Albany: Your Ultimate Guide to Albany and its rich history; Everything You Need to Know
So far in our journey, we've travelled through rainforests, spent our nights on boats and above all, balanced everything with kids. Jokes aside, we’re extremely proud of our journey so far, and we can only be hopeful for the future. Since we’ve been to so many places, we have a huge list of all the places we believe are our favorites; but honestly, if we’re rooting for one place that shocked us with its pleasantries, it’s Albany.
Albany is a cute little port city in Western Australia, and it may not look like much at first, but I assure you it was lovely throughout the trip. Since it’s a port city, it is home to several beautiful beaches that catch some of the best waves ever. Other than beaches, Albany offers many hiking trails for adventurous souls. We truly loved each and every bit of Albany, and that’s exactly why we want to share our lovely experience with you.
Now Albany isn’t just your average beach town; we learnt that the city comes with an extremely rich history. We’re not exactly history buffs but there are some things that truly fascinate us; and to be honest, we don’t want to leave the kids out on this amazing history, so we figured we’d explore each and every inch.
Albany isn’t short on places to go either; historical buildings with impressive architecture surrounded the city and we were in awe the entire time. The streets were lined with dainty stores that the kids would run off to (thank god Aussies have a good humor; we didn’t have to tell off the kids at all) and when we got to York Street, even us adults were feeling adventurous. York Street may sound underrated but it’s actually one of the most popular streets in the city. We were a little surprised to see that this main street didn’t have much to offer in terms of look; but York Street is where the journey of history begins. It features the Albany Town Hall, the first civic building built in the city which dates back to 1888. It holds an impressive history and if I say architecture students will love the building, I wouldn’t be exaggerating. The clock tower, the facade of the building and the environment gives Albany Town Hall a very old-timey vibe (which surprisingly does wonders for romantic walks too). A little distance from York Street is Sterling Terrace, yet another historic street that is just filled with Albany’s beautiful culture and history. Starting off with the Glasgow House, we made our way to the Vancouver House, then Albany House and even took a peek at the White Star Hotel. Each is a remarkable landmark, and we’re kind of impressed by how well-preserved each building is. What especially surprised us was the White Star Hotel which turned out to be an extremely interesting visit.
Yet we cannot rave about all the wonderful things we witnessed and not mention Albany’s Historic Whaling Station, which honestly deserves as much praise as we can give. Honestly, if you’re looking to learn about the history of Albany, you really need not head anywhere else; Albany’s Historic Whaling Station truly takes the cake. Let me backtrack a little and tell you what we learnt; Albany had always been an important port city, but it saw major development and success in agriculture, timber, and whaling; and that’s how the Whaling Station came into play.
The Whaling Station is definitely a place that will sit in well with the kids because ours were just way too excited to be onboard an actual whaling ship. Guaranteed, they’re a bit too young to actually appreciate it like us adults, but honestly, the charms there. We booked a tour that took us on a major tour of the station which included a detailed tour of the last whaling ship of Australia and whale oil tank theatres. I think what truly set the experience in was realizing how far we’ve come in life and how much advancement we’ve made in technology; we have driven boats but honestly the number of knobs and turns on the whaling ship showed us how hard it must have been. And yes, you may say that Albany’s all history and no fun, but that’s just pure wrong! On the Whaling station itself we came across a humongous skeleton of the last sperm whale to be harpooned; impressive enough on its own but more so when we realized how rare it was to come across such a skeleton during our journey. The kids also loved the skeleton and were in awe of how such a beautiful beast was once hunted down. We also loved the Audio Experience on the flensing desk because it really gave us a detailed walkthrough of the entire place.
Of course, we headed to the Whaling Station’s Australian Wildlife Park because we’re not going to miss out on all the fun.
The park was a success with the kids (a thumbs up to any parent out there who’s exhausted out of fun options for the youngsters), and we were able to observe cute animals like bettongs, wombats, bandicoots, and woylies up close. Oh, and you won’t believe it, but the park is home to rare white kangaroos! I truly believe we’ve seen it all!
With Albany’s Historic Whaling Station, a success and having had a fulfilling time exploring the historical sites and buildings, we figured it was time for something typical and found ourselves headed to the beach. Vast stretches of golden white sand slowly meeting the turquoise blue water turned out to be the perfect sight for sore eyes. We are Aussies after all; we couldn’t resist the temptation of just diving into the water and we did exactly that. We also found some really stunning beaches which really kicked the entire trip up a notch; the beach wasn’t crowded, so we were able to keep an eye on the kids who were rolling about in the sand. By the end of the day, we were simply playing like little kids in the water.
Oh, and did I miss food in Albany? I’d not be exaggerating if I say that Albany offers the best local produce that you’ll hardly find anywhere in Australia. Especially their award-winning wines! We tasted some of the best wines at Oranje Tractor Wines along with delicious cheeses and some homemade bites all for $28. Obviously, kids only tasted the cheeses and they absolutely loved it!
Albany turned out to be much more than what we expected and if you think we got tired of all the historical landmarks, you’d be dead wrong.
I actually loved Albany for its soothing pace, its calm environment, and its promise to hold onto traditions and culture…and you best believe I’m dragging the family there as soon as I can!
And If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Aussie cities, then Albany is an ideal place to spend some quality time with your loved ones amidst the nature, history and peaceful environment. It’s definitely worth a visit at least once in your lifetime.