No matter how cold it was that weekend in Albany, I still had a good time. A road trip that took about eight hours was worth it when we arrived and realized the place we stayed at, was two minutes away from the beach.
We began our journey on a cold Friday morning in a white van. I tagged along in the far back with my sister while everyone else occupied the seats in front. The morning dragged a bit, so we kept ourselves occupied with our phones or slept because it was cold. Whenever we had road trips, my sister and I piled our seats with blankets and pillows. We had to make it as comfortable as possible. I’d even be too lazy to get out and would stay in the same seat for eight hours straight. That happened once only, don’t worry. We stopped for lunch in a little town where we met some lovely people. Our lunch consisted of burgers, soda cans, and candy. Not the healthiest but when you’re on the road, you nibble on anything.
Once we were back on the road again, the way seemed calmer. Time flew by since I snuck a book in because my parents didn’t like the idea of reading in a car. I seemed totally fine, plus I read a thriller at the time, so I wanted—needed to finish it. We arrived at the accommodation an hour before sunset and offloaded the van. Our little home for the weekend consisted of three rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry room and living room. The TV had numerous amounts of channels, but I didn’t watch as much. Once we were settled my dad suggested we check out the beach because when we were outside, we could hear the ocean waves, hitting and splashing as they reached onto the shore.
The beach itself was beautiful even in its cold weather. The sky displayed colors of pink, blue and purple before sundown and reflected onto the ocean. People still walked their dogs and often dropped the leash then threw the ball. You can see a little video here of what it looked like. We had an early dinner then went our separate ways. I shared a room with my sister who wasn’t that bad since it was cold and each of our single beds had enough blankets/sheets on to keep us warm. When we arrived I thought there wasn’t any WIFI, but thankfully my dad got an email, saying there was so thank goodness for that. One weekend I’d like to go without WIFI, who knows I might finish writing a book ;)
The following day we were up early and our entire day consisted of exploring Albany and its attractions. There weren’t many close by so we decided to do a few Saturday then on our way back home tomorrow, we’d do the others. First stop was The Gap and Natural Bridge. It was an excellent place to begin our day with beautiful lookout places in the Southern Ocean. We were forty meters above the sea and that day was windy. I remember a specific section where the waves were at its strongest, and you could see directly underneath. The lookout there was extraordinary yet at first frightening when realizing how high the waves would splash against the rocks. If I lived close by, I’d visit it often because to hear those waves and just take a walk once in a while is so good.
Next stop was Albany Wind Farm where I’ve never seen such tall and big windmills in my entire life. From a distance, they look small, but once you get closer and watch the movement of each wing, you realize, damn that’s huge. We sat on a bench for a while and just took in everything with a spectacular view in front of us that seemed to go on forever. Greenery everywhere with windmills that’d pop up here and there. It was peaceful.
Afterward, we decided to get some groceries for tonight’s dinner and just check out the local stores. I didn’t buy anything personally except for food items that I wanted for the road tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow we’d leave again, and I didn’t want to. Personally, for me, I either like a bustling city or a small, quiet place away from everything, only to be surrounded by nature, there’s no in-between. However, I don’t live in either so…
The next day we set off early in the morning to get to the attractions that were more, out of Albany. Since the weather was in bad condition, we didn’t go directly down the Green Pools but took photos on one of the lookout places. The next area which was my favorite had to be the Elephant Rocks. At first I was a bit nervous to stand on high rocks surrounded by water, but afterward, it became a delight to take in my surroundings. There was even a walkway that led down a flight of stairs to the beach. The only way to get in there was to go right around or between two rocks. Water resurfaced, so we only had a few seconds to run in before our shoes got wet. My grandpa and I managed to run in quickly and snap a few photos. Beautiful like in those movies where they end up on an island and then one part is like abandoned entirely or sacred.
Our last stop was The Valley of the Giants, Tree Top Walk. I thought I’d be nervous with heights and everything, but it felt different when walking across the bridges. Maybe because I knew how stable those bridges were or it didn’t look that high from where I was. We went right around and experienced fantastic scenery on the way, the weather cleared up a bit but still gave that autumn-ish look. Once we reached the ground again, only then I realized how tall the trees were and that we were actually that high.
After that we finally settled on going home even though I didn’t want to, I hope I go back to Albany even if it’s for a week. I know I’d get a lot of writing done in a peaceful place like that.
All photographs included were edited by me on VSCO.