before heading back into Albany was Nanarup, where a brook empties into a lake of sorts (Taylor Inlet below) that then empties into the ocean. It looks to be a half decent surf beach, but the wind was up and the surf was a washing machine.
We had lunch in Albany & headed out along Frenchman Bay road & into Torndirrup National Park that is the peninsular that encircles the port of Albany.
A little up the road is the blowholes. They don't work properly unless the Great Southern Ocean is very restless. The blow hole was only just working with nothing more than a bit of spray very occasionally. I though it was restless that day so I can only imagine what it can be like on an angry day.
We had lunch in Albany & headed out along Frenchman Bay road & into Torndirrup National Park that is the peninsular that encircles the port of Albany. The first stop was The Gap & Natural Bridge.
The Gap doesn't sound like much, but when you look down from the top at the huge waves crashing in you feel very very small.
The best know tourist attraction of Albany is Natural Bridge (below). The pounding ocean & granite rock along the southern coastline creates some amazing formations.
The best know tourist attraction of Albany is Natural Bridge (below). The pounding ocean & granite rock along the southern coastline creates some amazing formations.
A little up the road is the blowholes. They don't work properly unless the Great Southern Ocean is very restless. The blow hole was only just working with nothing more than a bit of spray very occasionally. I though it was restless that day so I can only imagine what it can be like on an angry day.
After a lightning stop at the Blueberry farm for some very average muffins, we returned to Denmark. We sat beside Scotsdale Brook (below that runs through Denmark) chewing on our muffins. At least the scenery was nice.
About 2-3 hours into the drive at Cranbrook you can take a side trip to the Stirling Ranges (above). Unfortunately the wow factor is a little hard to produce after a year & a half in the Canadian Rockies, but it's not bad by flat old Western Australian standards. The peaks have an altitude of around 1000-1100m & jag up from the flat plains of the wheat belt not more than a couple of hundred metres above sea level. 
The most eastern peak in the park is Bluff Knoll (above). A narrow windy road leads up to the foot of the rocky outcrop where you can get a nice view of the plains (below) & the rest of the peaks. Given more time & cooler temperatures we may have done the 4-5 hr round trip hike to the top of the Knoll, but not this time. 
After stopping for a short while at Bluff Knoll we continued south toward Mat Barker & on to Denmark. Along the way there were a couple of short cuts on dirt roads we took (because I can in the 4x4!) that tracked through seemingly endless farmland. Those short cuts meant that the Wedge Tailed Eagles weren't so concerned about passing traffic to the point where one rose up from the road and just cleared the roof of the truck. I had never been this close to one before and I can tell you they are very very large birds. They're an awesome sight but no easier to photograph in flight than the Bald Eagles in North America. I think I did OK with the one below.
Eventually we reached Denmark & offloaded our gear so we were free to explore. It was getting quite late in the day so we decided to drive along Mt Shadford road and admire the scenery. It was a no brainer because we were staying at the Denmark end of the road.
There is a lookout point (above) at the far end of the road that allows to to see the Great Southern Ocean & Wilson's Inlet that Denmark is built around.
Changi Airport has as butterfly garden tucked away in one of it's terminals. I wasn't smart enough to take a photo of the garden itself, but I can say that it has 2 levels & loads of room. There are loads of plants & now shortage of butterflies. When you have 6 hours to kill (thanks to being cautious about transferring from Tiger to Singapore Airlines) spending a half hour or so in the butterfly house is a good way to kill some time. 
I'm not 100% on this one, but I think it's called a Marbled White.
I have no idea about the last 2, but the dark one looks like a leaf.
The last full day on Phi Phi was a tough one for me. I should have booked myself on another dive, but thought better of it at the time (should have trusted my instinct). I'm not very good at relaxing on holidays. Living in Perth, I get every weekend to relax by the pool or beach It just looses it's appeal on holidays. Kerri's more than happy to sit by the pool & read a book. I can't do it.
I found a few things to keep me busy. I splashed around in a pool a bit doing my best impression of Shamu the Killer Whale. 
The camera was also my friend. Being that it was a nice bright day I set about taking photos of the scenery around the limited area of the resort. 
The local wildlife were camera targets as well. The dove below made showed itself early before I even got out of bed.
An interesting comment about the part of Thailand is that the usual scavanger birds that you see around the world such as ravens (Crows) & seagulls (we even saw them at 4500m above sea level in the Bolivian desert) were nowhere to be seen. It was very odd & I can't explain it. These Asian starlings (below) were the only annoying scavengers around. And they were very cheeky!
I was intrigued by the huge, mainly black bees that were buzzing around the gardens.
Late in the afternoon, while I was lazing by the pool, this olive tree skink started rustling around in the bushes. 
The first dive was the shallow atoll just off Bamboo Island. We Suited up & hit the water. I must say it was a nice change to be able to dive without a restrictive wet suit. It was very shallow & the sand very white & powdery (and easily stirred up). I wasn't getting good vibes early on but it got better. We had been promised a leopard shark so everyone was on the look out. We weren't disappointed.
We saw 3 different types of clown fish including the one above (Ocellaris Clown Fish) made popular by the Finding Nemo movie. There were also a number of families of a bright orange species I've never hear of called the Fire Clown fish. It's the orange one in foreground below. The other one is Kerri.
We also saw three lion fish (below). I've logged heaps of dives on the Great Barrier reef & have never actually seen one. I was very excited.
The list continues including a moral eel and countless other fish species. The Harlequin fish below (related to clown fish) are very territorial and this one I thought was just curious until it gave me a nip on the knuckle.
