We cannot believe that 7 days has passed already. It is now time to farewell paradise , aka Gooseberry Hill and the day bed swing. We are all off together to have another adventure, this time in Albany about 400 klms south of Perth. With Andy now feeling better, after his surgery, we pack up our home and they theirs and off we trot.
E.C.S. Two things we have discovered over the past few weeks, since the rest of Australia has joined us on holidays, our E.C.S shots now have cars in them and nobody waves at us anymore. As a driver towing a van or camper trailer will soon learn, when another van/camper trailer approaches, one waves, be it a full handed wave or just a raised finger in acknowledgement. This took us a little while to warm up to, but soon we were naturals. At times it was a game, who can wave first, or how big a wave can you get back from the oncoming driver. But on the whole, it was an acknowledgement of shared experiences and something to help pass the time with. But not anymore, perhaps this is the difference between being a traveller and a holiday maker. We are also guessing that if you had to wave to every van/trailer on the road at this time of the year you would end up with RSI!
Our new address for the next week. We have also been joined by Andy's friends Mark, Kelly and their kids plus Mark's parents, Doug and Heather. 
What a wonderful sight. We promise we did not set this picture up, but rather stumbled on it by accident. It appears that our kids are being somewhat of a good influence on their friends. On the drive to Albany we received a message over the CB from our friends. They wanted to let us know that Aden had decided that he would not watch any movies or use his DS on this car trip, but would rather read. He wanted to travel like the Gore's.
Timna and Aden working on their friendship bracelets.
The next day we head off to explore Albany with our first stop the Visitors centre of course. We come out with lots of papers, but most exciting to Linda is a bit of paper that refers to the Sandalwood Factory and the 'Gong, Cone and Bowl' therapy (not a typo!). The woman in the visitors centre said it would be the best hour we could spend and that the ladies should consider bringing in the new year with a visit. Despite having no idea what it is actually about, the ladies decide to give it a go and all are booked in for new Years Day.This building in the photo is Albany's new Entertainment Centre. 
The walkway from the city centre across to the art centre.
Olga, Michelle and Linda with their cousin Jack from Canarvon and Ryan.
In 1914, Australian troops sailed from Albany to Gallipoli. Many soldiers last ever glimpse of Australia was at the start of their voyage looking back at Albany. These soldiers were officially recognised for their contribution to the country in 1923 with a dawn service, and this has since been done annually. 
.After a difficult voyage, the brig reached Princess Royal Harbour on Christmas Day. This full size replica was constructed for the 150th anniversary of its arrival.
The self guided tour of the brig had Benj deciding to swap families as the Godden's were moving at a better pace then ours.
This was an example of the type of food they had to eat whilst on the boat. The most noteworthy was their method for keeping the rodents away from the biscuits........fish.
Sleeping quarters that make our caravan look like a palace. We tried to imagine what it would have been like with more than 50 men, sheep, pigs and provisions for 6 months on board.
School anyone? On the way back from the Brig, the boys and the men meandered their way back to the car, stumbled across this interactive museum and stopped to vote for who made the better teacher, Robbie or Andy???
The weather in Albany is probably more in line with Melbourne weather as it is not uncommon for them to experience all seasons in one day!! South of Perth is not the hottest, but the coastline is incredible and one can hardly visit without a swim. Unfortunately no pictures, but much body surfing was attempted and most board riding was successful, but most importantly lots of fun was had. Tomorrow we are off to explore the Princess Royal Fortress.
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