Pemberton

Thursday 9^th February, 2017.

We’re all leaving Albany today, Jo to go home, us to move on to Pemberton for the night. Jo is up super early and is on the road by 6am, as planned and she sends us a message later in the day when she has arrived home, safe and sound.

Our plan is to be on the road by 9am, have a quick stop in Walpole and arrive in Pemberton around midday, eat the sandwiches we made then go for a ride on the Pemberton Tram that leaves at 2pm. Then after that, visit the Gloucester Tree to see what all the fuss is about. Of course, nothing goes to plan. There’s so much stop and start roadwork all the way to the Pemberton turn-off, we don’t get to Walpole till nearly midday, so we decide to adjust our plans, take our time and get to Pemberton when we get there…….. which is 2.05pm, just in time to see the Tram depart. Oh well.

We check in to our hotel for the night, Best Western Pemberton Hotel, and then go for a drive around town and up to the Gloucester Tree, a giant karri tree in the Gloucester National Park. It’s 72m high and the lookout at the top was originally used as a place to spot fires. Apparently only 20% of visitors climb all the way to the top. I would have been one of them if I’d had shoes with more solid soles. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! We get back into town to see the railway boom gates closing. A train is coming!! No! Not a train……….. the Pemberton Tram is returning!! Looks like that’s about as exciting as it gets around here.

Dinner on-site at the Pemberton Hotel. Very colourful sunset tonight.

The end of family time

Thursday 9^th February, 2017.

We’re all leaving Albany today, Jo to go home, us to move on to Pemberton for the night. Jo is up super early and is on the road by 6am, as planned and she sends us a message later in the day when she has arrived home, safe and sound.

Our plan is to be on the road by 9am, have a quick stop in Walpole and arrive in Pemberton around midday, eat the sandwiches we made then go for a ride on the Pemberton Tram that leaves at 2pm. Then after that, visit the Gloucester Tree to see what all the fuss is about. Of course, nothing goes to plan. There’s so much stop and start roadwork all the way to the Pemberton turn-off, we don’t get to Walpole till nearly midday, so we decide to adjust our plans, take our time and get to Pemberton when we get there…….. which is 2.05pm, just in time to see the Tram depart. Oh well.

The Spirit of the Anzacs.

Wednesday 8^th February, 2017.

Heard from Sue Codee yesterday re my artwork and have arranged to meet her at her studio at 3.30pm today.  Jo has some shopping to do this afternoon, so the morning is spent at the National Anzac Centre. First stop is Mount Clarence and the Anzac Memorial for a spectacular view over Attaturk Channel, Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound. There is a second level to the memorial, the Padre White lookout where the view is almost 360 degrees. Worth the short walk. The National Anzac Centre is built on the site of the heritage listed Princess Royal Fortress, and overlooks the harbour from which 41,000 men and women departed Australia for the Great War. It’s goosebumps all morning……….. 

When you enter you are given a card with the name and photograph of a serviceman or nurse who went to war and there are several interactive posts where you can place your card and find out more about your assigned person. Right from the start, you are drawn in to the life of the person and their journey, starting with their departure from Albany. This is state of the art technology and the inter-active nature of the Centre is engrossing and while emotionally confronting and draining at times, I couldn’t recommend it more highly. Apparently in the planning stages, committees went round and round and couldn’t make a firm decision until the WA Premier, Colin Barnett put his foot down, threw some money at the ‘problem’ and the result is this amazing centre, being officially opened on November 1^st 2014, the 100^th anniversary of the departure of the first convoy.  Anyway, I could go on, but, just go there!

I still have my soldier’s card and I think Trevor does too, so hopefully we’ll investigate a bit more when we get home. I’ve told Jo I’ll send her what info I have on the war service of our forebears. We also have a quick explore of the Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum .  A fort was built up here in 1893 to protect Albany Harbour from potential foreign attack, the first federal defence project in Australia (even though there wasn’t a federal government at the time).  Trevor and I also walked up the hill to another lookout and the remains of the fortress, gun emplacements, ammunition batteries and old radar installation. 

Jo dropped us back to our accommodation (at the Big 4 Middleton Beach, top spot by the way) to pick up our car and head off to amuse ourselves while she goes and does what she has to do. We decide to drive out to Emu Point and end up having lunch at the Emu Point Café before going for a bit of a stroll and nearly being blown away by the wind off Middleton Bay. Scurrying back to the protected side, overlooking Oyster Harbour, we see a well made children’s playground and a swimming enclosure. Then we went for a drive around Emu Point and ended up at the marina, where the cruises depart from to go up the Kalgan River.

I’d heard about an art gallery in the old Albany Hospital, the Vancouver Gallery, so we found our way there. It’s a very small collection and it probably took longer to walk from the car park than it did to see all the exhibition, but the building was interesting and I got some ideas from one of the pieces, a landscape mad from a collage of photos. 

