Paddy & Jen Adventures

We farewelled our beautiful friends the Welsford’s in Busselton and headed to Walpole, an area famous for the giant tingle and karri trees. We stayed in a park by the inlet and enjoyed some great walks, a cool mountain bike ride and a hairy but interesting tree top walk at the Valley of the Giants. Check out the size of these giant trees in the photos below.

From Walpole our next stop was the gorgeous town of Denmark. We stayed in a great riverside camping spot (Riverbend Chalets Caravan Park). We explored William Bay National Park, loving the stunning clear blue waters and soft white sands of William Bay, Greens Pool, Elephant Rocks and took a challenging bike ride along the cliffs near Lights Beach. We were lucky with the weather in Denmark, enjoying plenty of sunshine, although that also meant we spotted a few snakes on our walking paths. The days spent there were full of sightseeing, although the region has plenty of wineries. We were exhausted from our winery visits in Margaret River and decided to give them a miss until next time. Denmark was lovely and I can see us definitely going back there one day.

The weather turned on us once we left Denmark and the drive to Albany, and the 4 days we spent there were cold and wet. Paddy worked most the time and I took the chance to read a book. We went to the movies to see Wicked and walked only once at Emu Point when the rain held off. We couldn’t miss The Gap and Natural Bridge, on the outskirts of Albany. Got drenched but they were not to be missed.

The day we left Albany we visited the National Anzac Centre in town which was incredible. It was unique in that you were given the chance to assume the identity of an actual service man or woman and follow their experience in the war. At the end you discover their fate. I followed a nurse which was really interesting. She was deployed overseas and nursed at many hospitals during war time but had to give up that service when she was married. The Anzac Centre sits on the top of a cliff looking out over King George Sound. We both learnt that Albany was the first departure point for the first convoy of Aussie and NZ troops heading to Egypt (staging point for WW1), before leaving for Gallopoli & France.

We continued south to Bremer Bay, where we stayed 2 nights. This is a tiny town, famous for beautiful beaches (& Orcas in December-April – which we sadly missed by only a few weeks), but it poured the whole time we were there and we were confined to our van. Lucky I like my husband!!!

Our next stop was Esperance, which I will give a whole blog page to as it was divine. Check out the photo gallery page now too for more photos of these adventures.