Albany, WA
We spent three weeks in Albany in a suburb called Orana, around 5km from the city centre. Albany was located in a great position for us to do lots and lots of day trips. Orana was located in a great position to get a large place to stay at a not very large price.
We stayed in a three bedroom house with a spacious deck in the back garden – which was good for sitting on when the weather was nice. Orana was a bit sprawling and rough around the edges, but we had a supermarket nearby and it was mostly quiet.
Because of its location on the Southern Ocean, the weather in Albany was a bit wild at times, but we managed to fit in day trips to Torndirrup National Park, Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Porongorup National Park, Stirling Range National Park, Mount Martin Botanic Garden, and the Vancouver Peninsula.
An after-work walk in our suburb usually consisted of a trip to the supermarket and back – just because there was actually a pavement to walk on and also a toilet at the destination.
There was a scenic waterside trail located about a ten minute drive away from our suburb. The trail went from Middleton Beach to Albany Port, and we strolled along it a few times spotting Quendas (bandicoots). We also visited Emu Point which was in the same area.
We also found a brewery within walking distance (Wilson Brewery, about 40 minutes away) which we checked out one windy evening after work.
The good
- Great location for lots of National Parks
- Spacious, comfortable house
- Close to great ocean scenery
- There is an Aldi supermarket
The not so good
- Nowhere nice to walk in our suburb
- Lots of rain and wind
- Quite a few trail closures
- Albany urban sprawl