Stirling Silver

A day of two quite distinct halves today. Starting out grey and gloomy, the morning was not hugely successful. However, later in the day the skies cleared and everything was rosy.

Our location on King George Sound was quite stunning in the morning as well. Different groups of birds alternately occupied the jetty out the front while we tried in vain to create toast in a southerly buster. Cold winds in Albany are cold! After conceding uncoloured toast, the lovely grass on the campsite allowed us a quick and clean packup and we were on our way.

Since we were away early, and it was Sunday, there was no point rushing into town, so we turned off for the wind farm, which Elliot had wanted to see on the three previous times we had passed the sign. Can’t put anything past a reading boy now. The wind farm was one of the earliest, and is also one of the largest. Up north the typical wind turbine puts out 0.3MW, while the monsters down here manage 1.8MW for each of the 12 towers, producing half of Albany’s electricity. Their scale is hard to put in context just looking at them, but the light breeze today had the blade tips moving at around 200km/h, and the photos of the nose cones dwarfing the trucks they were transported on gave you some idea. Not a bad location either, standing high on the sand dune protecting the harbour and looking out to the Southern ocean.

We then went into town late morning for domestic duties. After a quick tour of the port, finding out that the brown piles were woodchips, and the port also handles grain and mineral sand, I left the others at the local branch of the WA Museum, usually guaranteed to keep them occupied. Everywhere in WA has Sunday trading, but not Albany. It is big enough to have a Coles and  Woolies on opposite sides of the road in the main shopping part of town, both locked up tight as a drum. It did give me a chance to drive around the entire town, unsuccessfully finding so much as a bakery or a servo that sold bread, before finding an IGA opposite the museum.

All of that exploration didn’t get us out of the town later on without getting lost though. However, Porongorup beckoned and we were eventually on our way. Porongorup attracted us primarily because it was a green spot on the map.  Turns out it is a little mountain range just south of the Stirling Ranges, and with magnificent views across to it. For those in as much of a hurry as us, there is one accessible place, a picnic area for the tree on the rock, and a drive along the edge. The tree on the rock was just that, but just next to it was a tall white-barked gum tree with a hole high up. That hole must have been full of water because many purple-crowned lorikeets were drinking and bathing in it. Quite a sight!

After a quick pass through Mt Barker, it was up the western end of the Stirling Ranges for the drive through the middle. A mountain range with peaks over 1000m is uncommon in WA, and it is apparently one of the few places in the state to occasionally get dusted by snow. No such activity today, with a bright clear blue sky and magnificent visibility with the sun behind us.

From Porongorup we had seen just what dramatic shapes were in the range. Now closer, we could also see the masses of flowers covering the slopes. In general mostly things we had seen before, but a number of new things were to be found when you chose to look. The variety in the detail never ceases to grow seemingly. We also managed to see some dramatic granite outcrops, with imaginations showing up all sorts of shapes in the late-afternoon light.

The Stirling Ranges also comes complete with a campground, which is good, and this one had a camp kitchen with stainless steel benchtops. Ok, so that is gilding the lily a little, but the BBQ was well-appointed, so with the slightly earlier finish than we have been having lately, it was time to get creative with the cooking. All of those gourmet ingredients had been gnawing at my mind, so this is what we came up with:

• Toasted sourdough with chilli and garlic brie, or (holy) smoked chicken.
• Semi-leavened pizza with fresh tomato, onion, spicy mango sauce, kangaroo and venison salami, fried al-fresco until the cheese melts.

All of that was enjoyed to a chorus of frogs under a waxing moon. Delicious.