4^th January 2017 Albany to Bremer Bay

Albany to Bremer Bay

We left the accommodation in Middleton Bay (Adelaide Crescent) near Albany and headed around Shoal Bay to the south west of Albany towards “The Gap” and a bridge formed by collapsing rock, quite a tourist attraction.

Mike at The Gap

The Natural Bridge

On the way back I took a closer look at the bay, which appeared to have a salty white froth at the edges and streakiness on the surface. We met up with two windsurfers who were just setting up their equipment. The water is very shallow, probably not much more than skeg high and loaded with seaweed. They needed swept-back skegs to stop the seaweed causing excessive drag. They thought that the streakiness was caused by release of the oil in the seaweed driven by the wind into lines.

We had planned to head up to Porongurup National Park so didn’t stay more than a few minutes and drove off north-west. Within the national park we took a 4.4km walk up and back to the Skywalk/Castle Rock. This was a structure that had been built at an excellent lookout point, some parts helicoptered in to the location. The 2.2km walk up to the peak was quite tiring due to the temperature, which had risen to the high 30s or low 40s. The last bit of a climb up to the Skywalk required a reasonable amount of agility; although some widely separated hand holes were provided.  On my way down I spotted a large lizard and Sheila spotted a snake 1-2m in length just where I was about to descend the last bit of the climb. We had a snack at the bottom where Sheila was the first to spot a number of kangaroos in a nearby wooded area.

The balancing act in Porongurup

Mike on the Skywalk

Sheila on the lower level

In the last 60km as we drove to Bremer Bay, it wasn’t particularly late, but we were moderately startled when a kangaroo ran across the road in front of the car.

In Bremer Bay we took a quick look around and noted that the links type golf course had black-sand greens. Again the sand was impregnated with oil to bind the sand. Not a sole was present on the course.

Black greens at Bremer Bay Golf Course

 In the evening we ate at the Mount Barren Restaurant, which was heaving with customers; we wondered where they had all come from since the village was very small.