March 7

March 7: Albany

When we woke up today we were making our way into the Albany harbor. The weather was misty and a comfortable 70 degrees. The forecast for the day was sunny and a high of 80, but by the time we were to be on our tour, around 3:30 pm, it was supposed to be mid-70's and then down into the 60s by the time we returned to the ship. And it was supposed to be quite windy today. There wasn't as much sun today as they forecast, but the temperature was right on the money. It was just the "wrong" temperature......in short sleeves you were fine until the breeze kicked up, then you were a bit chilly; with a jacket it was just a tad warm. So both of us alternated back and forth through out the entire day on shore.

The morning saw us spend our time by getting in our own exercise regimen. Kim hit the gym and the sauna for about an hour and a half; I walked the top deck walking path to the tune of a little over two miles. We had lunch in the "Cascades" dining room, which is where all the formal, sit-down, cloth napkins with waiter meals are held. Because we have "My Time" seating we can come and go at dinner at any time that fits our schedule, no assigned seating/table. That is how both the breakfast and lunch sessions work. I was a bit leery of sitting with different strangers each night, but our first night's dinner saw a table of eight of us all very engaged in talking like we were long lost friends; and the same was true today at lunch. The vast majority of the guests are from Australia, Great Britian, and the United States. We've met people from all walks of life, though most are older than we are. After lunch we took a tour of the ship, though that didn't take very long because we remembered nearly everything from our Alaskan cruise. While walking around we found our picture from our boarding in the photo shop, so we made our first purchase.........

Our Room

With our arrival at the pier we could see that Albany was not a big place - only about 30,000 residents. However it is the most historic and first port to open in Western Australia. The large building in the center - with the triangle-shaped roof is their new performing arts theater, just completed within the year.

The first stop on our tour today was at Mt. Clarence. This is a very high point which has a 360 degree view of Albany and the surrounding area. You can see a photo of Kim and I at the highest point below left. It has an interesting history, as it was at this point that all the troops being sent off to war in both the 1st World War and the second World War marched to on the day they left for a final religious ceremony. The area has many dedications to troops which gave their lives defending the world's freedom and democracy. Pretty cool.

Back on the bus and off to the Princess Royal Fortress. This dramatic point high above Albany was seen by the Australian government as the spot where if an invasion - during either of the World Wars - were to come, where the enemy would try to strike the Aussies. So the Princess Royal Fortress was set up with all kinds of weaponry at the highest point to defend the country. No attack ever came, and it may seem like they were a bit foolish to think such an attack would come at such a remote site......but who would have thought the Japanese would attack a remote naval base in the Hawaiian Islands (Pearl Harbor)?

The next stop was a very interesting stop. The citizens of Albany, several years ago, had decided to build a replica of the ship "Amity." This ship had been used for transportation of people and goods for several years until in the late 1820's the Australians were afraid that the French were going to try and colonize western Australia. So they sent 61 people (although we were also told the number was 58 and 60!) from Sydney to what is now Albany to establish a foothold in this western territory. The people traveled on this very small vessel - and trust me it was S-M-A-L-L! AND there were about a hundred animals of all varieties (horse, pig, cow, sheep) in the lower level. THREE months they travelled in 100 degree heat on board. It's hard to tell from the photo below, but when we were in the sleeping area I could not stand, even with just my head lowered, I had to be bent about 1/3 down to fit! Kim, as you see, fits nicely in the hammock sleeping area :)

The next stop was literally right around the corner from the Amity, it was the "Gaol" of Albany - a prison facility. We were able to walk inside and see how every small the jail cells were, though some were built for two prisoners to share, and even those were pretty limited in space. By far the smallest and most undesireable spot was the "Isolation Cell" or the "Black Hole." The sign stated you should go inside, shut the door and feel the "darkness" (even though there was a light in the cell!" So I volunteered to be the prisoner - you can see how much I am enjoying my stay :)

The final stop on the tour was the oldest building in Western Australia - originally built in 1832. It was a small house - though much bigger on the inside than you would have thought - with lots of clothes and artifacts that were over 100 years old. To be honest however, both of us were fairly unimpressed as though 1832 is quite a while ago, it pales in light of other historical places we've seen. For me in particular when I was in New Orleans recently I was on plantations that dated back to the early 1700's and late 1600's.

We came back on board and went to dinner a little after six. Ironically one of the couples to join us was a couple from the previous night, and that was fun. The other two couples were new to us - one from Pennsylvania and another from Sydney, Australia. The dinner was even better than the night before as we exchanged stories about our day's events and about our lives in general. There was a LOT of laughing and shared good times. Lots of fun to be sure. We went to the 9 pm show and the entertainment was billed as one of Australia's leading entertainers. He was a great singer and the audience was really into his enthusiasm. He didn't do any original material, but he was a dead-on ringer for acting and sounding like Neal DIamond! As the moon set when we headed back to the cabin it marked the end of a great day!