Australia's Southern Charm
When my sister moved from Chicago to Sydney in 1983, I figured it would be an excellent place for me to visit some day. I did and it was. Eight years ago Diane moved clear across the continent to the tiny town of Albany in the southwestern corner of Western Australia. So last January my wife and I flew to Australia’s Great Southern and discovered the allure of this remote corner of the world.Flying into Perth, the state’s capital with a population of just over one million, we found out why this is considered one of the world’s most isolated cities. The Outback run on the Indian-Pacific train crosses the desolate Nullarbor Plain taking nearly three days, and few tend to drive because there is so little human habitation between New South Wales and the western shore.After a day of jet-lag recovery in this overgrown country town, we met up with my sister and two nieces and I drove us nearly five hours south to Albany. As it was nearing dusk, Diane warned me to be on the lookout for kangaroo, even though we had a “roo bar” attached to the bumper. “If you see one,” she said, “you should stop right away because there’s no telling which direction they’ll hop.” I was primarily concerned with simply staying on the “wrong” side of the road while battling the blinding headlights from menacing road trains barreling toward us.Western Australia covers nearly a million square miles or one-third of the entire continent, yet contains only ten percent of the people. Think of three-and-a-half Texas-sized states with a total population less than Houston. Leaving the nearly four million Sydneysiders for about 28,000 Albany residents, Diane’s family of six found just the kind of peace and tranquility they were looking for.On our first full day in Albany we joined in the local’s celebration of Australia Day (January 26), complete with sausage sizzle and entertainment at a local park called The Forts. Later that afternoon, we visited Middleton Beach with its clean white sand and turquoise-colored warm water. According to my 11-year-old niece, Jessica, this is only her fourth favorite beach. We later discovered her top three: Ocean Beach, Mutton Bird Island and Two People’s Bay—each distinctly attractive in its own way and sharing a lack of other people.Founded on Christmas Day in 1826 when the British laid claim to the western half of what was then declared New Holland, Albany is the oldest settlement in Western Australia and nestled between the Southern Ocean and the dramatic Sterling Range to the northeast. A busy whaling station once included French, American and Australian whalers, and at its peak killed some 850 whales annually. Back then, whale meat and oil were common for human consumption, and the oil was used in everything from making soap to illuminating lamps. This coastal location overlooking King George Sound made snaring sperm whales and southern right whales easy pickings. In fact, Albany’s economy was dominated by the whaling industry for 178 years until it came to an abrupt halt in the late-1970s not because of political or environmental pressure, but strictly for economic reasons. Today, over the course of a year, hundreds of humpback, southern right and rare blue whales are spotted from shore but left untouched. Like much of the southwest, the Great Southern is gaining a reputation for its thriving wine industry. Diane and her Australian-born, wine-loving husband Tony were all too happy to help us sample the local fare. Although not as well known as Margaret River, the towns of Albany, Denmark, Mt. Barker and Frankland River receive worldwide acclaim for their Riesling, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and Shiraz. My wife and I hired a car for a couple of days and drove through the Margaret River region to imagine what Sonoma and Napa Valley might have been like forty years ago. (My brother-in-law likes to say that Australia is either twenty years behind the United States or two weeks ahead. I never did find convincing signs of the latter.) We visited the larger Lindemin and Vaus Felix wineries, but it is the smaller ones like Cullen Vineyards that make this region a hotbed for tourists and wine connoisseurs alike.
Driving back to Albany at dusk, I had to slam on the brakes twice in order avoid hitting a baby wallaby and its mother,
and then a huge kangaroo who, hopped in a direction that totally surprised us and made me glad to have stopped.Old growth forests here include 300-foot karri trees that grow straight as telephone poles and tower over the landscape. Near Pemberton, the Gloucester Tree offers a 200-foot circular climb around its broad trunk to what is declared as the world’s highest treetop fire lookout. It currently serves strictly as a tourist Claimed to be the world’s highest treetop fire lookout is the Gloucester Tree offering a 200-foot circular climb. (Photo by Mark Craemer)Just outside the shire of Denmark in the Valley of the Giants, we strolled along the Tree Top Walk, a steel walkway that rises up to 120 feet into a canopy of large red tingle trees. Jarrah trees provide such strong and durable timber that they were once used for everything from railroad ties to woodblocks that paved the streets of London and Berlin before there was asphalt. Albany includes the Sandalwood Factory where these rare oil-filled trees now provide a prosperous industry producing soaps, lotions, lipsticks, balms and perfumes sold around the world. And in the same way that every part of a whale carcass was once put to good use, rich oil is harvested from the roots through the branches of these sandalwood trees.Another aspect defining the Great Southern is its progressive efforts toward sustainable energy. The Wind Farm, owned and operated by Western Power, is the newest and biggest in Australia with 12 massive turbines rising 200 feet above the Bibbulmun Track along the coastline. These steel towers are topped by three blades—each the length of a 747’s wing—with the turbines providing clean, green electricity for 75% of Albany’s needs. I also discovered that most homes here contain solar panels on the roofs that are used for heating hot water tanks. Diane and Tony live just outside of Albany and, because city water or wells are not viable, they capture all their water from the rain by means of a sheet metal roof, which drains into two giant cisterns. Water is then filtered and pumped into the house as needed. And while Albany averages only about 34 inches of rain annually, this is usually sufficient for their family of six.When it was time to leave my sister and family after 12 glorious days in this paradise down under, my wife and I knew it would be a long time before we visited them again. This is not the kind of trip you simply tack on to your Sydney visit. But if you’re looking for a rewarding vacation away from the typical Australian tour, you’ll find the Great Southern an unforgettable destination for the entire family.