Beautiful coastline, blueberry-picking, sandcastles (Albany and Denmark, Western Australia)

During our road trip to the Great Southern Region of Western Australia, we followed a rough itinerary suggested by my older brother who has frequently travelled down south with his friends since his university days. The south-west of WA is beautiful, and it's such a great place to bring city kids to for exposure to nature and country life. We stayed in the area for only two nights, and the 4-year-old had such a fun time being in a surrounding so different to the noisy, crowded and polluted city life in Hong Kong. I enjoyed the country driving and just being away from my hectic life. The following shots are what we saw and did on our second day, both in Albany and Denmark and in between.

The Natural Bridge and The Gap, Albany

The Natural Bridge and the Gap are probably the most famous natural tourist sites in Albany. It was worth making the trip just for the breathtaking views of the rugged coastlines and the brightest blue ocean water I have ever seen. Photos really don't do any justice to how beautiful it is in real life. Apparently this coastline is known as the "edge of Antarctica", where the two continents parted ways many years ago. Australia is still drifting northwards, at a rate of 5cm/year.

A panoramic view that greets visitors making their way to the Natural Bridge (click image for larger size):

It's obvious why this is called the Natural Bridge:

The Gap, where waves rush in and out ferociously. This photo doesn't show much, so check out the short video clip below:

A short 10-second clip showing the Gap:

The Gap, Albany (Western Australia) from Jean on Vimeo.

At the viewing platform to watch the waves go in and out of the Gap (my mum was rather nervous when I stepped onto the rocks to take photos). The boy was seeking comfort and protection away from the flies (and the huge sandfly do bite!):

Wind Farm, Albany

We visited the Wind Farm whose wind turbines we could spot from town 12km away. These turbines are huge, and the Wind Farm is a great place to teach kids about renewable energy from nature.

18 turbines in all:

I can't get over how beautiful the coastline is:

A panoramic view from one of the viewing platforms at the Wind Farm (click for larger image):

The Blueberry Farm, Denmark

After visiting the Wind Farm, we made our way to Denmark and dropped by the Eden Gate Blueberry Farm for some hands-on blueberry picking experience. Hubby and I had picked blueberries a few years ago when we were living in rural Japan, and I thought it would be a good experience for a city kid like our boy. The kid had so much fun, and got really good at picking the ripe berries. This is another must-do for families with children.

Blueberry harvesting:

The boy picking out the ripest blueberries:

Looking very pleased with the bucket of blueberries he helped to pick:

We shared a delicious homemade blueberry muffin too (and bought a yummy blueberry port to bring home to HK):

Greens Pool, Denmark

In the afternoon, after we'd had lunch and checked into our accommodation in Denmark, we went out again to the beach. We made a quick pitstop at a honey meadery that was along the way to Williams Bay and picked up some delicious honey mead and healthful honey cappings. Then we drove to Greens Pool, which is truly gorgeous with crystal clear waters. This is a great sheltered beach for little ones to play in, and the boy had fun building (and demolishing) sandcastles with his grandfather.

Panoramic shot of the pristine Greens Pool with the late afternoon sun shining directly into the camera:

The highlight of the afternoon for me was discovering a birds nest and watching the two parent birds go in and out in search for food to feed to three little chicks:

Caught on video too:

Rural eats @ Black Cockatoo Cafe, Kojonup (Western Australia)

On our way down to Albany, I had driven for about three hours before we had to stop for a toilet break and stretch in a country town called Kojonup. I was hoping to lunch in Albany (a 5-hour drive), but nature called. It is worth noting that there is a large children's playground near the public toilets, which our 4-year-old would've enjoyed if he weren't so bothered by the flies. We decided that since we'd already stopped, we may as well grab some lunch since it was so close to midday. The Black Cockatoo Cafe is located next to the Kojonup Visitor Centre and the Rose Maze (and opposite the road from the public toilets and playground), so it is hard not to notice it. It's a casual setting, where food orders are placed at the cash register, and cutlery and water is self-served. There's a variety of focaccia and sandwiches on the lunch menu, as well as burger and fish and chips. The food is pricey, but we wouldn't expect otherwise for a place that serves mainly travellers to/from Albany from/to Perth.

The boy wanted the Fish and Chips (around AU$7) from the Kids' Menu. Obviously he liked the chips more than the fish:

Hubby and my mum ordered Chicken and Bacon Focaccia (AU$9.95) - roasted chicken breast, grilled bacon, tomato, baby spinach with a toasted macadamia nut mayonnaise. Yummy combination in a sandwich:

My dad ordered the Fish and Chips (AU$17.50) - grilled at my request, and served with chips, salad and tartare sauce. The fish looked overcooked and dry, but I heard no complaint from my dad:

I ordered the Salt and Pepper Squid Salad (around AU$16) from the daily specials board, and I quite enjoyed this one. The battered squid was crispy on the outside but moist and tender on the inside, and the semi-dried tomato was a nice touch. The peri-peri sauce was delicious:

Overall it was a pleasant lunch and I was rejuvenated for the remaining drive (my mum and hubby offered to takeover driving, but I wasn't ready to relinquish the driving duty just yet). Hubby and my mum did the right thing to order focaccia and not fish nor seafood because Kojonup is not a coastal town, but hindsight is 20/20. Still, Black Cockatoo Cafe is a decent spot for a bite to eat, and it has a decent range of focaccia and sandwiches.

Black Cockatoo Cafe
143 Albany Hwy
Kojonup, WA 6395
Australia
Tel. +61 8 9831 1606

Sights around Albany town, Western Australia

For our Christmas trip to Perth, we decided to do something different from the usual catch-ups and meetings with families and friends: a road trip down to Albany and the nearby towns Denmark and Walpole. Albany is about a 5-hour drive from metro Perth, and I hogged the driving for the whole trip! I hadn't driven a car in over 5 years (except during short trips to Perth once yearly), and I really missed driving. However after driving about 14 hours over a 57-hour period, I was more than happy to hand the driving over to hubby. We invited my parents along on the trip so that they could have some quality time with their grandson, and the boy had so much more fun with them than if he had to spend all that time by himself in the backseat of the car. The road trip was a nice change from what we always do whenever we go to Perth, and it was good for our 4-year-old to surround himself with the countryside, trees and beaches (but he absolutely hated the flies, and there were many!). We arrived in Albany around 3pm in the afternoon, and after checking-in and dumping our luggage at the hotel, we took a wander around town on foot. Albany is the oldest permanently settled town in Western Australia, and I must admit that I enjoyed the laidback lifestyle and open space a lot more now that I'm living in busy, hectic and crowded Hong Kong.

The iconic Town Hall building on York Street:

Another Albany icon - the Dog Rock. I intentionally included its surroundings to give you an idea of how big this rock is. There's a motel and a shopping centre named after this rock:

We dropped by the local Woolworths supermarket to pick up some breakfast for the next day, and I was pleased to find that the supermarket was large and well-stocked. We grabbed some food for dinner to have in our hotel, and after dinner, hubby, the boy and myself went out for an evening stroll to cover other parts of town.

Off in the distance, as the sun was setting, we could spot the windmills from the nearby Wind Farm that we would visit the following day. The boy counted 12, and I suppose the remaining 6 weren't visible from town:

We came across an offsite location of the University of WA (both hubby and I graduated from the main campus of UWA). This is a heritage site with a clock tower with four clock faces:

A pedestrian bridge:

That's our boy running across the wide bridge:

Walking through and mulling over the words at the ANZAC Peace Park:

More photos of our road trip to follow!