A weekend in Albany, WA

Our 2 weeks in Esperance came and went in a flash, and we soon found ourselves on the road again. Leaving the small town life and the wonderful, turquoise waters behind, our next stop was - coincidently or not - one of the 5 most prominent wine regions of Australia and a must stop for wine lovers, Margaret River.

However, as it is now becoming more and more of a rule for us, we decided to take it easy (after all, what's the rush?) and squeeze in one more destination on our way to Margaret River: following recommendations from various friends, we decided to stop in Albany and Denmark for the weekend on our way to Marg.

I'll start by saying that a weekend is definitely not enough time to see that part of WA, and we felt quite rushed in the little time we had there. Nevertheless, we tried to make the most of it. We were lucky enough that the Maritime Festival happened to be on while we were in town, so we picked an event that wouldn't be our usual choice but that definitely got my interest: a book reading at the Albany's Historic Whaling Station. We had no idea what we were doing at an old whaling station, but everything made a lot more sense after the event.

The book reading was for Sealed Souls, a book written by a local man who spent 25 years of his life researching, learning and writing about the colonial history and the sealing and whaling industry on the southern coast of Australia, between 1792 to 1852. While the subject may sound dry as anything, it was in fact a fascinating telling that involved slavery, robberies, fortunes and aboriginal displacement. We learned from the author that during the colonial times, if you were a former convict or in exile, life on the Southern coast of Australia was much more appealing than the penal colonies of New South Wales or Tasmania. For those industrious man, they could bring in their boats and settle on this part of Australia and scape the law. Those settlers started hunting seals in the region, a practice that grew very quickly with more people coming to explore the area and in hope of better lives. In a space of thirty years, every fur seal colony on the south coast of Australia, the islands of New Zealand and throughout the south Pacific had been systematically harvested to the point of near extinction.

With the colonial expansion growing out of Sydney and Hobart, it meant more people - and more law enforcement - closing in, which in turn pushed the early settlers further out west. With very few seals left, these now well-trained seafarers decided to start hunting whales, which became the next big thing. In the middle of all this, the settlement of Albany was founded as a military outpost to stop any plans by the French to claim Western Australia. It was in this background that these settlers and whalers started interacting with the local aboriginal communities, which led to lots of stories of mixed families, forced marriage, and even displacement. I personally found the history of the region and the sealing and whaling industry both heart breaking and fascinating. Here's a link to the booklet of the author, in case you are also interested.

With the cultural part of our day done, we decided to check out the scenery and headed out to the Blowholes in the Torndirrup National Park. Wonderful spot with high cliffs looking out to the water and this impressive wall where the waves would come crashing and blow waters high up in the sky next to the viewing platform:

All in all, we found Albany to be a charming little town with a lot of character and fascinating history. We still had time to head out to the local brewery for some drinks and burgers and wander through the streets.

Again, we all felt like we could have used a bit more time to really see Albany, but we had a great weekend nevertheless. We did stop for a quick breakfast and a wonder around Denmark on our way to Margaret River, but can't really say we got to see the town, so I guess we'll have to come back one day!

Off we went to our next stop, Margaret River, where the surf meets the vineyards. I can confirm I am only familiar with one of these two hobbies, and I am not much of a board person. Time to check out all those Cab Savs and Shirazes!