It was time for John to step up and do some serious driving. Denmark to Albany was his mission!

Albany would be a challenge, as according to the Denmark Visitor Centre lady

Albany is a city so you need to pay more attention guys..as it has roundabouts!

So there you have it. City status in Australia comes with the double edge of having to rip out all your junctions and replace them with roundabouts! They have obviously never been to London!

Our only stop on the way was to Cozy Corner beach, another great beach in Western Australia.

As fate would have it we would be staying in Middleton Beach, Albany. (This is the name of John’s hometown back in Ireland).

Our digs would be an awesome 1 bed apartment at Park Avenue, with full kitchen and BBQ facilities. A trip to the shops would be needed for some meat!

Albany is a lovely city, when you look past all the roundabouts!! A lot of old buildings with a mixture of architectural styles as well as a wee bit of street art. It’s also got a lot of history. Luckily for us there was a museum dedicated to this near the town centre.

Here we learned about the early settlement, which was the first European settlement in Western Australia, and it’s transformation into a thriving port before Fremantle stole it’s limelight. There is also a full-size replica of the Brig Amity, which brought the first settlers and convicts to Albany in 1832.

Upstairs in the museum was an exhibition about Convict Ancestors. Here people’s photos were taken to represent the crime their ancestors were sent to Australia for. It was quite clever.

It also plays a central role in the ANZAC story. It was here that troopships last departed for the front lines in World War 1. Ironically the convoy was supported by Japanese warships that would be used against Australia less than 30 years later.

The National ANZAC museum will be opened here in time for the centenary in November 2014.

After taking in the sights and getting the shopping done we went for a pre-dinner walk to the beach which was really peaceful and scenic, especially with the protective ring of Norfolk pine trees.

Dinner was a BBQ. After all his tiring driving, Karen had to do the honours!

The next day we went on a car trip to Emu Point marina before venturing further to Two People’s Bay and it’s famous Little Beach. A great drive was slightly spoiled by the discovery of a huge dead kangaroo by the side of the road. Unfortunately this would be a common sight in the weeks to come.

That evening we went on a stroll round the headland on the boardwalk and took in the sights of King George Sound.