Albany, WA: National ANZAC Center

New-to-us Port #7.

It was indeed a rough night at sea from Busselton to Albany … just as Captain Giulio warned us it would be.

Those conditions continued throughout the morning as Regatta made its way from the Indian Ocean into Princess Royal Harbor through the Atatürk Channel … a reciprocal naming of a geographical location in response to Türkiye naming the Gallipoli landing site ANZAC Cove.

The morning was misty and overcast. Our hope that conditions would improve by the time we were cleared to go ashore was for naught. The skies remained gray … there was a light spitting of mist on and off … the wind never abated. And it was chilly enough that we donned our puffy jackets. Mind you, not complaining about that latter bit.

Once the ship was cleared, we took the shuttle to the Visitor Center. We knew what we were going to do — visit the National ANZAC Center (NAC). But we didn’t know how we were going to get there. Walking was an option, but seeing first hand that it was sitting high atop a hill, it didn’t seem feasible to go it on foot in both directions. The volunteer at the VC had a solution … a R/T shuttle for $15pp. The problem was that while the return was at our discretion, the first outbound shuttle wasn’t until 11:30a. We’d have to wait an hour for it.

Instead, once we confirmed that we could walk from the NAC to the port, we decided to hop in a cab. That turned out to be a good idea as we actually had the NAC to ourselves for a bit before the tours and shuttles arrived. It also only cost us half as much to get there … crazy though our driver was!

It was from Albany that over 41,000 Australians and New Zealanders left in late 1914. They were bound for the Great War. A third of them would never return. The center tells the story of those who left from here … highlighting the key phases and events of WWI, with a considerable amount of space dedicated to the Battle of Gallipoli.

The visit is made “personal” through the soldier ID cards that are issued when you pay the admission. Mui asked for a Turkish soldier’s ID and followed in his footsteps. My ID took me in the footsteps of Captain Smith of the Royal Navy … responsible for organizing the first convoy of ANZAC soldiers who left from Albany.

As well, we were given audio devices that we could activate at our leisure to learn more as we wandered around. It was all very well done … with more than enough to keep visitors occupied for hours on end. We focused on Gallipoli and scanned the rest of the information. Surprisingly, we found some Ottoman/Turkish artifacts on display … souvenirs brought back by ANZAC soldiers … including a WWI war medal, a belt buckle with the Turkish crescent and star, an Ottoman dagger, and a cigarette case … the latter a gift from Atatürk to the Australian Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce.

After leaving the NAC, we walked around the former Princess Royal Fortress. Not much remains of the original buildings these days, but we went all the way to the lookout for a quick look-see before returning to have lunch at the Garrison Restaurant.

Next up, we went off to find the Atatürk Memorial that overlooks the channel named for him. We knew there was a path down from the NAC, but the volunteer we spoke with said it was a bush walk … not well signed. Instead, we followed the alternate directions she provided. This led us to a paved path that runs along Albany Harbor retired gun emplacements to the ruins of a lighthouse … the memorial is at about the halfway point.

The memorial sits in an alcove. It consists of a statue of Atatürk standing atop a half-globe pediment. On it are inscribed the words “Peace at Home / Peace in the World” … a slogan from one of Atatürk’s 1931 Anatolian tours. This stance was later integrated into the foreign policy of the Republic of Türkiye.

After visiting the memorial, we reversed our direction, following the paved path to the end. From there, we walked through the industrial area back to the ship.

We now have two days at sea along the southern coast of Australia. Captain Giulio has already warned us that the high winds, the big swells, and the ship’s pitching motion will be a constant once we leave the protection of Princess Royal Harbor. He is expects conditions to start improving by our second day at sea. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes!Read more