Albany

After 3 days at sea today we are docked at Albany which is on the south west coast of Australia. We woke to the sound of bagpipes, as a lone piper on the dock welcomed us in.

We did a late morning trip to visit Torndirrup Nation Park, Princess Royal Fortress and the recently opened National ANZAC Centre at Mount Clarence Lookout. The Centre tells the history of the Australian & New Zealand Forces during the 1914-18 period. Two convoys of ship with men & horses set sail for Gallipoli from King George Sound in November & December 1914.

The Centre is high tec and interactive. We were given a card on entry which accessed the details of one of the service person. My card was for Chaplain Walter Dexter, who was a Boer War veteran who had travelled to Australia from England in 1910. It was interesting to read about his experiences during the wars. He survived to return to Australia to live out his final years with his family.

This part of Australia is known for its cereal growing. We saw enormous 3 trailer trucks bringing grain into the massive storage containers shown on this blip. Some is then shipped out by sea, but large quantities at sent to Freemantle by train. We saw a 60 container train setting out from the grain store.

The weather started dull, but warm, but the skies cleared and it was a beautiful evening.