400yo Giant Tingle Tree near Walpole on WA’s south coast has a base circumference of 24 meters The heartwood damaged by fire while living, growing parts of the tree are located just below the barkGreens Pool, 5km west of Denmark is sheltered from the waves of the Great Southern Ocean by rounded rock bouldersKangaroo Paw growing beside the Denmark RiverMouth of the Denmark RiverAlbany Silo Art – Artists Yok & Sheryo (2018) The Ruby Seadragon, a species unique to WA, took 17 days and 180 litres of paint to complete
Thursday 26 August: Albany to Bremer Bay 250km
In 1826 the first European settlement in Western Australia was established in Albany but Aboriginals have lived here for at least 20,000 years. There’s dozens of heritage places in a small area near the port.
Albany Town Hall was completed in 1888Women’s Rest Center – “Built in 1908 as a shelter for drivers of horse drawn cabs. It remains a shelter for taxi cab drivers to this day”Albany Courthouse, completed in 1898 was the most expensive regional court built during the gold boomCave Point south of Albany on the Great Australian Bight The tower is a receiver station for the International Satellite-aided Search and Rescue SystemThe surging power of the Southern Ocean at The Gap in the 40m high coastal granitesNatural Bridge caused by the gradual wearing away of the granite rock by the Great Southern OceanRainbow on an island south of AlbanyIn November 1978, the Cheynes IV berthed after the last whale hunt and 178 years of whaling in Albany waters came to an endWe liked this pigeon toed, knobbly knee seagullWe went to see the Oyster Harbour Fish Traps which are at least 7,500 years old but it was high tide Photo: City of AlbanyEnroute to Bremer Bay we stopped at the isolated community of Wellcamp thinking it was just a servo Look what we found there!
Bremer Bay is supposedly surrounded by some of the most beautiful beaches in Western Australia and we’d planned walks in the area but the weather was atrocious. With temperatures around freezing, continuous rain and winds gusting over 60kph we spent all our time inside our warm cosy campervan.
Friday 27 August: Bremer Bay to Ravensthorpe 210km
Ravensthorpe is one of those small towns we liked straight away – beautiful old pub, streets filled with local wildflowers, free camping, great fish n chips from the servo and of course the fabulous silo art.
Ravensthorpe Silo Art – Artist: Amok Island (2016)“The silos depict the ‘Six Stages of Banksia baxteri’. All six sides of the three silos are painted, with one stage painted on each silo. Showing the development from flower buds to full bloom, to seed pods developing, then drying out and opening. This particular species of Banksia is native to Western Australia and only between Esperance and Albany.”The Palace Hotel was built in 1907 with local bricksThe Union Bank also opened in 1907 to support the town’s copper and gold prosperityGreen Silver Eye feeding on pink flowers
Between Jerramungup and Ravensthorpe there are several landmass changes and variations in native plants. Some of the strange wildflowers you never see in the eastern states that grow in this area:
Saturday 28 August: Ravensthorpe to Lucky Bay 270km
The No. 1 Rabbit-Proof Fence built between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits out of farming areas 1833 km long and the longest unbroken fence in the worldBird resting on a banksia, quite a feat in gusty 40kph windsLake Warden near Esperance – the pink colour is caused by a combination of algae and salt In places today it was bluish due to rain dilution
