A Visitor from Home

We've had Wendy's Mum visiting us in Albany for the last 5 days. Our van really only caters for 2 people, so she stayed in a cabin in the same caravan park, very close to our site. We'd been saving up some of Albany's attractions so we could do them with her. After recovering from the long journey (5 hours Melbourne to Perth, then a 2.5 hour wait at the airport for the one hour shuttle flight down here to Albany) we spent her first full day in the forests around Walpole, 100km or so west. On the way we stopped at the visitor centre in Denmark, which holds the world's largest barometer. This was amazingly interesting, we watched through several of the instrument's 6 minute cycles, as it pumped the air out of a 12 metre high glass tube, causing water to be sucked up from the 'well' below, until it actually boils at room temperature. Once you've read the air pressure by the level of the water, the vacuum is released and the cycle starts all over again. The creator of the barometer has a web-site which tells all about it, see http://www.bertbolle.com/. The visitor centre has other interesting weather related displays, and we ended up spending quite a bit of time looking around. We noticed in the visitor centre that Denmark boasts a number of food related businesses, so we allowed ourselves to be distracted from our intended course to visit a cheese and fudge maker and a Belgian chocolate outlet, both of which were attached to winery cellar doors. Unfortunately we were too early for the berry farm.



Finally back on our intended course, we made our way to the Valley of the Giants treetop walk near Walpole. The 'Giants' referred to are tingle trees, which are not only very tall, but also very wide. They have a strange habit of forming 'buttresses' around their base, which makes them appear to be hollow for the first 10 metres or so, you wonder how such large trees can balance on what appears to be such a flimsy base. There is a 40 metre high walkway built through the treetops, giving a very different perspective on these giants, as well as a more traditional boardwalk at ground level through the forest. Elsewhere in the forest we did a scenic drive which included lookouts providing sweeping views down to the coastline, plus some more walking amongst the trees and rivers.



To get a rest from all the walking, the following day we did a half day boat cruise. Apart from providing some VERY close up encounters with the local wildlife, our captain proved to be very interesting and informative on the history and development of the region, and was a font of knowledge on the origin of various place names. A stop at a winery for some tasting of the local product gave us an opportunity to stretch our legs, then it was back on the boat for some very tasty damper for morning tea. Out of the dozen or so boat cruises we've had so far on this trip, it was one of the most enjoyable, and certainly the one which has gotten us the most up close and personal with the locals!



On Sunday John played golf while Wendy and her mum did a reasonably strenuous 2 hour walk. For an 80 year old who had a bout of cancer last year, Wendy's mum is remarkably fit, and powered up the hills and along a sandy beach at a pace that would put most people half her age to shame. Mind you, she did snatch a quiet nap afterwards..... Albany is a great place for walks, with many national parks within easy reach, and numerous marked walking trails. The cool climate also means that, at this time of year anyway, it is generally good walking weather. Most days we've been here have been in the low 20s, with only one or two getting to 30 or beyond, even when places just up the road are sweltering in tops of up to 40. The ever present sea breeze gets a bit wearing though.



Albany at one stage was a whaling port, and on her last full day with us, we took Wendy's mum to Whaleworld, the old whale processing station. This was surprisingly well laid out and interesting, with memorabilia, photos and videos giving the history of whales and whaling in general and of this whaling station in particular. It was a very bloody business, with the whales being chopped up and boiled down for their oil and to provide fertiliser and animal feed, and the displays didn't gloss over the realities. The whaling station shut down in 1978, and was the last in Australia to do so. Given how emotional whaling is as an issue in Australia, it is amazing to think that not much more than 30 years ago we had our own industry, and that it closed down not due to public pressure but to the age-old economic pressures of increasing costs and decreasing returns. The town was devastated when the whaling station closed, and many of the men who worked there left with their families and never returned.



We had a great time with Wendy's mum, especially with it being so close to Christmas. WA is a long way away from both our families, so it was really nice to have a bit of Christmas family cheer.



Couldn't resist a photo of dog rock, right in the middle of town. They didn't need to paint a collar on it for you to understand how it got its name!