Around Albany

Today is a much better day, the weather, although not overly hot, is pleasant and the air is clear.
We had some great views of the King George Sound and the islands from the Marine drive, unlike the last couple of days when it was spoiled by mist and rain.
This particular picture is of Attaturk Entrance, only about 200 mtrs wide and is the deepwater link between King George Sound and Princess Royal Harbour.





 In the distance we can see Michaelmas Island, and Frenchman's point, where later we went to the Whaling Museum. It is about 20 kms around there, and is the site of a whaling station which operated in the mid 1900's until whaling was banned here in the late 70s.

This was the last whaling station operating in Australia, and was rescued as a tourist attraction shortly after closing, among the exhibits is a skeleton of a Blue Whale, some 25 mtrs long. The last whaling ship is also beached here as another exhibit, the Cheynes IV was state of the art in it's day, although driven by steam. With a crew of about 25, it could steam at up to 15 knots in response to calls of "thar she blows" from the spotter in the crows nest, or more recently, from the spotter plane overhead.

Earlier in the day we had visited the "Old Farm" at Strawberry Hill, once the home of Captain Richard Spencer, reputedly one of Princess Diana's family. He was Government Resident at a grand salary of £!00 per annum in 1833, and brought up no less than ten children in this tiny house. Bough at a price of just £206 it comprised the farmhouse and 106 acres, small as a farm. But it became the hub of social activity during his residence, albeit short as he died there after a stroke in 1839.
The house continued as the residence of the resident for many years, before becoming a private home and then being taken by the National Trust.
Later we drove to the Natural Bridge, a spectacular rock formation that seems just on the point of collapse.

Much of this area is granite just below the surface, indeed in places there are huge rocks on the surface itself, where no vegetation can grow. This applies also to Albany itself, around every corner we come across large rocks. Looking across the harbour to the town we can see that it is built between two hills, and indeed climbs the valley between the hills, before spreading around behind them.
This is the fourth largest town in WA, but is no bigger than Penrith in Cumbria, around 30,000 people. It is however one of the more interesting, particularly beautiful because of the lagoons which front it.

Last evening we visited Albany Port Rotary Club, where we were made very welcome by President Colin and his members, and heard from a young lady that has been chosen to attend a Young Scientist's convention in Canberra that Rotary is promoting.