Day 87 Wednesday 7th September

Day 87 Wednesday 7th September

Unfortunately the weather turned on us a little today but it did not deter us. Hanna was off working in the morning and the boys had a bit of sorting out to do on Ray's van. Heather, Paul, Lyn, Steve, Rob and I all decided to visit the Albany Heritage Park which is set high on Mt Clarence and Mt Adelaide over looking the bays of Albany including King George Sound and Princess Royal Harbour. The park contains pre-federation military installations and the new National ANZAC  Centre. Our first climb to us to the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial which was at the summit of Mt Clarence. We had time to reflect and learn more about the men  belonging to this group and their service in the first world war.  We enjoyed the breathtaking view from the Padre White lookout. Albany holds it's ANZAC day commemerations here each year as it over looks the bay where many of the troops heading to war in WW1 left from and it was their last view of Australian land.  From here we drove to the National ANZAC Centre. Rob and I decided we wanted to go into the centre and view the display. We are so glad we did. We were given a card with a photo and the name of a WW1 ANZAC on it and through interactive installations would learn about their experiences during the war and after, if they survived. I had a New Zealand soldier and Rob had a bloke from South Australia. They were both 2 of the lucky ones who survived. Aside from this there were many more interactive,  multimedia displays, film and audio commentary. We quite possibly could have spent the entire day in the centre. It really is a credit to the city of Albany. From here we visited the Princess Royal Fortress which was set up in the 1880s by the British Empire to protect the the distant colony of Australia. We returned to Ray and Hanna's for a late lunch. After lunch the boys worked on the caravan and the girls  checkedout the Albany shops.