McCulloch Family Giant Leap: Rain, rain and more rain in Albany

We had been quite lazy in Denmark and hadn’t bothered to set up anything outside the caravan other than the awning, so this made packing up very quick and easy. Mind you we didn’t start until about 8:30am as we were only going down the road to Albany, so didn’t want to get there too early and not be able to check in. Once we were hitched on and out of our site, we then had to navigate all the kids to try and get out of the park. This was made all the more scary by the fact we had the caravan on the back so we just took it extra slow.

Half way out we had to stop as there was another caravan part way through hitching on so we just had to wait for them to finish. Then of course they decided they wanted to pull out our way, so we had to move right over to one side. This is where I got out and had the hand held radio, just to get the kids back away from the van and let Jason know he was in the clear. I have no idea where the parents were but these kids just wouldn’t move off the road. So I stayed out whilst the other guy moved off his site as I had to hold the kids back from going back on the road. Then I hopped back in the van and we were out of there.

Well so we thought. Nope, last right turn and there are more kids on bikes and what are they doing, just stopped in the road having a chat. Yes they look as us but still don’t move. So again I hopped out and asked them to get off the road (politely) as we needed to get through. Honestly parents, if your kids don’t know the road rules, supervise them. There were younger kids who would see you coming and get well off the road, but others just looked at you, made you stop and proceed to ride their skateboard past staring at you.

Eventually we made it out, but my gosh it felt like an effort, and we are now counting down to the end of school holidays. The rest of the trip to Albany was easy going and before we knew it we were checked in and making our way to our site. Getting into the site was another task in itself. I thought it would be easy; we just drive around and pull up, done. No, we had to leave a gap big enough for other cars and caravans to get through. Yes maybe if we were a small van that would be easy but it took a couple of goes of me directing Jason before Jason took over and did what he wanted to and managed to park the van just fine! Then unhitching caused the van to rock back a bit which scared us, but luckily we had the chocks in place, but it was still just a moment we weren’t prepared for so it gave us a fright.

Setting up.

I mean we are right on the edge of a river bank so we really didn’t want our van in there, mind you it would have just rolled back into the big tree behind us. Still before we knew it we were set up and headed straight into town to find a nice place overlooking the water to have lunch. Well we didn’t quite make it to a nice place as Hamish spotted McDonalds so we decided to treat them and get that for lunch and took it down to the waterfront to eat. From there we headed straight to the information centre. The weather was quite cloudy so we wanted to see the ANZAC memorial before the rain set in. I ran into the information centre and grabbed a few things plus directions to the memorial, whilst Jason took photos of one of the cars in the carpark. Yes it was down to only one tyre and had chocks on all the other wheels, so this is probably not the place to park your car long term.

Enjoying a picnic.

This was the only tyre the car had left.

The National ANZAC Centre is just amazing and quite a lot of the grounds are free. The only part you have to pay for is the museum. So we paid to go in and the kids lasted about 15 minutes before they got bored. It is well set out with great displays but it is just all about reading really so nothing to interest a 5 and 2 year old. I just decided it would be easier to take them outside for a walk around the grounds whilst Jason checked out the rest of the displays. When you enter the museum you are given a card with a name of one of the ANZACs and as you walk through you find out more and more about this person.

Beautiful grounds and view.

Getting excited.

Checking out the history.

The new centre.

The grounds are spread quite well over the hill and there were lots of areas that intrigued the kids and kept them entertained. After a while Jason joined us and we finished seeing the rest before making our way back to the car. We then headed home, stopping only to do the food shopping and grab some bait. I mean we are set up right on the river so one must try their luck. At first I had thought we were lucky to get a spot right on the river, but looking back at it now with the steep bank down to the water I was not quite sure. Still as soon as we got home Hamish wanted to fish. This was spurred on as there was another kid down by the river fishing. He wasn’t so happy about having to wait until we had unpacked all the shopping.

Defending Australia.

Oh another gun.

Kayla wanted her picture taken on the rock.

Just stunning outlook.

Such a well done centre.

I got chatting to our neighbours and they had lost their umbrella in the water and it had floated across to the other side, so I offered to get our kayak down and go and fetch it for them as they were leaving the next day. It was slightly spitting but I didn’t think that really mattered, so we got it down and walked it to and easier part of the park to put it in. The river bank was just too steep where we are to put the kayak in the water, so we had to walk it 100 metres down river. Kayla decided she wanted to come for a paddle too so she was following us with her life jacket on.

