Centennial Park

Albany, Western Australia.

What a lovely place to bring us to.! After quite a few hours, of constant movement, it was nice to see land ,on a clear sunny morning ,off the Coast of WA. Surprisingly it was, quite high, rocky coastland, with a proper Mountain , and some unusual formations ,akin to the Apostles. These shelter the farmlands beyond .Reminded of the film ,The Light Between Oceans ,although most of that was NZ filmed ,the story was based here.
Albany is a very pretty place on King George Sound, in Princess Harbour. A narrow entrance ,to a wide and lovely waterway. A Port for wheat and various grains , also silica sand. A lone piper at the rocky entrance , was a nice touch .Whaling in the past, and a Fishing Industry,but based a distance away. A Wind Farm services most of their electricity needs, great foresight in an isolated community, that they are very proud of .
Before we went ashore we had the town dignitaries ,and a Tribal Elder from the Minang Noongar peoples ,who have inhabited the area for 25,000 years, come on board. As it is the first call of a Viking Ship, plaques and gifts were exchanged, in our Atrium, a lovely setting ,with beautiful photographs of the area ,interchanged on the huge screen above. Our Officers all in uniform ,on the stairs .Very respectful.

Albany ,population about 33,000,is a farming area, inland, for wheat and grain ,and more ,and Tourism ,it is green ,bush covered and gets rain on quite a regular basis. Colonial buildings ,from the 1800’s ,sit on the sloping hills, mingled with the huge boulders which are a large part, of the reasonably large city. Many new ,modern homes as well, priced from $500 to $600,000 ,amazing properties, with well cared for, very nice gardens ,of natives ,and older cottage gardens, trees of all kinds ,flourishing everywhere. Wide streets ,and a really nice feel, on a warm sunny day .Good shops of all things, an especially good Book Shop, so have stocked up the Kindle, for the journey ahead , nice to be inspired.

In a quest for the top ,a lookout ,we traversed many steps, through boulders ,and bush ,saw the Kookaburras ,Parakeets, and a few rustlings in the undergrowth, that I didn’t look at too closely.! Back through residential suburbs on the slopes below. Nice to meander about, peaceful and quiet. The Churches , many of them ,of very attractive stone. Built long ago. An excellent museum, of so much to learn. Coal was once an industry, huge crabs are here, snow crabs and a larger variety. Tiniest marsupial, the Western Pygmy Possum, some other critters , a little like rats, but much bigger, the Tasmanian Tiger roamed here as well .Introduced things like rabbits, have become a problem of course.
Large road trains, and ordinary trains , are constantly bringing the wheat to the Port. They bypass the town.
Albany was once destined to be the Capitol of this area , before Perth. Famous for and well remembered , in many memorials ,are the ANZAC troops that left Australia Shores, in their thousands, for Egypt and beyond in the First World War.

The Brig Amity is a feature, it brought the first European settlers and convicts here is 1826, its replica is on the foreshore , so much to explore ,and we walked for several K’s ,not taking the shuttle, very pleasant place, that you could find a lot more to enjoy, I’m sure. Very welcoming locals , who embrace the Cruise Ship industry, and their passengers, they have about 15 a year. A very nice Part of Australia, that could warrant a return ,in depth, visit.
Memories of the early Anna Jacobs novels, we so enjoyed.
Bye from us in far W.A.Read more