Like all good towns, Albany has a Tip Shop, but it really is a missed opportunity for the community when compared to the Salamander Bay Recycling centre. Just about time to head over to Sue’s to pick up my purchase. Her work is really eye catching and I’ve bought 2 pieces. Sue said she would sign them for me but when we asked her if she had, she realised she had forgotten. They were already packed up to travel, but Sue quickly undid the wrapping and signed them for me.

We beat Jo home by the amount of time it takes to make a cup of tea. We’re all exhausted. We’ve packed a lot into the last 2 days. Jo is heading off early in the morning so checks the weather forecast and sees that the region down towards Esperance has copped a huge amount of rain in a very short amount of time. She talks to Gary and he thinks she needs to be on the road by 6am to give her a better chance of getting through before any roads are cut.

Trevor and I have never knowingly eaten shark and Jo says if we’re going to try it, we should have it from the best fish and chip shop in town, Moby Dick’s. She orders ‘flake’ and ends up with ‘hake’. The girl behind the counter says if she wants shark, she has to order shark, so none for us tonight. The hake is very nice anyway and there’s plenty of it.

Exploring Albany

Tuesday 7^th February, 2017.

Hard to believe we’ve been on the road for a week already! Today’s itinerary, after taking care of some boring necessities like laundry, include a visit to Whale World, and some coastal sights along the way. First stop, and very impressive, is the Gap and Natural Bridge. A platform was built, suspended over some active wave action, best not to look down if you don’t like heights! The Natural Bridge is self explanatory, the waves have worked their way into the rock and weakened it, causing it to gradually break apart and fall in to the ocean, forming a bridge of rock. 

Next stop is The Blowholes where there is a sign in the carpark giving a diagnostic of whether the blowholes will be performing. Seeing the weather is near perfect and the sea is calm, the chances of the Blowholes being active is very slim and no-one feels like walking the 800m to find out! I’d like to go to Stony Hill for the 360 degree view but time is getting away and we need a good hour for Whale World. A guided tour leaves on the hour, but we need some morning tea first. The Galley Café does good coffee and cakes and by the time we finish up the tour has only just commenced. Jo sits this one out as there’s only so many times you can go, it’s interesting, to a point. As we go around the various areas where the whales were ‘processed’ we notice the weather changing and by the time we’re done, it’s raining. Back to the café to wait it out, it doesn’t last long. Interesting fact: the last whale was caught off Albany on November 20, 1978. 1978!! 2 years later, Malcolm Fraser signed the document that protected whales against further hunting.

Lunch back in town and then off to the Sandalwood producer, Mt Romance, 10 minutes out of town on the Albany Highway.  Lots of products for sale, but not a great deal of information about the process of growing or producing, which is a shame, because in Penang last year, we met an old man, Mr Lee, who made joss sticks from sandalwood imported from Western Australia.

A bit of shopping fills in the rest of the afternoon, and Sue gets in touch to put back collection of my woodcuts till tomorrow. Don’t need much dinner after our big lunch, so it’s just cheese and nibbles for dinner, washed down with a few wines. I spot sunset out the window so grab the camera and head to the beach and hopefully get some good photos.

Valley of the Giants

Monday 6^th February, 2017.

Up and out, on the road by 8.30am, heading for Denmark, and the Valley of the Giants and Treetop walk near Walpole. $21 adult entry and a very wobbly walk along the suspended walkway in the treetops, as advertised. The weather is great for tourists again, not too hot, and a little bit of cloud. From the Treetop Walk, we head back toward Denmark via Scottsdale and the Toffee Factory, where you can play soccer golf; Green’s Pool,  for some sightseeing, (shame it wasn’t better swimming weather, this place would be great!)Bartholomew’s Meadery, for some mead tasting (not a big fan) and honey ice cream, then back into Denmark for lunch at the ‘famous’ Denmark Bakery. I can’t eat another pie today, as much as I’d like to, so I get a chicken and salad roll. Our intention after lunch is to check out the local op shop, but it’s closed!! The Old Butter Factory sounds like it’s worth a look, it’s actually a venue for local artist’s to display and sell. Interesting stuff, but nothing really grabs us. That’s when Trevor remembers about Sue Codee, so I jump on facebook and send her a message. She says we can visit her studio in Albany around 3.30 so we grab some chops from the butcher to have for dinner and head back towards Albany, missing a visit to the local tip shop – bugger!!

We’re back in town early enough to pick up some vital supplies from Dan Murphy’s before heading over to Sue’s to have a look at her art. I choose one and ask if the one I saw at the winery is also available. It’s not, but she’ll make one for me tomorrow. And sign them too. How’s that for service?? Sue is a very warm and welcoming person and her art is very unique, I love it and wish I had room for more at home. Have a look for 'This Papercut Life'.

Trevor cooks the chops on the bbq and we have them at ‘home’ with some salad. Nice and easy.