After leaving Lake King, seeing we had already driven 250km we were only doing a small drive int he arvo. The drive was so boring, almost felt like we were back on the Nullaboring stretch....The weather had gone from the heat of the dry country to the coastal rain, all in a matter of hours. We were all a tad knackered and couldn't drive any longer, even the last 20km to Norman's beach. We figured the rain was set in and would be crappy to be near a beach and not be able to enjoy it so we found a recreational ground to pull up on. It was a little town called Many Peaks in which we deliriously made reference to Nik's girls for some reason. We tried to camouflage ourselves behind the trees with our vans as we reckon that we were parked illegally. The toilets were left open so that was a bonus. No showers but that didnt matter as it was only for one night. The rain was misty and while we set up, the kids ran off around the oval and on the tennis court making sure to splash in every puddle. What was point in worrying about them getting wet, at least they were burning off energy and having fun. They looked like ratty shags by the end of it. I whipped up a Shepherds Pie for dinner and we all settled in early due to the cold and wet. No point sitting outside freezing our butts off when we could be snuggled inside under a doona. Marty and l are really enjoying the new van, don't think our marriage would have survived the Nullabor in the Jayco let alone setting up for one night stops in the rain. So easy to pull up and open a door and everything being already there. The sleep that night was pretty poor as the rain got heavier during the night. We just hoped that the grassy oval wouldn't be too boggy in the morning.
Next morning we all woke early as usual and set off in good time. Next stop Cosy Corner, a free camp just outside Albany. We arrived at the camp spot with the rain set in once again. We picked out what we thought to be an alright spot. Little did we know that this would end up being a very frustrating set up. We thought the rain was the only thing that would be testing, then the sand and van took its part. Least to say, we were not happy. Marty pulled the van up, unhooked and then the van decided that it wanted to keep rolling forward. The wheels chocks wouldn't even hold the van in place, continually sliding. Was a bit scary actually and l think this made Marty very frustrated which in turn switched to anger. There was swearing and "stuff it lets just go", "this is bulls***" and so on. Took me a bit to bite my tongue and convince him to hook the van up again and move to the other side of camp next to the Cronans. Because every traveller who knows Marty knows, once the van is unhooked, he doesnt move. Such a stubborn b******. Even Matty didnt know what to do and eventually l think we scared him too, but thankfully he was there to help us. After we were eventually set up l left Marty outside to cool down, which wasnt too hard as this place was freezing! I went inside and had a quick hot shower and got in my trackies and jumper, a while since having to put these on. Marty eventually got out of his mood, had a quick hot shower and the rest of the day was history. We stayed retreated in the van, l baked some treats and got dinner organised while the Cronan's headed off into town to do some errands.
Day 2 at Cosy Corner was unfortunately the same weather wise, cold and cloudy, but at least there was a break in the rain. We headed into Albany for a look around by ourselves whilst the Cronan's did their own thing. Albany is a bigger town than l expected but nothing too special. Has some nice old heritage buildings and the history is essentially around ships and war time. We headed off to check out the Wind Farm out the road which the girls, and Martin, were amazed by. Anything big and Marty seems to be attracted to it, the bigger the better. The noise that these wind machines make is out of this world and the speed is so fast. No wonder were cold with the force of this sea breeze on us. After taking in the wind farm, we made our way to the Natural Bridge, which is essentially a rock that has formed into looking like a bridge. We were just pulling up in the car park when the Cronan's had arrived. The kids all went banana's with excitement, anyone would have thought they hadn't seen each other for ages. We made our way up the road to another touristy point to check out the lighthouse. Silly us took the wrong road and walked down a rocky path and over boulders to find no lighthouse there. Eventually we realised this and made our way up to the right road and got to the lighthouse, which was nothing too impressive. Again, seen a lot of lighthouses that takes a bit to make us go "wow". We were all cold and couldnt do alot in this weather so we thought we would give the girls a treat and have some Macca's for lunch. I dont know why we dont go to a bakery or somewhere different as it is a total rip off really. After lunch we went back to the van for the arvo and tackled some more school work while we awaited Ton and Cam and the kids to turn up. Eventually they rocked up in the late arvo, we were hanging for their arrival, love these guys. They ended up setting up fine across the way from us, don't understand why their van didn't roll like ours? Kaz and Dan turned up later on for a BBQ with the kids, was so good to have some more people around. We all sat around and had some laughs and heated ourselves up with some wine and beer. The kids made a mess of themselves in the sand which was horrible. It was black under the top layer of fine sand and with the wet it just made everything stick and stain. When we all headed down to the drop toilets to take the kids we noticed this family all set up with tents and what looked like their life belongings. There was little toddlers running around in nappies all covered in dirt and adults yelling at them really bad. They looked like junkies. Felt sorry for the kids, like they weren't getting the love and attention kids deserve. Left a horrible feeling in my stomach. After the day had slipped away from us, the Ellis's headed off back into town to their caravan park (a rip off at $60 p.n) as they needed internet and power for Dan to work, we all headed inside again for the night. Marty and l decided we were already sick of Albany, the crappy weather and the horrible black sand at this camp site. Really hard to keep the kids clean, and with no water around, it was getting really frustrating.
