034 - Albany to Ayr Sailean (30/4/17)

Moving day and time to bid farewell to the Albany region.

To be frank, as awesome as the all the museums, memorials, and natural wonders were, there was something that didn’t quite click for me as much as say Esperance and Port Lincoln. B and I often talk about the “untangible feel” a place has, an X-factor if you like, that can strongly sway whether or not you have an affinity to the place.

For me, it wasn’t quite there, and I was happy to move on.

And for the first time on this trip we had to pack up in the rain. Well, I did. B, who is in charge of all “inside” things, stayed dry. My squadron of helpers were also confined to the barracks (much to B’s chagrin I’m sure) whilst I tidied up outside in the intermittent rain and frequent drizzle. It was now I was coming to realise that actually, the kids might be shortening the set up/pack up time rather than enthusiastically and unintentionally lengthening it.

Still, we got on the road, and pulled out of Two Peoples Caravan Park with little fuss. A nice little spot, forever be remembered as a place with the best washing machine and the weirdest owner. He was one strange dude.

Across Albany, and up and over enroute for… umm… we hadn’t quite locked in where. We were thinking Walpole at this stage.

The rain passed as did the kilometres, but actually, this was a relatively short jaunt by our standards. Maybe an hour and a half before we reached our next stop over, the beautiful Ayr Sailean.

Ayr SAilean is a glorified farm stay, some kind of hybrid between a caravan park, a farm and a free camp. However a beautiful spot that came highly recommended we certainly weren’t disappointed with what we found.

Quite, green and peaceful, Ayr Sailean oozed that “untangible feel” that I mentioned earlier. This place I liked. We chose a spot, nice and flat without too many issues and then unhooked. This time there were helpers aplenty and I think more and more as this journey progresses the kids will understand that setting up isn’t a novelty, but more of a necessity. We hope that if we can empower them and get them to own part of it, it will make it easier for all.

Our site. As you can see, it's very busy and we struggled to find a site. Still, with a bit of work, I managed to just sneak the Big Green Lizard onto a spot.

I loved this camp kitchen. Overtook Fraser Range as my favourite. Light, breezy and had everything you needed. 

Unhooked, thanks to the short trip we had a few hours to burn. Sam had spied a flyer for “Dinosaur World” or something like that, in Albany. It was nearby so we decided to head off and take a look. Now, how do I review this…

• Did the kids love it? Yep.
• Did Evie whinge leaving? Yep. So far so good.
• Was it a bit weird and run down and run by a strange but friendly elderly gentlemen? Yep.
• Were there dinosaurs there? Well, replicas of their skeletons I suppose.
• Was there unsupervised handling of reptiles? Yep. (and no it’s not a metaphor)
• Was there a squadron of mean Cockatoos tormenting Evie? Yep.
• Was there an array of macaws and other colourful birds? Yep. (that’s not a metaphor either)
• Was it perceived by B and I to be overpriced? Yep.

Double Hook Up Bob became Two Lizard James

Sam is part "reptile whisperer" I think. Had a way with them.

Having said that, Evie was no shrinking violet (as if anyone would ever think that)

"Nom...nom... nom..."

Handling it like a pro...

This was the cockie that stalked Evie. We thought it was a lot to do with the jumper, but perhaps there was only allowed to be one loud overbearing bird in the place and he had dibs?

Grr......

So, yeah… um… It was good? I left feeling a little jilted but the kids seemed really happy so I suppose that’s all that matters isn’t it?

From there, we backtracked a little to the Elephants Rock Cidery just off the main drag. Quite the place, and if it wasn’t for the big pack of school kids in there, we might have stayed longer. Still, I picked up a 4 pack sampler of their ciders, as well as some ice cream and a couple of sauces to help us feel like we’d kicked into the local economy!

Back at the van we fired up the Weber for a roast, had some cheese and dip and settled down for a fire at our own person campfire spot, with wood provided! See… I knew I had an affinity with this spot. For the record, the cider was very average, and the ice cream not much better. You've been warned.

The important things in my life, in no particular order.

Mmm... cheese.

B and I both agreed that Ayr Sailean was a place that was both helped and hindered by its location. Its isolation brought with it tranquillity and peacefulness, but also quite a few extra kilometres for travelling around seeing the area.

The decision to only stay here two nights was a very very tough one.