Albany...
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2005
1
9
20
Trip End
Jun 14, 2005
Albany, Australia
Sunday, May 15, 2005
The backpackers we chose (or rather that was recommended to us!) was excellent, with free breakfast, coffe and cakes in the evening and internet access!
Once we'd woken up, we found that the whole crew from the Walpole Lodge were in the same Hostel as us. The hostel organises tea and cakes every night at 6.30pm so that everyone can meet each other, so we took advantage of that before sorting out proper food. After a quick dinner (I extended my cooking repertoir to flambé by accidentally setting canola oil alight in the frying pan. I put it out quickly though, and the remainder of them meal went off without a hitch!), we all headed off to the pub (the hostel included 2-4-1 beers vouchers for a local pub in the price of the room... Excellent, eh?) then back to the hostel for more cards...
Too much alcohol was consumed, but we were both feeling well enough the next morning to head to the local attractions before moving on.
The costal area is extremely rough, and the rocks themselves were once connected to Antartica (not very exciting, but true!). There are excellent rock structures including mad blowholes and a natural bridge that was getting pummelled by the waves...
We went on from there to Whaleworld, expecting a "seaworld-esque" look at the life of whales... Sadly (although very interestingly!) it's actually a tribute to the whaling industry that was once a main employer in this area, and around Australia.
After that, it was time to get on the road back towards Perth...
Around the South West, the best tourist and map guide seems to be Andimaps, and they're available for all the places we visited and more - if you're down in the South of WA, pick these up for sure!
Albany Backpackers
Stirling Terrace
(08) 9842 5255
www.albanybackpackers.com.au
Whale World
Frenchmans Bay Road
(08) 9844 4021
www.whaleworld.org
www.andimaps.com.au
(08) 9848 2404
