Sunday 7th and Monday 8th January, 2024 Back to Albany, then on to East Bay Campground

We had one more walk along the beach on Saturday evening, but did not go far as we were a bit tired from our morning walk and the beach was churned up by cars driving on the sand.

In the morning we packed up grandually, not rushing, but it seemed we had really made ourselves comfortable and there was a bit of sorting to do. We were finished by about 11.00 a.m. and our camping time was due to expire at 12.00, so we were in good time.

On arrival in Albany we went first to the dump point and fresh water tap to take care of water business, then drove to the little jetty near the hotel on the harbour. We had takeaway from the kiosk, including some very good coffee. At about 2.00 p.m. we set off on the 1km journey to St John’s Anglican Church for a 3.00 p.m. afternoon concert.

The first half was the Four Seasons by Vivaldi, which is so familiar that we really noticed the differences in sound and tempo from our main recording. It was very moving indeed and we felt blessed to have the chamber ensemble visiting from Germany and giving us such a wonderful experience. The second half continued the classical theme with music by Mozart and Pagananini. One of the string players doubled up as a singer for a couple of songs.

Afterwards we headed for the Dog Rock Laundromat to take care of our dirty washing. Someone was cleaning the machines and advised to not use one I was intending to use as he hadn’t had time to clean it. We appreciated being able to do our washing in freshly cleaned washers and dryers.

Then we contacted Matt to have a chat on Facetime. He seemed in good spirits, Marianne had been visiting her son and had brough a lovely cheesecake to share. Ian is still in hospital having rehab from a bout of COVID which hit him pretty hard. But we are hopeful he will make a good recovery.

We had a private chat with Matt in the office, and he seemed quite involved, hopefully benefiting from the larger screen of the iphone 12 Max. After that finished we went to a nearby Chinese takeaway for a meal, then drove back to the carpark near the hotel which we had been told was a safer place to park than at the IGA carpark.

But, we weren’t comfortable, and after our meal decided to drive back to the IGA carpark where we had a quiet night. It was handy in the morning for me for having a flat white from a nearby cafe and Stephen did the shopping for our planned three nights at East Bay.

If you are wondering why we don’t use caravan parks it’s because it’s really too much trouble for an overnight and they have rules about times for checkin and checkout, which we find constricting. We are spending money in Ablany on meals, shopping and the concert tickets, so feel we contribute that way.

After the shopping, and there was a second small shop by me after Stephen got back from the big shop, we went and filled up with water and set off for East Bay a bit after 11.00 a.m. We’ve been incredibly fortunate in getting a spot overlooking the beach in a proper campspot, rather than illegally camping in the day use car park.

We had the awning out during the afternoon as it was sunny and having the protection felt good. We have our lovely mat out, plus chairs, table and clothes airer.

I’ve set up the Starlink. It took a while to come online and is facing the south east, which I wasn’t expecting. The speeds are much slower than usual, but good enough for blogging and watching Netflix later if we feel in the mood. It might be due to being in an enclosed bay, with a steep drive down to the camping area. Who knows?

Stephen had a short dip, today has been sunny and he found it very tempting. We are not sure what the weather will be like for the next couple of days, but the forecast is for cloud and slightly lower temperatures, 22C rather than 26C as it was today.