Albany

Hi everyone, arrived in Albany yesterday, a really beautiful part of the country.  The coastline here is stunning, we have fallen in love with southern WA, definitely on our highlights list.  We had some bad weather at Pemberton, storms, hail etc, & then the power went out for quite a few hours, so no heating.  Below is Grae rugged up against the cold, for the second time only in the 13 months we have been away, he wore jeans.  The weather is much better now, sunny with light clouds & about 22 degrees.  We are in a lovely park, right on the beach.

Various views of the coastline

Looking back to Albany from across the bay, it is quite a hilly town, also very rocky.  There are quite a few buildings with massive boulders in their front yards.  It was the first town settled in WA.

Boat harbour

Entertainment complex on the foreshore.

We visited the  Princess Royal Fortress today, set high up on Mount Adelaide.  The fort was opened in 1893- because of the deep natural harbour here it was considered as a potential threat to the security of Australia. All Australian states agreed to pay for its construction with the British Government paying for the guns. It was closed in 1956, due to the advent of the "missile era".

Old radar station

Torpedo displays, in the background a 4.5 inch naval gun

Dr Strangelove eat your heart out!

Another naval gun- I am a dangerous woman!

View from the fort with a tribute to Merchant Seamen in the foreground.

Torpedo launcher

Inside the housing of the 4.5 naval gun

Shell  awaiting to be fed to the gun

Grae inside gun housing

A tribute to the lighthorse

Our caravan park is directly below on this beach

Another stunning monument for the lighthorse

H