Finally on Day 3 the sun decided to grace itself with its presence. Seeing this was our first opportunity of some decent weather we decided it was time to get out of the camp site and explore some neighbouring towns. We set off for a day out with the Cronans, first heading along the coast west of Albany to a tourist hotspot called Greens Pool. Again the magic coastline continues in WA. We arrived at Greens Pool and set off down the stairs to be greeted by this effervescent green/blue water surrounded by red mineral stained boulders. The water was crystal clear and l was totally transfixed with the surrounding images to the eyes. Pity l was dressed in my trackies, would have been a great place to snorkel and explore. The kids quickly headed off to jump over the boulders and see what creatures they could find. Funny enough that they came across a lizard hiding in the crevasses of the boulders, which soon disappeared at the sight of the kids. We had to holler at the girls to not go too far, but was great to see their exploring nature. After climbing up the boulders and sort of taking a few wrong turns we made our way to the path between a gap in these huge boulders to a place known of Elephant Rock. Its obviously called this as a few of the joined boulders create this image of an elephant. We let the kids strip off to their knickers and take a swim. They headed out to a boulder in the bay and copied Wil jumping off into the water. Really cute how the kids helped each other by pulling one another up by the arms. Marty laid down for a rest and enjoyed the heat of the sun while Nikki and l explored the boulders trying to get that stunning photo taken. Next we hear this ear piercing scream, l turned around to find Boo in the water screaming her head off. Now anyone who knows Boo knows shes a tough nut and only cries when something is really up. She was obviously hurt but l couldn't see what from and she was too beside herself to let me know. Wil helped her to the beach and then it was clear. There was blood pooling out of her foot. Poor thing had cut her foot on a rock, salty water obviously a little stingy. So our time enjoying this tranquil place was cut short, we carried Boo up the stairs and fixed her up with a few tissues. Can you believe l had no bandaids?? Pretty ironic for a nurse not to be carrying around first aid equipment.....so it was time to head off again and go into town to find some bandaids. The colours of the contrasting red mineral boulders and aqua clear ocean will forever be stored in my memory, fantastic spot. If the weather was more permitting we would have possibly considered driving up here and finding a place closer to camp to enjoy the beach a bit more. But seeing the weather was crap, l think our days in Albany might be closing to an end.
We all headed off to Denmark, a small drive away, to get some lunch and source some bandaids. We found this little grocer and parked near the park for a picnic. The ducks decided they wanted a piece of the action so of course the kids decided to annoy them, chasing them everywhere. Denmark was a cute little town, a small river passing thru, very quint. After lunch we headed to the info centre to see what else there was to explore around the area. Nothing much stood out so Marty and l decided to head back to Albany.
Back in Albany we headed into town to check out Anzac Hill, a remembrance site for the soldiers killed at war. It was actually the place of the first dawn service in Australia. When we pulled up we saw that Ton, Cam, Kaz, Dan and the kids where there too. Kaz and Dan had just finished checking it all out, so we said our goodbyes for now, hoping to catch up somewhere else along the line on this trip over West. We headed up to the monument site at the top of the hill with Ton, Cam and the kids, climbing at least 100 steps. Meg somehow not too sooky seeing she had the company of Jordyn and Riley. Once at the top we were able to take in the views of the Albany. Pretty good view of the surrounding ocean, a great place for this remembrance site. Was a little bit of a shame that some of the area was not accessible due to construction taking place. Its funny how these sites always have an eyry feeling to them, death felt upon them.
Back at camp we returned to clouds and showers. Marty and l decided tomorrow was time to pack up, there was no way we were going to be able to enjoy this place in this terrible weather. Plus it didn't really have a good feel to it with the feral family down the bottom of the camp and seeing the unkept kids. Overall, the vibe at Cosy Corner wasn't too cosy.....maybe in better weather so that you could enjoy the beach it would be different? Plus there were a few mice running about, Matty found out the hard way with hearing noises in his car. No way we were going to get infested with mice in the van or car, so tomorrow, another pack up day. Time to move on and see what other wonders we could find.......
Bell Xxx