West Cape Howe & Wind Farm

Today we had the whole day to explore. The clouds were hanging around which made us a bit unsure where to go. Eventually we decided to go west to West Cape Howe National Park about half an hour's drive from Albany. There isn't much out there unless you have a 4x4, a fishing rod and a solid pair of hiking boots. There's a sheltered bay with a powdery white beach (Coombes Beach) just before you enter the national park. It was all a bit overcast, cold and windy when we arrived, so we didn't stop for long. We did go into the national park as far as Shelly Beach (below).

The dirt road was decent up to the lookout point but any further into the national park was an entirely different prospect. The smart option is to have your 4x4 recovery gear and preferably a second vehicle. We had neither so Shelly BEach is was. What we could see from the lookout was the Torndirrup Peninsular to the East (see top photo). Over that way Harry, see? (photo below). Oddly, the National Park was bathed in sunshine, but back toward Albany was still very much dominated by cloud cover. All Harry could see was the Wind turbines on the peninsular and kept getting excited and pointing them out to us.

We stopped on the way back at a grove when the Bibbulmun Track crosses the road. It seems to criss-cross all over the South West.

It was here that Harry took a bit of a fall, loosing some bark of various body parts and was miserable.

We stopped at sheltered Coombes Beach (above) for a bit of a look with the clearing cloud and cuddles for little boys.

We then made tracks for the peninsular which was in bright sun by the time we arrived. The promise of checking out the wind turbines was enough to snap Harry out of his misery. We started with lunch outside Whale World (below). We did a bit of reconnaissance and decided that Harry was a bit young for it all and decided to put it off until another time.

We did a short stop at nearby Goode Beach which had the same silky white sandy beaches that most seem to have around the Albany area. The water was crystal clear.

With Harry back on track, it was off to Stoney Hill, the high point of the peninsular. It was a relatively short walk up and around the loop track to the summit.

 Why would they call it Stoney Hill you say? No idea....

The view from the summit of Albany and everything to the horizon was brilliant. We could see the national park where we'd been that morning to the west, the Stirling Ranges to the north, and Two Peoples Bay Reserve to the East.

Unfortunately Natural Bridge was off limits due to maintenance works so we continued back toward Albany.

Then it was time to make good on our promise to Harry & go and have a look at the wind turbines. After taking a turn off with a fairly innocuous sign, we found to our surprise, a full tourist set up with pathways, lookouts, information boards and a kiosk. It all allows you to get up close and personal with these electrical giants.

I'm not completely sure about Harry's fascination with wind turbines, but he was ecstatic. What I hadn't counted on was their shear size and the speed of the blades at the tip.

Harry got to hug one but soon after also realized that he didn't like the fast, big and quite noisy blades quite so close to him and that admiring them from a distance was a much better option. He may well have been onto something because they're really intimidating.

The cliffs just near the wind farm are also a popular spot for paragliding.

The peninsular in the background of the photo below is Cape Howe where we'd been this morning.

So that was enough excitement for the day so we went back to our hotel at Middleton Beach. Harry and I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the beach while Kerri went for a walk and bought a few things from the supermarket.

 We did have to make one run to the shopping strip in Albany's main street. Our bad parenting of the previous day meant that we needed to find Harry a spare bear. This is the one he picked out. Meet, Jenny. He was very happy to have a new friend to keep him company at night and when things get a bit much during the day.

ANZAC Memorial - Albany

Three months after our epic New Zealand adventure, we got itchy feet and decided it was time to skip town for a few days. It was short notice, but we booked some accommodation and set off for Albany. Harry proved to us that he's quite capable of taking on a five hour road trip.

We were staying at Middleton Beach (above) in the shadow of Mt Adelaide. After getting settled we set off to have a look around town and pick up some supplies.

The afternoon was drawing to close so we decided to check out the ANZAC memorial on Mt Adelaide. We found lots of military things to see & do. There were big guns that still move.

  More gun turrets that moved a lot. Fun for young & old...

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... BLAST OFF!!"

