First port in Western Australia

---

AN AMBLE IN ALBANY

The day was overcast but dry and mild. We docked around eight and a shuttle bus was available to take us the short distance into Albany pronounced as in “you can call me Al”. Australians will point out that it is NOT the capital of New York.
The bus drops us off at the top of the main drag and will pick us up at the foot of the hill. This works particularly well for the folks who are older and can’t walk too far.
Across from the stop is a park where local crafts are displayed and a two man Dixie land jazz duo entertains the crowd with Satin Doll and Take the A Train etc. It was great to sit there listening and watching the folks. At Town Hall there was an exhibit by local artists. These were quite good and quite pricey, one as high as $11,000.
I strolled down the hill, stopping to check out the real estate ads. Nothing is cheap here. Typical small homes go for $400,000-500,000, larger one with a view up to 1.4 mil. Near the bottom of the hill a rock band was playing. I sat there and listened for a while. The sounded a bit like CCR and were very, very good. They were the only band of street musicians that didn’t have a CD for sale.
Occasionally, a group of school children were playing in front of a store. The best were three tykes, the oldest about 12 who played the fiddle. They were very good too.
I caught the bus back to the ship, stayed on and rode back to the top of the hill. This was to protect my knee. An excellent plan you say. I thought so too. I stopped in some stores, listened to the music again then stopped in a pub to taste the local brew. The closest they had was Black Swan, a West Australian brand. It was actually a pretty good lager and I enjoyed watching cricket and cooling down. I headed down to the bus stop, got on the bus and discovered that my ship’s ID was missing.
So off I went up the hill to the pub and found it handing from the chair where I left it. So much for the brilliant plan!
I thoroughly enjoyed my amble in Albany and I sure got my exercise.

---