Blogs from Albany, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 8

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 ... read more

Esperance to Albany The rain started again, so we packed up from Cape Le Grand, and cruised into Esperance to explore the ‘Great Ocean Drive’ -40km’s around the coastal regions of Esperance – seeing many more beautiful beaches including one of WA’s most popular beaches – Twilight Beach. Fuelled up at Caltex (75.02L @155.9c/L), and mapped out our way to our camp at Norman’s beach (free camp area), which was just a short walk away to Two People’s Bay. The waves were fierce, and despite Lach’s brave attempt at fishing the large gutter only a short distance from the beach, no success was found. We discovered Albany, pronounced ailbunee – is distinctly different from Albury, pronounced awlberry (apparently the locals tend to get a little irritated by pronunciation much to Lach’s amusement!) Here we stayed at ... read more

Before we start our blog we want to wish a BIG congratulations to Jon and Laura and also Di and James on their engagements! We can’t wait to come home for the big days! Our original plans were to head over to the east coast but what with the floods in Brisbane and the cyclones battering north Queensland we decided to spend some more time in Western Australia; spending it with family and do some more exploring over this side of the country. One of Matt and Michelle’s favourite holiday destinations is a place called Rottnest Island, so they kindly organised a trip for the lot of us to go pay the island a visit. “Rotto”, as it’s known by the locals has numerous tropical secluded beaches and bays situated only 19km off the coast of ... read more

Our last day in Albany dawned sunny and still and stayed that way all day, just to prove me wrong. We're in Esperance now and maybe finally I'll get some internet and get all this stuff posted, back to Albany first. After breakfast Belinda and Zali decided to duck into town to stock up for the next few nights which would be spent in the bush, in typical Belinda fashion a quick duck turned into a four hour epic and money spent in shops she shouldn't have been in. Saying that however and in her defence she only buys bargains, just a lot of them. Lachlan and I made good use of our time, firstly going for a nice ride down a gravel road by the Kalgan River, lots of skids and the occasional jump. Then ... read more

I awoke to find a girl in my all-boy dorm. “Excuse me... where am I?” “Old Swan Barracks” (unfortunately for all of us). “Thanks. Any idea how I got here?” Why yes! I had an idea. She came in with Luke and passed out on his bed. He didn't remember either and woke up saying “who the hell are you and what are you doing in my bed?” I explained and left, wishing them the best of luck. I was picked up outside my hostel and my journey south west began. The first stop was the beautiful Stirling Ranges. Another beautiful mountain range that rivals the blue mountains but is much less well-known and quieter. Hiking in the middle of the day wasn't exactly the best idea in the Australian heat but that is exactly what ... read more