Albany

In the midst of all the worries about gas, electricity and starter motors, we thought about our grandchildren as two of the three have birthdays in March. Nina had her first birthday and Sophie was a grown up girl of four. We managed to speak to both of them and enjoyed the photos and videos which we received.

Albany Waterfront

Barbara and Rob invited us to join them for Sunday lunch at the Earl of Spencer pub. We think it was probably founded by a distant member of the family! We had a lovely time in the distinctly old style British atmosphere of the pub. More boating stories were exchanged.

The Brig Amity Replica

Before lunch, we’d visited the Sunday market on the waterfront and stocked up with fresh veg, fish and bread. Then we followed a self-guided historical tour around the central district of Albany. It’s called the Amity Trail, after the brig that brought the first settlers to Albany in 1826. A replica of the Amity was built in 1976 and we knew we would have to return to follow the audio tour of the ship.

Horse drawn wagons at Patrick Taylor's cottage

We had time to look around the oldest surviving wattle and daub cottage in Western Australia. Patrick Taylor’s cottage dates from 1832 and both the cottage and the garden are maintained by volunteers.

Ancestral pub!

After lunch, we bought supplies from the IGA and returned to Sal Darago, where Jeremy filled up with diesel and water.

Officers' quarters, Amity replica

On Monday, we toured the replica of the brig Amity. It’s part of the Museum of the Great Southern and, once again, staffed by friendly and knowledgeable volunteers. Back at the marina, we put our keys in the drop box and prepared to leave. Jeremy sent an email to Christine to let her know. Our invoice was prepared and paid. As expected the stay cost us 54AUS per day (about £27) which is the standard charge for casual berths in DoT facilities in WA.

Crew quarters, Amity replica

We motored one mile to Quaranup Beach, just south of Possession Point, and dropped the anchor for the night. The wind blew strongly, but all was well.

Someone bulldozed the path

On Tuesday 10^th March, we motored north through King George Sound, entered Oyster Bay and found the three free moorings at Johnson’s Cove. One was occupied by Stuart and Jane from Albany Waterfront Marina. We picked up a mooring and tied to it. We launched the dinghy and, after a quick chat with Stuart and Jane, we set off across the bay to see Darren at Emu Point Boat-lifters. The outboard began to stall, but Jeremy fixed it by blowing air into the petrol tank!

Voyagers' Park Beach opposite Emu Point

Darren had just driven away but many helpful people gave us names of possible places to haul out SD on the west coast. We learned that seven boats, including Darren’s, were leaving for Geographe Bay the next day. This gave us pause for thought and we wondered if we should go with them. A look at the weather forecast and the 4m swell expected at Cape Leeuwin, helped us decide to stay put. Later, Jeremy phoned Darren. Darren suggested a few places to haul out. We chose Two Rocks and made a provisional booking with them straight after the phone call.

King George Sound from Whale Lookout

Today, we went ashore and walked a two hour trail in Gull Rock National Park. It took us a little longer, as about a mile of the trail had been bulldozed into huge piles of sand making walking very difficult. We believe this has been done to stop FWDs and motorbikes using these paths.

Emu Point from Dick Redshaw Lookout

We can spend two more nights on this mooring and then we have to move on. We’ll be in the Albany area for a few more days until the wind and swell are suitable for us to round Cape Leeuwin and leave the Southern Ocean for the Indian Ocean.