Dotted throughout the vast countryside of Westerm Australia are small settlements which in the days of the horse and cart were resting and victualling points for travellers making exhaustive journeys to major centres distant from Perth, the State capital.
In the South of the state one of the important and larger destinations is Albany. (pronounced with an AL as in Pal) Albany actually preceded the founding of Perth by 2 years in 1827 and took place because of the fear of the English that the French may declare Albany theirs as they sailed frequently around the Australian coast. In doing so, the French named many landmarks that still bare the French titles for them, eg Freycinet, CapeBouvard and many others.
Albany has seen many industries come and go over the 184 years of its inhabitation by Europeans including agriculture, timber, whaling and minerals. In recent times, the whaling has been prohibited but an excellent re-constriction of the original whaling station with one of its original whale chaser boats restored to its original state and rebuilt whale meat and whale oil processing facilities. The Station has added exhibitions of local flora and fauna to its inventory and these include flora only found in this very area, kangaroos, koalas, wombats and indigenous birdlife.
Visit Albany! (4 hours by car from Perth) and allow leisure time to visit the whaling station and its nearby historic memorabilia and rugged coastline a few kilometers further south.
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