Albany ahoy!! (part 2)

There is so much to see and do in Albany, you can travel far or not. This morning we are headed for the Princess Royal Fortress which is only a few kilometres from our caravan park. The fort was opened in 1893 when Australia, in trying to deal with potential threats to security, established the first federal defence of Australia. The British Government supplied the guns while the Australian states together paid for its construction.. It stands today as an impressive military museum with hands on exploration for big and little kids. We learn that the fort never fired a shot in anger and its closure came about due to the modernisation of fighting in the missile era. We got to explore the bunkers, play on the giant cannons and imagine what it was like firing and manouvering the naval guns. It also houses a number of museums and probably some of the best views in town.

Impressive stance provided by two rather large torpedoes.

'Gunner' Timna protecting us from the bad guys!

Not a bad view. From here you would have seen the first convoy of Anzacs, 20,000 Australian and 10,000 New Zealand troops, departing at 7.00am on 1 November 1914. 26 Australian and 10 New Zealand ships transporting men, guns, equipment and horses sailed, protected by 4 warships, arriving in Alexandria, Egypt, on the 3rd of December.

From inside the observation post.

Inside the magazine bunker. Quite mind boggling that these guns can fire their 45kg projectiles several kilometres.

The children instantly began a game of good versus evil and with all manner of pretend weapons in hand, they ran rampant through the bunkers and all over the grounds. During this, Andy and Robbie made good use of their time by taking in all the information from the many museums.

A photo of our WW1 Diggers on the Great Pyramid during training in Egypt .

The museum room dedicated to The Light Horse Brigade.

Photo from the rededication of the Beersheba monument to the Light Horse in Israel a few years ago.

The men are still wandering through the museums so the ladies and the kids pass time with a cool refreshment. We are still so very much in love with our Engel car feezer!!!!

The flag pole and statue from the lookout over King George Sound.

After a great swim down at Middleton Beach, we return to fulfill a promise we had made to the kids. More Harry Potter! This is the 3rd last movie. What will they do when they are finished........"start again!" they tell us.

Tomorrow is going to be a hot one, quite unusual for Albany as its average max is normally about 19 degrees. We have been lucky so far but it looks like we should soak up tomorrow as the forecast for the next few days looks more like true Albany weather. Bring on the sun!!!! So a good night sleep for all as tomorrow we are going to hike and explore the Porongurup National Park.