Once we were in and set off Jason went back to join Hamish in fishing and we paddled back and retrieved the umbrella and returned it to its owner. Kayla by now was over our little adventure so she hopped out and joined the boys and I went for a nice paddle up and down the river. Along the way I picked up little bits of rubbish that were caught in the trees. I even managed to untangle Jason’s line as he had cast out a bit too far into a tree. Then it was time to hop out and start getting the kids inside as the rain was picking up a bit. I managed to find a good log to tie the kayak too so we didn’t have to keep pulling it in and out of the river.

I can honestly say I had the most shocking night sleep that night, not because of the kids, but the constant rain and then little nuts falling on the roof of the caravan. It was just so loud. I did eventually drift off but was woken early in the morning around 4am to the sound of more heavy rain, wind and thunder. Just what I wanted to hear when camped beside a river. I was obviously the only one it was keeping awake and in hindsight I should have just turned on the tv to drown out the noise and put me back to sleep. Instead I just checked the weather radar and saw that there was only one line and there was another line of heavy rain following. Brilliant, who needs sleep anyway!

Eventually daylight started, but the rain stayed, sometimes lightening to just a little shower before getting heavy again. I managed to see that the kayak was still were I left it and nothing had blown into the river overnight so winning there. I felt sorry for our neighbours in the camper trailer as they obviously hadn’t been able to sleep and had gone off somewhere and returned about 6am and started packing up their camper trailer in the rain. Well the husband did anyway as the mum and son stayed in the car. I honestly don’t mind a wet day but according to the weather forecast it is going to be like this until after we leave. Disappointing really as so much that we want to see is natural and walks, so we either can’t do it or will have to do it in the rain. One of the walks I really wanted to do states it is dangerous in the rain, so I am just praying the weather dudes have it wrong and the sun is going to come out this afternoon and stay until we leave.

Still the wet weather allowed me to catch up on the blog and I decided to do the washing in the caravan park washing machine as it is faster and then use their dryers to have the washing completed in record time. By then we were over being stuck in the caravan so went out for coffee and I have to admit I ordered the biggest coffee size they had as I was going to need it today. From there it was a quick stop at the shops as Hamish had a blowout with his gumboots, so we quickly grabbed him a new pair.

Now we were all waterproof we headed out to the Torndirrup National Park to check out the Whaling Centre. I can’t believe that they only stopped whaling there some 30 years ago, which means (without trying to make myself sound old), they were still operating when I was a young kid. Still it is part of history but I am glad that it stopped so that we still have the beautiful animals around today to admire. When you see one of the skeletons you just can’t believe how big they are. Let alone when the blue whale has a baby that is several metres long and weights seven tonnes. Yep, glad I am not a whale, though some days I feel like it with my shocking diet.

Feeding the kids to the whale.

There was actually a slide inside.

Hamish having fun.

Then of course it is Kayla's turn.

At first Hamish wasn’t keen to walk around another place, but he soon got into it and really enjoyed it all. We thought about staying there for lunch but saw the prices and decided against it, instead opting to grab some fish and chips on the way home. We quickly detoured in to see Salmon Cove, appropriately named by the fish that come in there for shelter. The fishermen were certainly out that day trying their luck. We ended up having to make our own lunch back in the van as the fish and chip shop that I had googled and was apparently the best was closed for the day and we couldn’t be bothered to turn around and go back into town.

Bit of action on the tour.

Massive skeleton.

Ready for the movie.

On board the old whaling ship.

Impressive and sad at the same time.

Back at the van the river had risen a little bit so I had to go and push the kayak a bit under the water to free it from under the log it had been floating under the afternoon before. Jason and Hamish then tried their luck a bit more with the fishing but only Jason caught a bream which unfortunately was too small to keep. Even the sun popped out a bit for an appearance and suddenly there were a few kids around and out playing, so Hamish and Kayla made a few new mates. We even bought some firewood so we could have a fire the next few nights and Hamish and Kayla shared their marshmallows with their new friends.

Hamish having a fish.

The sun disappeared behind the clouds again and it started to rain again, but thankfully not as much as the night before and we still got to sit around the fire and have our dinner, before retreating under the awning for dessert. At least it didn’t put out the fire and it was nice to just sit out there and relax for a while after dinner while the kids played inside with their new friends. Fingers crossed for no more storms while we are here, this mum needs a good night sleep.

