Day 45 – February 19, 2015 – Thursday – Albany, Australia

I did not make a post for Day 44 since it was a sea day and nothing notable happened.

We arrived in Albany pronounced Al (as in Albert) and were cleared for debarkation around 8:15. Since we didn’t have any tours scheduled, we had a leisurely breakfast and then made our way to the gangplank. We were docked in the industrial area, actually the only dock area Albany has. This city only sees a few cruise ships each year but certainly has a warm welcome for them. It is about a 15 minute walk into town but the port provided a free shuttle which ran every 30 minutes. We took the shuttle into town and thought we would walk back.

Albany is in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, about 250 miles SE of Perth, the state capital. Albany is the oldest permanently settled town in Western Australia, predating Perth and Fremantle by some two years. At the 2011 Census, Albany’s population was 30,656, making it the state’s sixth-largest population center.

Albany was founded on December 26, 1826 as a military outpost of New South Wales as part of a plan to forestall French ambitions in the region. The area was initially named Frederick Town in honor of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. In 1831, the settlement was transferred to the control of the Swan River Colony and renamed Albany by Governor James Stirling.

During the late 19th century the town served as a gateway to the Eastern Goldfields and, for many years, it was the colony’s only deep-water port, having a place of eminence on shipping services between Britain and its Australian colonies. The opening of the Fremantle Inner Harbor in 1897, however, saw its importance as a port decline, after which the town’s industries turned primarily to agriculture, timber and, later, whaling. Agriculture and timber are still major industries in the area.

Unlike most of Western Australia, Albany is cool and wet, with a Mediterranean climate. It receives about 40 inches of rain and has an average summer temperature of only 72 degrees.

This was posted on a clothing store but was seen on many other businesses. Good Idea…

Thought this was cool, the No Entry sign was actually a separate sign on a pole across the drive.

An antique fire truck you could take a ride in.

The little market on the square which was brought out for the ship. We found some neat things here.

This town in Western Australia really had the flavor of a western town in the US.

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Australia has a thing with their gaols (jails), every city we have visited has an old gaol. I guess it is a result of their “convict” history.

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A reproduction of the Brig Amity which brought the first settlers to Albany in 1826.

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We searched for the Bibbulman Track which we wanted to say we walked on. It is one of the world’s great long distance walks and at over 500 miles, is Western Australia’s longest walking trail, stretching from Perth city to Albany. This is where the lady at the museum directed us but warned that it had been “cut back”.

We really weren’t sure if we were on the trail or not, but there was a trail of sorts and lots of interesting plants. We didn’t wander too far because the sand was brutal to walk in.

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The University of Western Australia. Yes, this seemed to pretty much be it although the building was quite long.

Interesting sign. This restaurant, bar, brewery sets pretty high standards for their patrons. Looks like the intent might be to decrease the incidence of conflicts.

On our way back to the ship we finally found the southern terminus of the Bibbulman Track. It was not where shown on our provided maps!

We saw many of these three tandem trucks hauling grain to the port.

I don’t think they meant, cruise line passengers…

The huge bay which Albany is located on is really beautiful.

We were docked in the industrial area directly across from a grain storage/loading facility.

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The other major exports here beside grain is silica (someone said it is the world’s largest exporter of high grade silica) and wood chips.

We returned to the ship around noon. We had lunch then I went to the gym followed by the thermal spa. Everyone else just went to the spa. So far I am holding my weight at about 5 pounds gain which I think is excellent! This morning alone though we walked over five miles which helps keep the pounds off.

Some of us napped the afternoon, I worked on the blog and read my Kindle. We sailed around 5 PM. It was interesting that we had a tug boat to PULL us away from the pier. The captain said this was because the pier was compromised and they didn’t wish to undermine it any further by using the ships side thrusters. There are always tugs standing by to assist if needed, but this is the first time I have ever actually seen a tug assist a cruise ship.

I almost missed the sunset, but here it is. Beautiful as always in the Pacific… well actually we are now in the Indian Ocean.

It is now after dinner, and we have about an hour before tonight’s entertainment. I thought I would finish the blog and get it posted. We have one day at sea before reaching Freemantle on Saturday for an overnight stay. We have purchased a two day ticket for the ferry to Perth and the HOHO bus in Freemantle so we should be busy.

I will now say goodnight. It is 7:30 PM Thursday here and 6:30 AM Thursday in Georgia…