Albany, WA
05 Jun 2021 - Austin Shen
WA day long weekend trip down to Albany with a few groups of friends for some hiking.
Day 1 - Bluff Knoll
Managed to fit 7 people into the back of a small hatchback at the base of Bluff Knoll so that we wouldn’t have to wait for two parking spots to become available. A few people laying horizontally did the trick! Made a bad choice to wear some leather high-top Converse sneakers for this hike (instead of the sturdy pair of hiking shoes left in the boot of the car). Yes I underestimated Bluff Knoll and paid the price with blisters for days. It was a cloudy day so from the base we could not see the summit. There were still nice lookouts along the way up. There were moments at the summit where the clouds would disappear temporarily and reveal hills of the mountain range. I think I liked the photos from half-way up more.
Day 2 - Castle Rock
The cool kids of Albany and their late clubbing antics (plus the shitty window situation at the hostel) made for a terrible night sleep. Not a quiet morning either with some annual classic car race happening the morning after. Decided to go and see Castle Rock, taking our time up and along the way back. I spent more time with my camera on its macro setting. After this hike we got fish and chips from Ocean & Paddock - known for their famous South Carolina BBQ sauce.
Day 3 - Bald Head
Rushing slightly on the last day to get back to Perth for 5pm. That meant leaving Albany by mid-day. After checking out we made our way to Bald Head for one final hike. We were never going to make it to the end of the trail and back, so the plan was to just enjoy as much of the path as time would allow and turn back. We split into two groups, and the people I was with finished breakfast earlier than the others since they wanted a sit-down breakfast at a nice cafe. We decided to leave earlier and stop by The Blowholes to see the pretty views. There was no internet there, and after enjoying a lovely morning at the Blowholes we returned to civilisation with lots of missed calls. Oops – we’d kept the other group waiting!
Got half way through the trail before having to turn back. What we saw of the trail was beautiful, so I will have to come back sometime to finish the rest of it.