I was in luck, had the best night sleep ever, I think I just crashed and was out for the count after the long day the day before. We really thought we were winning with the weather too as whilst it wasn’t a clear sunny day it wasn’t raining and it looked like the sun was coming out a bit. So Jason took the gas bottle into town to get filled up and post a birthday card, while I took the kids around the park to find some better marshmallow toasting sticks and for a play on the playground.

It is so lush and green down here, exactly what I always wanted as a view from my dream home. Whilst I was trying to take pictures of it I noticed that the clouds were starting to build again and it looked quite dark. It wasn’t long until the kids and I were retreating to the caravan to get out of the rain. At least I had convinced them to wear their raincoats and gumboots so they were dry. Jason got back a little later and we both commiserated our bad luck with the weather but decided we weren’t going to let it ruin our day and still headed out.

Our first stop was to see the lookout over Mutton Bird Island. It rained the whole way there except for a few kilometres so we thought we were in good luck and going to actually get to enjoy the lookout and walk down to the beach. Just as we were driving the last kilometre the rain came back over. I thought I would quickly jump out and take a photo but the wind and the rain was so cold I quickly jumped back in, and sent Jason out! So we retreated back to town with the rain the whole way back and it seemed to be only getting heavier.

Looking down onto the wet beach.

A break in the rain so Jason jumped out for a better photo.

Mutton Bird Island.

After a quick drive up the hill in town to the lookout and again retreating with no good photos we decided to pull into the information centre to get their recommendations for a child friendly place to eat. Their response was not what we wanted to hear – McDonalds. You are telling me there are no child friendly cafes, pubs, taverns, or restaurants in this town. We tried to google but that didn’t really turn anything up either except for a pub just up the road from where we were. Finding a park was really hard and it was pouring rain by now so we decided to head home. Then we found a carpark out the back so parked there and ran in.

I am sure it is beautiful on a sunny day.

They didn’t look like they were serving lunch yet so we went to the café next door. It looked good as there were heaps of other families there but they were packed out with no spare table in sight. So we left. By now we were getting seriously hungry and cranky that we couldn’t find a good place to eat and we were running out of time too. As the weather was horrible we thought we would catch the Shaun the Sheep movie and it was only showing at 1pm. So unfortunately we called it quits and just got McDonalds again. Of course drive through as there were no carparks spare and then drove out of town to the cinemas and ate it there in the warmth of the car.

By the time we had finished and the cinema doors had opened (yes it is odd but this was the first session of the day) the sun had started to shine through. After a quick check of the weather on our phones we decided to skip the movie and try and make the most of the break in the weather. We knew it wasn’t going to last so we didn’t want to spend the only good time stuck inside. So back to the van we raced and grabbed our fishing rods, buckets and spades and headed off to Little Beach. The drive was just so pretty with a mixture of green rolling hills, waterways, of either rivers, lakes or inlets and then the scrub of the forest reserve.

Check out the sky now and the beautiful beach.

The boys trying to fish.

Beautiful white sand and crystal clear water.

When we pulled up we were just amazed by the beauty of this little pocket and it was certainly helped by the fact that the sun was out which made the water so much prettier in colour. Jason took the kids down to the beach while I walked up onto the rocks to get a few photos before joining them down on the beach. Kayla and I built sandcastles and went for a walk while the boys tried their luck fishing off the beach. I know everyone raves about Lucky Bay near Esperance but I personally would rate this beach better. The only thing Lucky Bay has over this beach is that it has calmer waters for swimming for the little ones, but honestly I think if we walked around more we would have been fine.

It all got too much for Kayla.

Crashing waves.

Everywhere you look it was another photo opportunity.

Still it was a nice and relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Every now and then a little shower would pass over but luckily it was only light rain and it didn’t ruin our time down at the beach. Eventually we had to pack up as it was starting to look a little dark again so we thought we should call it quits before we got caught out. We drove home a different way and found a nice new estate where each house was on at least an acre and their view and land were just stunning. Yep I could certainly build there.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent back at the caravan park with the fire started up again and more marshmallows were toasted. They even have a little vegetable and herb garden here in the caravan park that you are allowed to pick and use from. I have certainly been enjoying the fresh silver beet as we don’t buy it much as the kids aren’t the biggest fan and you can only seem to buy massive bunches of it.

Unfortunately no keepers.

Well it was another relatively wet start to the day and it looked like it was going to stay that way for most of the day. I had been holding out going to Mt Barker and then onto Castle Rock to climb up to the skywalk but I wasn’t so sure that I was going to get to do it. Still one had to try their luck. As we drove into Mt Barker Jason said we should see if they have a bakery we could call into. I naturally agreed and it just happened to be we drove past a sign to turn left to the bakery. There were a lot of cars parked outside and across the road so that had to be a good sign and after waiting for a park, which was quite entertaining watching people reverse out without looking, we went in.

