October 31st, Started my sightseeing with a visit to The Old Farm called “Strawberry Hill”, claimed to be the first Farm in WA. The gardens were nice but unfortunately the Farmhouse was closed for repairs. Went to look at the Dog Rock and get a photo, then headed out to Fishermans Bay to see The Gap, The Natural Bridge and The Blowhole. The Bridge was good but with all the cracks in the rock you must wonder how long will it hold up. It was long walk down to The Blowhole, with a strong wind blowing, and unfortunately the Blowhole wasn’t working to-day. The weather condition have to be “just right” to get it working.
November 1st, Its Sunday, so not many shops open (would you believe that the only large Supermarket to open on a Sunday in WA is IGA. Even Spotlight was closed.) We went to the Albany Boatshed Markets, although very small we thought they were very good. They had fresh seafood, fresh vegies, fresh eggs, fresh bread, hot food and hot coffee, and a live band playing. Next to the markets they we building an interesting shaped structure, which was to be their Entertainment Centre. We took a short drive along the waterfront a stopped for a quick look at The Brig Amity, an old Sailing Boat. I will go back another day to look through the Ship see what its historical story is. Back up Town we found a Warehouse open called “Inkyfinks” so had a look through before driving out to Emu Point, where we had lunch at the Café. It was a nice lunch and the view over the water was great. We drove around to the Marina and found a statue of Sam the Seal, a local Legend and checked out the Squid Shack. They only sold cooked food and Val was hoping to buy fresh seafood. On the way home we bought the paper to start selecting our Melbourne Cup picks.
November 2nd, Started sightseeing to-day with a visit to the Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum. It didn’t open till 11am, so will have to come back later. Next it was the Old Goal, built by the Convicts in 1850. I enjoyed this tour and found a great display of Miniature Doll Houses set up in one of the rooms. I then went back to the Brig Amity that I’d seen yesterday, to do the tour through the Ship. My first surprise was that this was a full size replica of the original ship, as I had expected to be told it was a half size model. It looked too small to be sailing the high seas from England. The Ship tour was very well set up as it was self guided using a hand held recorded message that corresponded with numbers displayed around the Ship. Very informative and easy to use. Nearby was a bush tucker garden, created by the local Aboriginal (Noongar) Community, Mouchemore’s Cottage, built in the 1850’s, The old seawall built along the original shoreline, a One Teacher School and The Residency. Originally built to house the Magistrate, it is now a Museum for Indigenous, Local and Natural History. After lunch, we went into Town to Spotlight (Val’s favourite Shop) and next door we found The Albany Drive In Mart, a second hand dealer. Great shop, full of antiques, furniture and books. They had heaps of the westerns that I like to read and Val found some miniature furniture for Joan. We finished off the day by placing our Melbourne Cup Bets on at the TAB, ready for the Big Event to-morrow.
November 3rd, Melbourne Cup Day, at 11am we head up to the recreation and theatre rooms, at the Caravan Park, to watch the race. We went into the $2 & $5 sweeps and settled down with a cuppa to wait for the race, it was a bit early for a wine. Our race start time here in WA was 12.10pm. What an exciting race, on the big screen, and particularly when my horse hit the front coming down the straight. I had a $10 e/w on Shocking which returned $135. I also drew 3rd place in the $5 sweep. The CP put on a great bbq sausages and salad lunch. I went in to Town to collect our TAB winnings and then on to the Patrick Taylor Cottage Museum that I missed looking through yesterday. I was impressed with what I saw. The house was fully furnished and full of displayed items, including clothes, of that era. An antique collector’s delight. The doorways were obviously built for short people. The gardens colourful and well kept. Next stop was the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial, worth the climb as the view over Princess Royal Harbour and King George III Sound was fantastic. Last stop for the day was the Princess Royal Fortress, on Mount Adelaide. The Fort was opened in 1893 and was the first Federal Defence of Australia (ie, All States agreed to its need& contributed). It was closed down in 1956 and the buildings used for many local purposes until being turned into a number of Museum Displays. Well worth a visit as I found out that this was the assembly point for the Anzac Forces to gather before its movement to Gallipoli. What a sight that would have been, to see all those Warships line up in King George Sound. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of the Fort as the camera battery went flat on me. I must buy a back-up battery for my camera.November 4th, Last day in Albany and very windy, overcast. To-morrow we move on to Ravensthorpe, for an overnight stop then on to Esperence for a few days.
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