Holiday, part one (long)
So we left on Monday for the six hour drive down to Cape Howe Cottages where we were staying at the Snug. It was cold and rainy as we left the city, with forecasts for the same over the week. The drive down was mostly uneventful, aside from a bit of a mechanical scare with the car where it was refusing to change certain gears just as we were leaving the city. It was okay after awhile and all was fine the rest of the journey. We stopped for lunch in Kojonup, a small town about two hours aways from our destination. Lego Lover refused to eat there or even to stay inside so waited in the car while we ate. He ate some of the snacks in the car instead and I guess was just fine with that.
We arrived at the cottage around 3pm, I think. It was late afternoon and the owner happened to come out to the gate just as we arrived, which was very timely. The rains had stopped at this point so we were able to take all our belongings inside in our own time. The kids were over the moon to be there and Lego Lover quickly unpacked his little bag and put everything in its place. He and Game Fanatic settled in quite quickly to just hanging out.
The beach is about 1.5kms up the road so the Scientist and I trekked up to see the beach while the boys (who didn’t want to go walking) stayed at the cottage. It was mostly an uphill walk and we veered off onto a path that may have eventually reached the actual beach but we didn’t go quite that far. We stopped at a point where there was a gorgeous view and took photos. Then we went back down that path to take the road up to the the lookout at the end of the road. All this time the sun was out and shining brightly although there were a few clouds around. When we reached the lookout, the dark clouds started rolling in so there was no time to stop and enjoy it for long. We started back just as the rain started and ran for a short distance before I realised there was no way I could run the whole way back. I am just not fit enough. We did find that staying close to the edge of the road offered some protection from the blowing rain at first. But soon it was raining straight down. Luckily I had suggested to the Scientist that he take his camera case or that would have been soaked. The Scientist kept telling me he thought the rain would be short-lived for whatever reason. Soon after telling me this, the rain would pick up again. This happened three or four times before we made it back to the cottage, quite wet. Once I got out of my wet clothes, I had a shower and warmed up in front of the heater.
The cottages offered homemade pizzas and curries so we ordered pizzas the first night. They were delicious. At least, the Scientist and I liked them a lot. Lego Lover didn’t like the wholemeal base and Game Fanatic found them too sweet. After our exercise, I was ravenous and ate quite a few slices compared to usual, as did the Scientist. We watched tv and played board games before heading off to bed. We were all asleep quite early for a change.
We were all up bright and early the next morning. Some breakfast foods (bread, cereal, butter, jam, milk and eggs) had been left for us the first night so we ate that and/or cereal we had brought along. I think we headed off for Albany by around 8:30 am, which was pretty early for most of the family. The day was looking quite lovely with no rain in sight. In Albany we stopped at the vistor’s centre to get a map of local attractions and suggestions on some of the lower cost ones. Lego Lover got a postcard for his collection, then we headed out again.
Our first stop was Mount Clarence, which is a small mountain that provides an overlook to the port and city. As we climbed the mountain, we stopped to take photos at a couple of viewing spots. My camera’s batteries suddenly died, so I changed them for ones that had just been recharged, only to find they didn’t work. I had another set that had been recharged a while back and they worked for a short while, then died. I was left using my phone camera until we could find some regular batteries a while later. We eventually did reach the top, stopping briefly at an Anzac war memorial there. The top allowed a view of the entire city and the port around it. There’s some pretty nice natural scenery from there, along with the city view.
Our next stop was at the Princess Royal Fortress, which was built in 1893 as the first Federal defence in Australia. Lego Lover didn’t like the place and was ready to leave as soon as we got there. He suddenly was hungry and the cafe that promised a snack was closed for some reason. His behaviour was quite poor at the time so after rushing through much of it, I took him back to the car. Game Fanatic surprisingly was far more interested so he and his dad walked through the rest together. I felt very rushed so that the only part that I recall much was the HMAS Perth Interepretive Centre, which had photos and information about the original HMAS Perth and the HMAS Perth 2.
We were all quite hungry at this point so drove back down into Albany town centre and parked. Lego Lover was crankier than ever but we eventually found a Hungry Jacks (Burger King) and got him something to eat. Afterwards his behaviour was much improved. We stopped into the shopping centre next door and bought batteries and some medication I needed for a sore neck that was keeping me from sleeping. We returned to the car, which needed to be moved, and went to an English-style tavern for lunch. The parking lot was paved with bricks that were uneven in spots. Game Fanatic tripped and hurt his foot on one of them. He managed to hobble inside where we had a very generous lunch. As expected, the food was plentiful and was reasonably good.
Our plans for the afternoon were limited due to Game Fanatic’s foot injury. We couldn’t see much swelling but he was finding it painful to walk on it. We made a stop for a few groceries while the boys waited in the car. Then we stopped at the WA Museum and Game Fanatic stayed in the car and read a magazine we bought for him. The first rain shower of the day started about this time and then stopped just about as quickly. As we got out of the car, the Scientist pointed out the glorious full rainbow just above the building. It was impossible to get the full rainbow in a photo, but we did get shots of both ends, including one lovely shot going into the harbour. Lego Lover really enjoyed the museum, even though many of the exhibits were closed at the time. There were displays on some of the local wildlife and the Noongar people from the area. But the most interesting part was a replica of the Brig Amity, the ship that carried the first British settlers to the area in 1826.
We had one more stop before we returned to the cottage and that was the Albany Wind Farm. That turned out to be the highlight of the day for us. We all equally enjoyed it. It’s an awesome place and it’s so cool to see wind being used to provide electricity. There are twelve turbines and it is apparently the biggest wind farm installed in Australia. From a distance, it looks big but not particularly so. But when you get up close and stand under one, it’s absolutely enormous. There’s a constant whooshing sound as the wind turns the turbines. It was so enjoyable that Game Fanatic happily hiked up to the highest viewing point, despite his sore foot.
It was past 4pm when we finished there and we needed to be back to the cottages before five to order curries for the following night. So we headed back and settled in for the evening. We spent the evening watching tv, playing games then watching Trading Places and some episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun on dvd before going to sleep. We pretty much lucked out to have had a such a nice day since the forecast had been for rain all day. The rains did come in the evening and continued through the next day.
