Boulder Hill & Albany

Our first day out of Norman’s we returned to Betty’s Beach and followed a 4WD track (on foot) that traversed Boulder Hill, through wildflower laden scrub and granite boulders. It gave us stunning views back along the beach towards our camp and over the surrounding peninsulas. Hugh and I walked home along the beach while Matthias trekked back to the car with a sleeping Claire.

After a shadded lunch watching splendid fairywrens by our camp we drove out to the fishing shack lined Cheyne Beach. Here we saw out the hot northerly wind playing in the waves. And if that wasn't enough activity to wear out the kids we made a short stop at the Manypeaks playground. We must have been the first to visit in a while because Claire emerged from the climbing frame covered in cobwebs and the rust on the Ronald McDonald sponsored aeroplane looked like it wouldn't have passed today's safety standards.

The following day we drove into Albany for a day of admin, playgrounds and a spot of site seeing. I was tasked with Christmas and food shopping while the kids and Matthias tested the playground at Middleton Beach. There are certainly worse places to do life admin. Albany’s King George Sound is drop dead gorgeous and we caught it on a spectacularly sunny day where brightly coloured spinnakers powered sailboats across the royal blue water and weekend strollers promenaded the marine drive walking path. Despite my wonder at it’s natural setting, Albany itself lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. It seemed to sit in an awkward middle ground lacking both the excitement of a big city and the charm of a small town. This may be an unfair assessment given I was in town for less than a full day and hardly sought out the highlights. I’d love to come back in whale season and give the city a better chance of impressing.

We followed our Albany day with a morning of work for me and an afternoon at the beautiful Waychinicup Inlet where the river mouth is flanked by granite boulders and permanently open to the sea.