Wednesday 7th May
We had been recommended a visit to 'Whale World' in Albany, a former whaling station that has been converted into a museum that tells the story of its fairly gruesome past. It took about an hour to drive from Denmark to the town of Albany, one of the larger towns in WA and an important port in Western Australia.
'Whale World' is situated about 12km south of the town. It used to be the Cheynes Beach Whaling Station but all activity stopped here in 1978 once commercial whaling had been banned worldwide. I didn't expect it to be as good as it turned out to be but the whole presentation was top drawer. Our guide was called Peter, a fast-talking Aussie who gave us some very interesting information on life as a whaler, the dangers involved and the process of carving up the sperm whales that were caught in the seas off Albany. In addition to this, we could see the old workhouse where whales were kept, churned up and cooked. A 3-D video promoted the protection of whales and sharks, a different message being sent out from this place than the one that pervaded for over thirty years previously. The final bit that we visited on this tour was onboard the 'Cheynes IV' whaling ship, a former hunting vessel that is now set on a dry dock and provides a real insight into how these whalers worked and lived. All in all, it was an excellent museum and really worth a visit. I really liked the way that they presented an honest, unsanitised history of the place, warts and all, but that they also made a big effort to put across a better message for the future.
After we left 'Whale World', we took a drive along the coast road, passing by Middleton Beach (where a shark attack had been reported around the time of our visit to Albany). We got out at Emu Point, a small cove east of Albany, and it had a nice small beach and a lot of leisure boats and yatches moored there. It was beautiful at sunset and it looked like a nice place to spend a few days.
However, we were more than happy in Denmark and we returned there along the 'scenic route', although we didn't see anything particularly remarkable in the landscape; we did see another fantastic sunset, with the sky a wonderful mix of deep orange and red. After another good meal at the 'River Bistro', we went back to the villa, packed our stuff and had an early night as we had an early start on the road back to Perth, where Mum & Dad and I were to sadly part ways.
