Day 14 - Albany WA
Friday, June 8, 2012 at 09:15AM When I went to the loo this morning there were a couple of grey kangaroos sitting in the space next to us, they were obviously used to human contact as they did not move when I went past them to the bathroom. But when I finished and was on the way home they followed me! I shouted out to Ness & Annie to come to the door to have a look. Now some of you know that Ness just is not an animal person, she never has been and never will be. So she was a bit daunted by the kangaroos wanting to sniff inside the van! One of the roos seriously wanted to get into the caravan, every time that Ness opened the door just a little to look out it would try to stick its head inside! Ness was not having any of this and she kept trying to show Annie the kangaroo but shut the door when it got too close! Hilarious, check out the photos when they are up. Its not that I don’t like them…or any animal for that matter I was just born with a phobia of animals and they freak me out a little. Most of you will also know that I have worked really hard to get over this and Panda(our dog) has been my best medicine. But sometimes old habits die hard when it comes to wild animals.
Ladies & Gentleman, today we arrived in caravan Heaven! We travelled the relatively short journey to Albany (Only 178km today) and arrived at the fanciest caravan park in all of the world! Reception was modern & clean & the entrance was nicely paved. While Ness was checking us in I was looking around at the very impressive pool & spa & BBQ area, Entertainment area with electronic games & a pool table & they even have a movie theatre!
Ness came back to the car and had instructions and a map to our site, now all the caravan sites have concrete pads surrounded by lush green grass. Oh and did I mention that this park is right on the beach! There are caravan sites & then the beach, as I sit typing the blog I can hear the rhythmic thumping of waves crashing into shore. There is a family bathroom, a wheelchair bathroom, laundry & amenities block just a short distance from our site……Very impressive, and there are some very upmarket cabins here…..I reckon this place would be pumping at Christmas & holiday times.
I didn’t realise that this area was big on timber & forestry? On the way into Albany we drove past many timber plantations & lots of log trucks on the road. Now I’m not a greenie by any means, but after seeing some of the natural bush over here in WA it seems a shame that we are ripping it up to plant ugly trees all in rows!
We drove around the foreshore in Albany, did you know that this place is also famous for whaling? They had a huge processing plant here where they killed the whales & turned a huge beautiful creature into Oil from its blubber & ladies corsets from its bones, and piano keys & walking stick handles from its teeth! (the whales that had teeth that is) What a waste!
Do any of you watch the gardening show on the ABC? The one with Costa the guy with the beard? Well last week he was on and they did a segment on the farmers market in Albany, fresh locally grown produce & seafood. Well guess where we are going tomorrow? Yep…..Stay tuned and we will share our purchases with you. I’m going to get some Yabbies (otherwise known as Crawbobs) and cook them up, Ness wants some Cheese, Jam, & lots of other home made stuff.
We also might get down to the treetop walk, I’ll make sure I take the camera with us & post some pictures.
Reader’s comments
Heather reckons that we should have picked up the bike rider, just so we could have got a photo of him for her!
Dave R shared his travels around Europe in a tent with his girlfriend (now wife)….. Dave you are another candidate for a Hilux & a caravan and join us on our annual trip around Oz. Start the planning & we will get it happening in a couple of years.
Granny (My mum….but everyone calls her Granny) finally worked out how to post a comment, Welcome back Granny it’s been a long time since you gave me a hard time on the blog. Keep in mind there are lots of new readers this year so don’t be too hard on me!.....J
Rob & Juan are heading off on their own adventure soon….. Hey you should write a blog! I promise I will leave comments on it! Especially every time Collingwood lose! Guess he won’t be commenting very much as they won’t lose.
Thanks to my Brother in law Brad, tonight he texted me through updates with the NRL game storm vs tigers. It was great to be getting them live and unfortunately Storm got beat. But they do have a lot of players out for State of Origin duty.
Annie’s Blog
Today my dad yelled out to me & mum to come outside, when my mum opened the door there were these big mouses standing outside near my dad! They were huge & they had big tails…. I never knew that mouses grew this big. I knew they were mouses coz my mum didn’t like them, especially when they tried to get into the box on wheels……she said “Shoo…..Shoo!”
We drove to this place called Albany, Mum said she came here when she was 10, that must have been a long time ago mum coz you are really old now! Did they still kill whales when you came here?
Dad cooked mums dinner on the BBQ tonight, he is so proud of his little BBQ, it sits in a special compartment in the box on wheels & dad pulls it out when he needs to use it, he keeps saying to mum that it is the best BBQ in the world. Mum said to Dad tonight that the chicken was cooked perfect…… Gee sometimes these two just work so well together.
Dad told me tonight that we are going to a market tomorrow……Yaaaay! Don’t know why I said that as I don’t even know what a market is! Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
Night for now.
AnnieInAVan XXX
Reader Comments (5)
Wonder if you could buy some extra nuts - just in case ness gets hungry..... Sorry Ness. It keeps the figure beautiful if the nuts stay in the container.
Hi Guys - sorry it's taken me do long to write this ( if truth be told I have half written it about 6 times and always got interrupted. Flynn enjoys turning the computer off while I'm typing. I have been reading your blog to Sebastien at breakfast every morning and following your progress on the map. It's really helping him get a feel for how large this country of ours is- a concept I think he struggles with. ( I bet you won't have that trouble Annie!!)
Me well I'm tempted to go caravaning - and I haven't stayed in a caravan since wye river days ( Ness will tell you how long it's been since I was there)
Thanks for sharing your amazing trip ! Hope Ness and Annie at feeling better Em xx
Hahaha I love how you make me laugh James, I also love looking at the ladder and seeing Colingwood above Sydney!
Enjoy the markets, maybe pick me up one of the fancy walking sticks with the whale tooth tops, they sound great!
OMG I am dying of envy,I love the gardening show (its my bible) and Costa is my hero (another european with facial hair Lol)
You have to let me know if the farmers market is as good as the ones in Melbourne and Adelaide and please take pictures, especially of the coffee stands, make sure you try the olives,cheese and salami - oh and one more thing BUY ME SOMETHING BROTHER!
Think I'd much rather have kangaroos at the door rather than the HUGE Goanna you had last trip.....reminds me of a camping trip we had a few years back at Rainbow Beach with Mum comfortably in her toilet / shower tent - only to look up and see a huge Goanna perched directly above her in the Pandanas with it's tongue flicking in and out - her exit was rather swift and not so Hyecinth Bucket with her knickers around her ankles screaming...too funny