Despite the weather we decided to go to Albany for the day to visit a few things - top of the list was the National Anzac Centre which honours the Anzacs of the First World War.
In 1914, over 41 thousand Australians and New Zealanders left Albany bound for Europe.
The Centre was opened in November 2014 which marked the centenary of the first convoy's departure from Albany's King George Sound.
It's located in Mount Adelaide, within Heritage Park, which comprises of a 260 hectare parkland which includes Mount Adelaide.
My parents and friend thought the $24 entry fee was a bit steep so we didn't visit the museum.
Living in Australia I'm used to paying high prices for many things and obviously our incomes are a lot higher than in most European countries, but that sort of fee is very high for them, specially when they are retired!
In front of the Anzac Centre there was some sort of parade going on so we stayed to watch until it started to rain heavily and we rushed back to the car.
We drove to the summit of Mount Clarence within the Heritage Park area.
The park has is a blend of cultural, historical and natural attractions can be explored by car or on foot and is access is free.
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| Start of the climb to Mount Clarence |
It's here that the Anzac Dawn service is celebrated on the 25th April every year, and the area has a capacity for 4000 people.
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| Padre White Lookout is a further climb from here (as seen at the back) |
Next to it at the summit is the Padre White Lookout.
At dawn on the 25th April 1932, Padre (military Chaplain) Ernest White led the parishioners from St John's Church to the summit of Mount Clarence, where many had gathered in 1914 to watch the troops depart.
Padre White started the tradition of the Dawn Service on Anzac Day (25th April) and each year thousands of locals and visitors gather atop Mount Clarence in Albany looking out over King George Sound, for the dawn service commemorating the fallen.
As you can see from the photos the sky was grey and it was cold and windy...
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| Steps to Padre White Lookout and view of the King George Sound (inlet larger than a bay) |
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| View of the city from the Padre White Lookout |
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| Lest we Forget |
We were cold and miserable and went in search of a restaurant. After a lovely lunch we drove around taking a couple more photos around the town.
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| The very modern Albany Entertainment centre |
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| Albany Town Hall built in 1888 in the Victorian architectural style |
We came across this ship on land - it's a 1970's replica of the Brig Amity - a sailing ship that brought the first European settlers to Western Australia in the early 19th century.
It can be visited, but we didn't feel like leaving the warmth of our car...
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| Replica of the Brig Amity |
It was still early, but everyone was raring to go back to a nice cottage and sit around a lovely fireplace, so I drove back the 54km to Denmark.
We bought steak back then in 1999 and went to the BBQ-area when suddenly rain fell in huge drops.
ReplyDeleteWe had to keep it up (if I remember right there was a roof over the BBQ, for a reason, I guess).
It was cold, too.
A boy was driving by on his bicyle and hit a car cause he was staring at us in disbelief, I´ll never forget that! :-)
Albany had one of the two coldest free showers, too - but was a five-star-tidy-town, at least in 1995 (1999 the sign was gone).
I really like how you honor your soldiers, it´s - certainly - ??? - a different culture here.
We didn´t see the ship back then - but... we just browsed through Albany (cold showers!).
I had to laugh at the boy crashing into the car...
DeleteI've heard Albany is always windy and cold.
I agree with you, Australia really knows how to honour their soldiers - there's monuments everywhere, Anzac day is massive too. Even my parents noticed that, as in Portugal there's no such thing unfortunately!
Olá querida, passei por aqui para agradecer sua doce presença
ReplyDeleteno meu cantinho.Obrigada !!!
Postagem maravilhosa!
Abraços, Marie.
Obrigada Marie.
DeleteDearest Sami,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a rather dreary day and for visiting such a painful site where the memory of such a multitude of sacrifices during WWI were made... Wonder if the entrance fee also included a movie or even more performances.
Here in general the fees can be rather high as well but I know what you mean.
Even the two of us were not going to pay over $ 20 for just riding an elevator to go to the top of a sky scraper. Indeed, living off a pension does make a difference and for us, it always has been living off one pension. That will end rather soon though!
Sending you hugs,
Mariette
Hello Mariette, yes the Anzac centre apparently has interactive and multimedia displays, films and images and the visitors can assume the identity of one of 32 soldiers that left Albany and follow their story from recruitment to life on board and their war experience, and post-war experiences (if they made it).
DeleteThat sounds similar to what they offer here...
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