Isthmus Hill, Beaches and Whaling

The last proper day in the Albany area and I wanted to go and complete my favourite hike in this state, Bald Head Hike. I'm pretty sure I've written about this hike before, a couple of years ago during my birthday holiday down south with L. Unfortunately at this stage of the trip L had become disabled and so I proceeded on the way to the trail head on a solo mission.

I was just really excited to walk this 12km there and back trail. To my surprise there were already some very obvious upgrades to the trail as I walked up the first section up to Isthmus Hill.

...and then it happened. The sign, blocking my path, advising me that the trail was closed from Feburary to August 2022. Frustrated I took some photos of nearby Salmon Beach, and then just walked back to the car... filled with sadness...

I decided to make the most of my time while in Frenchman Bay and pop down quickly to Salmon Beach in Isthmus Bay. There were a couple of folks fishing down on the beach, which also had a few aggressively worded signs advising that lifejackets are mandatory on the rocks and that no domestic cats are permitted. To all the people who take their cats to the beach...Don't!

A step up, or so I thought was the next stop. Not far from the lovely beaches was Albany's Historic Whaling Station. For an entry fee of $32, the offer was the Whaling Station, a small wildlife park and a regional wildlife garden.

The whaling station is, in a nutshell a mass murder museum of whales. I know, it's kind of in the title, but that's sad too. There are literal photos of the bloodbaths. It was kind of depressing, and honestly I gave them a terrible review, because of the murder.

Once the station was full explored, I walked up the hill to go check out the wildlife park and gardens. Pretty underwhelming experience to be honest, though the animals were pretty cute and I guess the gardens were made worse by the fact that they were ALL suddenly being worked on. I'm sure it's more impressive during spring.