Perth & West Coast Australia Travel Guide by Lonely Planet

Author:Lonely Planet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lonely Planet

WEST CAPE HOWE NATIONAL PARK

Midway between Denmark and Albany, this 35-sq-km coastal park is a playground for naturalists, bushwalkers, rock climbers and anglers. Inland are areas of coastal heath, lakes, swamp and karri forest. With the exception of the road to Shelley Beach, access is restricted to 4WDs, mostly travelling through sand dunes, to explore the wild coast.

Camping is permitted at Shelley Beach, although campfires are banned.

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Albany

pop 25,200

Established shortly before Perth in 1826, the oldest European settlement in the state is now the bustling commercial centre of the southern region. Albany is a mixed bag comprising a stately and genteel decaying colonial quarter, a waterfront in the midst of sophisticated redevelopment and a hectic sprawl of malls and fast-food joints. Less ambivalent is its spectacular coastline, from Torndirrup National Park’s surf-pummelled cliffs to Middleton Beach’s white sands, and the calm waters of King George Sound.

The town is in an area that’s seen the violence of weather and whaling. Whales are still a part of the Albany experience, but these days are hunted through a camera lens.

The Bibbulmun Track ( Click here ) ends (or starts) here, just outside the visitor centre; the exhausted and/or exuberant comments in the walkers’ log books make great reading.

History

The Minang Noongar people called this place Kinjarling (the place of rain) and believed that fighting Wargals (mystical giant serpents) created the fractured landscape. The Minang set up sophisticated fish traps on Oyster Harbour, the remains of which can still be seen.

Initial contacts with Europeans were friendly, with over 60 ships visiting between 1622 and 1826. The Minang traded crops with the early arrivals, in exchange for ship biscuits. The establishment of a British settlement here was welcomed as it regulated the behaviour of sealers and whalers, who had been responsible for kidnaps, rapes and murder of Minang people. Yet by the end of the 19th century, every shop in Albany refused entry to Aboriginal people, and control over every aspect of their lives (including the right to bring up their own children) had been lost.

For the British, Albany’s raison d’être was its sheltered harbour, which made it a thriving whaling port. Later the city became a coaling station for British ships bound for the east coast, and during WWI it was the mustering point for transport ships for Australian and New Zealand troops heading for Egypt and the Gallipoli campaign.

1 Sights

Middleton & Emu Beaches BEACHES

Just around the headland, east of the town centre, these beautiful beaches facing King George Sound share one long stretch of family-friendly sand. In winter, you’ll often see pods of mother whales and their calves here. Head around Emu Point to Oyster Harbour for swimming pontoons and even calmer waters.

A clifftop walking track hugs much of the waterfront between the town centre and Middleton Beach. Boardwalks continue along Emu Beach.

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