On one of my days off I decided to go down to Albany, a town on the South coast, about a 2 hour drive away. I borrowed Jo's car and set off early ready for a couple of days out of Katanning! The journey didn't start well as I almost ran out of petrol halfway there and was pretty stressed by the time I finally saw a petrol station. Everything really is so far apart here - it's not like driving up the M1 that's for sure. Anyway I managed to fill the car up and get on my way to Albany without the aid of a map or sat nav - there are so few other roads that it's pretty impossible to get lost.

Upon arrival Albany seemed a teeming metropolis - a maccy D's, subway and cinema as well as a shopping centre seemed truly exotic after the quietness of Katanning. Apart from those obvious positives it has some beautiful scenery. After checking in the hostel (I am not missing the hostel smell, it's the same worldwide it seems) I took myself off on a drive to see the sights. Albany was a landing settlement for convicts so there is a replica of the Amity brig, the first convict ship that arrived there in 1826 (I think). I thought the locals looked mighty suspicious!

Most of the sights are natural formations along the rugged granite coastline, as well as the gorgeous beaches. 'The Gap' is a pretty impressive sight, a 24 metre drop between the sheer cliff sides, but not quite as amazing as the natural bridge, a huge stone bridge across a kind of inlet - tricky to describe so just check the photos! You can't really tell how huge it is - perspective is tricky to show when you're taking photos by yourself :-S Lastly I went over to see the blowholes - natural holes worn through the granite along the coast through which sprays of water are forced up by the power of the waves. It makes a really funny loud noise as well, although I don't think I got the whole spectacle as the tides weren't quite right when I was visiting. It was a warm day when I went but was a bit cloudy - despite putting suncream on I managed to get a bit pink - oh yeah but only on one side from the car window, d'oh!

After I'd done my touristy things I went along to Middleton beach, half hoped to see Kate and Wills hanging around on her namesake beach but no such luck unfortunately. My non stop wanderings had tired me out so as a treat I took myself off to the cinema to see John Carter - a bit cheesy but a film where the lead character spends most of his time in some kind of toga is always good. After a night in a lumpy hostel bed I had to drive back up to Katanning for work the next morning - no rest for the wicked.

Becca