Lots more to see tomorrow.....

Footnote.
We realized just before bed that Harry had packed his favourite bears in his travel suitcase (that we use for air travel). The problem is that the suitcase was packed away, not packed in the car. We're the worst parents in the world..... We'll have to find a spare bear tomorrow.

Birds of the Great Southern

There is more to Southern WA than the scenery. The abundant bird life is quite incredible.

The Stirling Ranges were home to a healthy population of Wedge Tailed Eagles (below) that sored over the grasslands. The coast near Albany had the usual suspects (Seagulls & Pelicans) but we also saw Petrels (below).Denmark was home to all manner of birds large & small. The Wedge tails were there but there were also smaller raptors like the Brown Goshawk (right) that swooped down past me trying to catch the small finches & wrens I was trying to photograph.
The Denmark area has many small birds such as the white breasted Robin (above) and the Splendid Wrens (below). The bright blue one is the male & the white, the female.The garden of our B&B was full of flowers that attracted all manner of small birds including the splendid wrens, Firetails (above), and New Holland Honey-eaters (below).

The garden also attracted Western Rosellas. They were mainly juveniles (above) but I did see one adult male (below).
The garden also attracted the larger parrots like Twenty-Eights (Australian Ringnecks). There were lots of them at the Berry Farm 'Sampling' the local produce. I think they're my favourite parrot. We do see them around Perth but I haven't manage to catch them with the camera. I love the photo below because they have the red berry juice all over their beaks. Caught in the act!

It was sad to pack up the car & head back to Perth on the Sunday. I'm sure we'll be back to visit soon enough.

Denmark & Walpole

Saturday in Denmark & the beautiful weather had deserted us. We awoke to overcast skies & light drizzle. No matter, we set off toward Walpole to the West of Denmark. It's such a nice drive through the tall lush forests. A little twisty in parts, but that's half the fun.


Our first stop that morning would be the Tree Top Walk a few kilometres short of Walpole. They've built a steel walkway in the tree tops. You don't even climb too high because it's built on quite a steep valley so you walk out into the tree tops rather than up. Handy for those tourists that aren't as fit as they should be.
The Tree Top walk has a second part to it. They call it the Ancient Empire. Instead of walking around the tree tops, you wander around a different area at ground level. Many of the trees have been through a forest fire many years ago & you can see where the internal part of the tree have been burnt out and the living part (the bark) has continued regenerating around the outside.

A little way closer to Walpole there's a dirt road that leads into the heart of the forest and to the giant Tingle Tree (Right). This tree was hit by fire many years ago leaving a massive void at the base. The tree is very much alive & they estimate it to be 400 years old depending on who you talk to.

Further up the one way dirt road (and some fun rally driving entertainment I might add) you come to Circular pool. I'd have to say that the beautiful lakes in Canada have spoiled us for just about every other lake in the world, but Circular pool was pretty nice all the same. We had the place to ourselves & it was a nice tranquil place to chill out for a while.
We manged to find some awesome burgers for lunch at the road house in Walpole which was a fantastic change compared to the very average food options we'd experienced in Denmark. From there we did some exploring around the Walpole area but it seems to be more interesting from a boat which we didn't have. Having done what we could to explore Walpole we made tracks back to Denmark. We stopped in briefly at the Mead winery where we sample endless types of delicious honey & checked out a bee hive they have in the shop that is effectively sandwiched between two sheets of glass so you can see how they go about their busy little lives.

The weather was starting to turn nasty after a bit of a reprieve, but we pushed on. We stopped at a couple of little beaches near Denmark including Waterfall Beach (right). None were in the same game as Little Beach from the day before. Maybe the weather had something to do with it...

Green's Pool was the final stop for the day. The weather was nice enough to leave a patch of blue sky for us so we could appreciate the place. It's very popular with tourists & locals alike. I can see why. Oddly, once we headed back toward the main road, the weather turned wet on us & put pay to anything else we thought we would do.

Albany

On Friday we had the whole day to explore Albany & the surrounding area.

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.

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.

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.