We decided to go all the way to the southernmost city of WA – Albany. A nice port town, quiet this time of the year. From January to April they get killer whales, when they probably get most tourist masses. We made a nice hostel called 1849 Backpackers (they make fresh pancakes for breakfast!) our base and made several day trips in the surrounding national parks.

Valley of Giants

Valley of Giants refers to giant red tingles (a type of eucalyptus) that form an impressive forest. The main attraction there is the Treetop walk ($21/person), where it is possible to wander in the canopy on the same level with parrots and other birds. The highest point was 40 meters above ground level, and the views were really nice.

Apart from the main attraction there was a short Ancient Empire walk with interpretive displays about local flora and fauna, which was informative and nice.

Porongurup National Park

First morning we drove about 40 minutes from Albany to Porongurup national park. We did there 3 different walks. First we did the most famous one – the Granite Skywalk. It was a 2,2 km (one way) uphill walk to rock formations called balancing rocks. In the end there was a small climb between the rocks and a ladder that led to a platform that was bolted to the rock. From there we could see the trees below us and the city of Albany in the distance.

The second walk we did was called Nancy’s Peak. It was a 5,5 km loop that started from a place called Tree in the rock (suprise there was a tree growing from a rock). The trail started with an slight uphill walk in the forest. The trail then rose to a hill and followed a stony path along the hill top down to a valley. 

In the valley we decided to do a detour ”Devil’s Slide” that went 700m straight up to another hill. After Borneo we both hadn’t sweat as much as we did on this trail but the walk itself was beutiful and views from the top rewarding. 

Bald Head Walk

We didn’t do our research well about this walk, we just heard that it goes to the tip of little peninsula and is nice. So we went there for an evening walk. Only at the carpark we realized that the walk was 16km return and suggested time was 6-8 hours. We decided to walk for an hour and turn back to be in town before dark. An hour and a half later we stopped. We had walked through the masses of wildflowers on the slopes of a beutiful and narrow peninsula tip, with waves raging on one side and calmer turquoise water on the other. So there we stood, on a slope with magnificent view and a beautiful sunset, celebrating our existence in this universe with a couple of apples and you’d think nothing could make it more disgustingly romantic. And then we saw a whale breaching right under our noses. And it breached again and again, rolling in between in the water, having the time of its life, a wonderful sight. It felt good to turn back after that.