This wasn’t just any ordinary bakery; it was award winning for their pies. There were also heaps of other treats that the kids got to pick from so they were in their element and Jason and I debated for ages which pie to have. I mean if they had only won two awards it would have been simple to pick but no, they had won so many gold awards for all different types of pies. In the end Jason chose the smoked pork pie and I went the chicken, camembert and cranberry pie. Both were delicious but I think Jason’s was our pick of the two.

Decisions, decisions.

Just some of their selection.

So after finding that little hidden gem, we drove around the town before heading out to Castle Rock. The whole way there you couldn’t see the top of the mountains so I thought there would be no way I would be going up, but when we pulled into the car park there were heaps of cars so I thought we should give it a go. I had read that it was only a 3km return walk so we got the kids out, but then I read that it was 4.4km return on the signs. Hmm I think there needs to be some brochures updated and after reading more of the signs we decided it was best not to do it with the kids, so up I went.

After only 500m I was certainly glad we didn’t take the kids up as it was not exactly one they would have enjoyed and talking to people coming down it was only going to get harder – yay for me. Every now and then there would be a spot where you could get a glimpse of the view so I would snap a photo in case there was cloud cover when I got to the top. Eventually I made it up to the top part where you had a choice of two ways. One to a simple lookout and the other “scramble” as they called it up to the skywalk.

Heaving up the track.

The view part way up.

Hanging rock.

Looking up to the sky walk.

Now I am not a big fan of heights, yet alone heights that I don’t’ feel are safe, and well this climb I didn’t think was overly safe but I did it. Then there was the ladder up to the walkway. All that effort to just see clouds! It was also quite windy, so I quickly snapped some photos before making my way back down. I was quite nervous, my heart racing and legs like jelly but I managed to safely get down. I then did the easy lookout before making my way back down. After only about 400m I realised that I had left my water bottle up there.

Up on the sky walk.

A few quick snaps and I was out of there.

Heading back down the water logged track.

I had safely put it down when I went up to do the scramble climb but forgot to pick it back up. At the time I was talking to other walkers who were coming up and the lady kindly offered to pick it up and bring it back down for me. I had full admiration for them as they were doing the climb with three young kids, one being only 4. The walk back down was nice and easy, you had to watch where you walked as the path was quite waterlogged but it was still a lot easier than going back up. Once at the bottom I went and found Jason and the kids in the car and just said we had to wait for the family to bring down my water bottle. After an hours wait we gave up on my cheap Kmart $2 water bottle and headed home. It was well after lunch and I think everyone was starting to get hungry.

Trying to avoid that puddle was hard.

Once home Jason made a quick trip into town to fuel up, pump up the tyres, get some red wine for dinner (needed it in the dish) and of course grabbed me a new water bottle. I now have the biggest and flashiest water bottle. I just made the kids lunch and started to pack up outside before the rain came back and started to saturate everything. We had decided in the morning we would just chill at the caravan the rest of the day and slowly pack everything away.

The afternoon just flew by but we managed to fit in some fishing (nothing big was caught) and Jason got to go for a kayak and fish from there. I lit a fire again but the kids weren’t interested in toasting marshmallows. The park manager came over to me and said there had been a complaint about the smoke but he looked at my fire and said hopefully it would go away once it gets going more. I did politely tell him it had been well and truly going for over an hour and did offer to put it out. We weren’t the only ones with a fire, but I think he just wanted to look like he was doing something about the complaint. He said it should be fine but he just wanted to warn me in case she came over and complained (his opinion was that we are in the country, this is what you do).

Packing up has started.

Having fun on the playground.

Hamish enjoying a play.

Beautiful caravan park.

Another small fish caught.

Eventually Jason came back from fishing and we pulled the kayak back up the bank and it got packed away. The thought of an early night was certainly a nice one but it wasn’t going to happen as we had a fair bit to get done. With a big drive ahead of us the next day (all the way up to Freemantle) we would ideally like to get on the road early as the weather is going to make it slower too. Even though it has rained a lot down here in Albany, we have still really enjoyed our time and really think it is a beautiful spot and Happy Days Caravan Park is a great place to retreat to at the end of the day. We really do like these smaller caravan parks which just seem to have a more personal feel about them.