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Published: April 13th 2011
Monday 11th April and today is the birthday of brother-in-law Tony. We know that he was going out to lunch today with his wife (Graham’s sister, Barb), daughter Anna and grandson Charlie so we hope they had a nice time – Happy Birthday, Tony.
We had put the alarm on for 7.30 but, as was usual when we do that, Graham was already up and about. We were pleased that the heavy overnight rain had cleared away and it was a calm, pleasant morning. Today we were going on a cruise up the Kalgan River. We had our breakfast, gathered up the important things – cameras, binoculars, anoraks (just in case) and set off for the short journey to Emu Point harbour. We were early but we weren’t the first there. In addition to a few eager trippers, a young lad (who turned out to be Jack who has taken over the family business) was also there setting the boat up and feeding a group of pelicans as he went backwards and forwards between the boat and his car. He was to explain his special relationship with the pelicans later on the trip. The boat could take a maximum of
35 people but today there were 14 of us – an ideal number for leg room, vision etc. It was quickly established that the young lad delivered his commentary in a humorous vein – he was actually very funny but sometimes overdid the “dramatic effect”. He introduced us to the pelicans, a couple of which he had “saved” from near death (caught in fishing nets) as an even younger boy. He had hand-fed and reared one of them and trained a couple to do tricks before releasing them back into the wild. It was brilliant to watch Percy (who was actually female but Jack didn’t know that as a 12 year old boy) dancing on the water before receiving a fish for his (her) trouble. She had since had young of her own and one, Pam, had picked up the twirling dance routine from her Mum knowing that she would also get a fish - they were a really funny pair to watch.
Soon we were underway and first we explored what appeared to be a huge inner harbour, known locally as Oyster Harbour. Jack explained the ups and downs of the local oyster industry which now was doing
well after disaster struck when a virus affected many of the oysters grown here. Nowadays oysters originally from Carnarvon (on the north west coast of Aus) are used but called Sydney Rock Oysters. It all seemed very confusing but apparently the Albany oysters are extremely well regarded. Jack took us out to the ocean edge, an even bigger natural harbour protected by islands which was what had made Albany an attractive location for early explorers and settlers. He explained the origin of many of the island names which were predominantly French having been named by explorer Nicolas Baudin. The Oyster Harbour catered for leisure and fishing boats while the outer harbour, eventually to be named Princess Royal Harbour, led to the port where it is possible to accommodate the world’s largest ships. We returned across the inner harbour which developed as a result of natural flooding of the area many years ago - the water flowing from two local rivers (Kalgan and York) which joined in the area before flowing out into the ocean. It was originally a flat plain and apart from the original line of the rivers (the only safe channels for bigger boats in the inner harbour)
the water was no more than four feet deep. Jack was obliged to give us a safety talk but said that, if anything happened before we reached the deeper Kalgan River, we could walk back to the jetty! Next we headed out across Oyster Harbour towards Green Island, one of only four breeding grounds for pelicans in the state. We continued beyond Green Island towards the farthest shoreline where we were suddenly approached by a couple of white-bellied sea eagles. Like the pelicans, these have been encouraged over the years to approach the boat knowing they would receive a fish. Although slightly artificial, it was a magnificent sight watching them as they swooped down within a few yards of the boat to pluck the fish (provided by Jack) in their talons and take refuge in the nearby woodland. A couple of Jack’s “pet” pelicans had followed us for much of the way, presumably knowing they would get more fish. We were also approached by yet another sea-eagle which was similarly rewarded but this one was far too quick for me and I only managed a photo of the sea where he had been seconds before!
Jack’s commentary continued to
be funny and, with so few on board, it was easy for everyone to become involved in the patter – Jack was excellent at “crowd participation”. It transpired that he had “inherited” the business from his father who had built it up using similar patter over many years. Jack was continuing a tradition and clearly loved what he did. His father was, and still is, a bit of a poet (a local celebrity) and Jack recited a couple of poems about wildlife which were actually very good. Soon we were in the lower reaches of the River Kalgan where it was necessary to travel under a low road bridge. Jack made a big show of lowering some flags and flag poles in order to get under and explained that, on the way back, he’d have to lower the whole roof to get under as the tide would have risen. Of course, we all thought he was joking!! Jack was well versed in local legend and tradition and time seemed to fly by. Just before the half-way point of the trip he offered us a choice of activity - we could dis-embark and be taken by a waiting mini-bus to a
winery where copious amounts of wine could be tasted, or we could stay on the boat and meander a little further up river where we could have a walk of 10 minutes or so while Jack prepared some tea/coffee and “damper”. The group was fairly evenly split so the wine tasters departed and we joined those who wanted to do the walk. It was pleasant though not spectacular and soon we were drifting back down river to pick up the winos! A very pleasant 20 minutes or so followed when we partook of huge mugs of tea and tasted Jack’s Mums special recipe “damper” – a traditional Aussie bread which was very, very tasty.
The return journey continued in much the same vein – Jack sharing some local legends with us, telling a few jokes and generally keeping us entertained. Eventually we reached the low bridge and we all waited for Jack’s punch-line about lowering the roof but he had the last laugh. In order to get under the bridge the roof did have to be lowered!! The boat had been specially designed with a hinged roof so that, with a little help from some of the male passengers,
it could be rotated forwards and lowered by about two feet. Even then it was a pretty tight squeeze with Jack adding sound effects as though we had hit the bridge. Back into the Oyster harbour we were immediately met by Percy and Pam who continued to entertain us. All too soon we were back in the marina and a most enjoyable trip came to an end. We stayed in the area for lunch, partaking of some very tasty fish and chips at the nearby Emu Point Café.
By now it was about 2:00pm so we went to the city centre to stock up again with groceries. Back at the caravan we rang Barb and Tony to pass on birthday wishes and managed to get them both on the webcam and to get our webcam suitably set up. Alas, whether it was to do with the extra pressure of a webcam we don’t know, but our computer turned itself off twice during our conversation but we managed a nice chat in between shut-downs. We relaxed for a while and then went for a cycle ride along the boardwalk which climbed gradually up to the headland just beyond Middleton Beach.
The outlook was beautiful and we stopped several times to look at the views (and to recover from what may have seemed an easy, gradual climb but what was actually quite tough!!). Of course the return journey was simple – all down hill – and we were soon back at the caravan where we contemplated having a swim in the pool. Unfortunately, a number of young kids had the same idea (why aren’t they at school?) so we thought better of it. Anyway, the weather then became a bit changeable so we retreated into the caravan and spent a restful evening planning the following day’s activities – our last full day in Albany.
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