Albany part 2

We awoke to a dreary morning with some drizzle but this didn't deter us and with coats and umbrellas ready,  we set of for our second day of touring. However, the day improved and we didn't need all that wet weather gear after all. Our first visit was to the whaling station. This is a fantastic museum and we learned such about this station which closed in 1978. 

       

       This is a huge blue whale skeleton!     

      

It was a cruel smelly dirty business but the protesters against whaling weren't as evident as we'd thought and the local community thrived on this industry. Eventually, under pressure from governments, operations ceased but the town underwent a 10 year slump - certainly not evident today! We were very impressed how the huge vats have been utilised for theatres showing movies on different aspects of the industry. We even donned 3D glasses to watch a movie about whales. They are remarkable creatures. We were able to go aboard the last whaler ship and conditions must have been awful: at least for us land-lubbers!!

     

Nothing to do with the whaling industry, we were very impressed with the 60 year shell collection made by a local lady. They were displayed beautifully and there were so many!

      

We spent hours in this museum, then had our picnic lunch in the adjoining gardens and wandered through the native animal gardens. We had never seen white kangaroos and wallabies like these:

     

This is actually a red kangaroo but the red colour gene is recessive! We also saw other Australian birds and animals then popped into see some natural wonders on the way back to camp. 

The long walk with 78 steps to the blowholes was a bit of an anticlimax as even though the waves were cracking loudly, there was very little "blow". However, the new platform over The Gap was excellent and the engineering amazed us!  You walk right out over this gap and watch the waves surge in and out with spectacular sprays. 

      

    

There's also a viewing platform for the natural bridge - something like along the Great Ocean Road. 

     

Yesterday was a bits and pieces day - we found a farmers market and purchased some fresh goodies, Dennis had his hair cut, we shopped in Rivers and I've now got a new coat to replace my red one!! We enjoyed a fish 'n'chips lunch at Emu Point and Darryl and I walked from Middleton Bay to the Pilots House which was a lovely walk. And now we are at this beautiful place Peaceful Bay after morning tea at Denmark where we met a couple who have a Lifestyle Van. 

        

Tomorrow we'll hit the forests and will enjoy more of this lovely part of Australia. It's so green everywhere and tonight we can hear the sea - plus I found there's a little jetty - wonder if there will be more time for fishing? We trust all our readers are well and send our love ❌❌❌❌❌ Dennis Tops, Darryl & Marg.