Albany and the great southern region of Western Australia

The southern region of Western Australia begins 200 kilometers southeast of Perth and measures some 300 kilometers from west to east and 190 kilometers from north to south, its unofficial capital is the sea port city of Albany Originally Frederick's town. Albany was proclaimed a city in 1998 and has a population of over 30,000.
Albany has the distinction of being the first European settlement in Western Australia in 1826 ( the Swan Colony Later named Perth was not found until 1829) Major Edmund lockyer and a party of soldiers and convicts arrive from Sydney to set up a outpost to protect the area for  British interests and stop any other country from claiming Western Australia known in them days as New Holland especially from the French who were looking for new territory.
 
The regions  landscape Varies from sweeping hills in the north including the Striling range and the Porongurups to a coastline that you never tier of looking at with its rugged cliffs and headlands down to its curving bays and white sandy beaches and its pristine national parks with some of the tallest hardwoods in the world.

The main farming centers are Kojonup Katanning and Gnowangerup. And only 50 kms from Albany is the world famous Mount Barker Wine region. On the east side of the region is the farming area of Jerramungup which abuts the national park of Fitzgerald River which has one of the worlds few Biosphere areas and a haven for much of Australia's unique flora and fauna. To the west of Albany is the Wilson inlet and the picturess town of Denmark called the southern gateway to the tall timber country.

The great Southern and Albany region is fast becoming one of Australia's leading wine and food regions.

Things to do and See in Albany and the great southern region

• Albany Torndirrup National Park-The Gap /Natural Bridge and the blow holes.
• Albany's Whale World Museum
• The Princess Royal Fortress.
• Mount Clarence- Anzac war memorial
• Middleton beach and Emu Point
• The Brig Amity
• The Old Gaol and Patrick Taylor Cottages
• Striling Range National Park
• Porongurup Range
• West Cape Howe National Park- Shelly Beach
• Valley of the Giants -Tree Top walk
• Scotsdale Scenic Drive-Denmark
• William Bay Nation Park.
• St Werburgh`s Chapel
• Fitzgerald National Park
• Great southern wine region

The main towns of the region
• Kojonup
• Jerramungup
• Katanning
• Cranbrook
• Bremer bay
• Denmark

Albany Places of interest 

Torndirrup National Park

On the coast south of Albany and Princess Royal Harbour this park offers some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in Australia. An excellent beach in Frenchman's bay, also The Gap a 24 -metre drop to the sea and the natural bridge a monumental span of granite rock Demonstrates the awesome power of the sea when heavy swell is running costing a few people there lives swept away by king waves. The blow holes are a series of fissures in the granite rock that dominates this costal region if you stop and listen you can hear the loud hissing noises when water is force through the rock by large waves.

Albany's Whale world museum
Albany's oldest industry was whale hunting dating back to early 18th century Convicts from the east coast; French and American ships followed the migrating whales in season slaughtering thousand of whale. The Cheynes beach whaling company operated out of Albany until it closed in 1978. In its heyday the company took up to 850 whales a season operating on the continental shelf some 50 kms of the Albany coastline. Today the factory is a museum the only one in the world actually created out of a working whale station.

The Princess Royal fortress
Prince royal fortress was commissioned in 1893 to protect the strategically valuable port against enemy attacks the two gun batteries were hidden in the mount Adelaide hillside and nearby barracks housed a small permanent garrison it is now a visitor centre and tearooms.

Mount Clarence
A steep Winding Road takes you to almost the top of Mount Clarence  where you get to see spectacular views overlooking Albany and its where  a memorial is placed for the Desert Mounted Corps a replica of the one erected at the Suez in 1932.

Middleton beach
Middleton beach and Ellen cove are excellent swimming beach's with bbq`s, picnic areas restaurants hotel and playground areas, follow marine drive for spectacular views of King George sound with Michaelmas and Breaksea islands.

The Brig Amity
 A replica of the original brig that set sail from Sydney in 1826 to bring the first settles to Western Australia to set up a penal outpost. The replica was built in 1975 and a visit will make you wonder how 60 men plus live stock coped on such a voyage.

The Old Gaol and Patrick tailors Cottage
The old gaol was built in 1851 to hold the convicts for hiring then in 1872 it became the district gaol after this in the 1930s it became a storehouse and then restored in the late 1960s now a tourist attraction . Patrick Taylor's Cottage is built with the old method of wattle and daub built in the 1830s it is one of the oldest building in Albany.