Normans Beach to Albany to Stirling Range National Park and on

Mon. Feb. 28^th

From the beach we could see Betty’s Beach camp area along the shore but as it was not accessible from the beach we headed up there this morning.

Betty’s Beach was a fisherman’s beach with old rusted tin sheds, more dunnies than people and a beautiful view across the headlands to the granite hills, shrouded in mist. East Bay was prettier and we will return there after travelling into Albany and up into the Stirling Range National Park.

We listened to Captain Sydney’s run at Terang and wondered whether the fellow stake-holders were there to see it. A call to Jim later indicated that Capt. Sydney had quite a lot of interference put in a fair performance overall.

Albany was an interesting and picturesque town. The brig, Amity, arrived from NSW with convicts, soldiers etc in 1826 and the settlement was named Frederickstown. This was the site of the 1^st European settlement in WA, a fact that many of the locals in the museums etc were keen to tell us as there is great rivalry between Albany and Perth, it seems. The harbour and its terraces of houses up the hill facing the harbour reminded us of English coastal fishing villages, however this harbour is very, very large. The port area is directly in front of the old part of town, however this was also a vital part of the history of the place, along with the whaling. We collected our tourist info. and walked around the areas of historic interest.

At the beautiful St. John’s Church we learned that this is the oldest consecrated church in WA and that the 1^st ANZAC dawn service was held here in 1923 as the port was the last view of Australia for soldiers being dispatched to Gallipoli. We then went to Patrick Taylor Cottage, dating from 1832 and the oldest building in Albany. This lovely wattle and daub cottage contained many interesting small items of interest, including a most amazing hat and tie pin collection.  A trip to the old gaol reminded us of the magnificent tours at the Fremantle Gaol which we had taken some years back. This little gaol was still in use up to the 1960s.

Waves of fine drizzle came across the harbour  so we headed out to the Stirling Range NP camping area at Moingup Springs, right beside the road where 6km of roadworks were taking place. The fine rain had now set in and the view to the range was limited so an early dinner and an early night were essential.

Stirling Range to Shelley Beach in the West Cape Howe NP

Tuesday, March 1^st

A day of ‘What if...s’! What if the gale force wind had not blown us off the Bluff Knoll car park, what if the balancing rock walk in Porongurup NP had been open (the minister was officially opening the new facilities the following day), or the banksias were in flower in Mt Barker. Frustrating all round, however the walk at the tree-in-the-rock area was lovely with the views of the granite hills and wonderful plants.

Apparently this is the oldest mountain range in the world, at some 1100 million years of age!

Back to the coast again, hoping to find a good camp site at Cosy Corner but it was full and the beach was exposed to the wild gale-force winds, so we continued on to the west Cape Howe NP where we turned our back to the wind and the beach and tried to sleep! The area was beautiful with high hills, gullies where a fresh stream of water ran down to the beach and waves that broke noisily over the sand.