Le Grand Nomads: Denmark to Albany Week 38

Denmark to Albany

Week 38

The year is roaring to a close as we move inexorably toward Christmas and a brave new year. We are trying to feel as though we aren’t missing the end of year whirl with family and friends but if you believe we have succeeded, you will believe anything.

Some of the people reading this with you are doing exciting things. One lucky couple has just returned from a cruise, while another friend is off to Bali. Others are off to Tassie for an explore and more are heading homeward to reconnect at Christmas. Another is venturing off to the states for a white Christmas. Many are attending those end of year parties and celebrating the end of another successful year. Others are enjoying a honeymoon. Oh to be young and carefree. Others are waiting for babies to arrive. Good luck and great joy to those expectant mums and dads, and of course the grandparents. We are most forlorn about missing our grandson’s first Christmas, but look forward to seeing those infectious smiles and gurgles. Best wishes to you all. Enough of this and back to the marathon.

Denmark is a pretty place, but our arrival was fraught with stress. There are two caravan parks here, the Riverbend and the Rivermouth. We had arranged for the Riverbend, letting them know the size of our van, but the “No worries” WAS. It turned out to be avery small park with only five or six sites, definitely not meant for larger vans, and ours is only middle sized. We did try, but had to admit defeat and moved on to the “mouth”. Our first thought was to look for protection from blustery winds, and secondly shade, because in between the bad weather, they have periods of heat wave. We were lucky to get one of the few spots that afforded both.

There are lots of opportunities to walk here, especially along the river back to the township. Birds, especially pelicans abound and it is an ideal anchorage.

Early settlers built this bridge to cart their timber to the port, but now is just a walkway for local fitness and those on the Bibbulmun Track, for we are near the terminus point of Albany.

The piece de resistance here is Green Pool. On a hot day it is a beautiful clear sea pool perfect for families. I thought of Ruth here and how her paintbrush fingers would be twitching in anticipation.

Close by are Elephant Rocks, for the slightly more adventurous where some of the rocks look like elephants standing close looking out at the beautiful vista.

The golf course here has sand greens, but they are fast and true, so a game here is an enjoyable experience, nowhere near as hilly as we experienced in Walpole. As Brian puts it, we don’t need a brick to put under one foot for balance.

Pleasant as it is here, onward ho we go to Albany, where my new bankcard is hopefully waiting for me. One of the stresses of travelling for prolonged periods is getting “stuff”. When we found the bank and explained they should have a card waiting, the teller was greatly relieved as the Edmonton branch had forwarded the card, but, despite assurances, had sent no covering explanation. Luckily it had arrived that morning so our timing was great.

We are staying at the Middleton Beach Caravan Park. You can walk along cliff pathways back to the visitors centre and the town, about an hour an a half each way or along the beach and pathway for an hour or so in the other direction to Emu Point. Owen would love it for Mango and Whisper, but no sticks. All the dog walkers have those throw sticks for tennis balls. We do miss those beach walks with Vanilla and Bertie when we visited Owen. The other way is perfect for the Red Arrow crowd because your leg muscles get a good working out. With all this walking we should be fading to a shadow, but I fear we have too much fuel input.

Whale World was one place to visit here. Very good for the historical link, but I for one found it a bit disturbing to think of all those magnificent creatures who died because of men. The dispassionate young lass giving the learnt commentary didn’t help those feelings of remorse for maltreatment of the whales in the name of commerce. At least they didn’t pretend it was research.

There are some skeletal displays that are awesome and there is also a delightful 3D movie well worth a view. It took us back to Avatar and the blues brothers look, but further back to our childhood and those cardboard glasses. The only difference was the lenses were not red and green.

A beached whaling ship is easy to explore. It is an interesting way to spend a bit of time. In town, there is a historical walk, but many of the featured stops along the way require an entry fee, so it would add up pretty quickly if you paid for everywhere. Maybe this is the downside of bigger places, everyone wants their ten dollars worth, or more.

More enjoyable was an exploration of Natural Arch and the Gap. Here the forces of nature are hard at work in changing the coastline, as it has been since this land was joined to Antarctica. Nearby are the blowholes, not spectacular in wave action today, but the air rising was enough to carry Brian’s hat into the air in an almost successful escape bid.

There have been lots of markets to pour over, craft markets and farmer’s markets, the latter being popular with the locals. They are not necessarily cheaper than the shops, so you do have to be discriminating, but there is lots to tempt. We even found a RSPCA store where we found some treasures for next to nothing. Brian got a tupperware cake container perfect for the carrot cake he has just made and I found a jacket a bit lighter than my big winter one, just enough to take the bite out of the wind, plus some glass bowls, all for less than $10. How good is that?