Located 450k south of perth, The City of Albany sits between the hills of Mount Melville and Mount Clarence. Albany is nestled between the waterways of the Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound.

There are many beaches surrounding Albany, with Middleton Beach being the most popular, and the closest to the town centre!

Albany is home to 6 National Parks including Torndirrup National Park (home of The Gap and Natural Bridge Formations), West Cape Howe (the southern most point of WA), and Western Australia's newest National Park, Gull Rock National Park.

Albany Town Hall

The Town Hall (photo above) is located on York Street, the main street in town which gently slopes toward the Princess Royal Harbour. Albany is truly a harbour city filled with character and charm!

Albany is one of the best places in WA to venture out for day trips to see whales in the Great Southern Ocean. Despite Albany's whaling past, the Humpback and the Southern Right Whales use the sheltered southern bays for mating and raising their calves. Whales are frequently spotted from the lookouts between May and October.

You can oftentimes see them from the Albany Wind Farm lookout which winds along the Bibbulmun Track. You can also see spectacular views of the twelve eco-friendly turbines which lower greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 77,000 tonnes per year.

Today the town has a place of significance as a tourist destination and base from which to explore the south west of the state and is well regarded for its natural beauty and preservation of heritage. It also has a number of historic tourist sites including the Museum, Albany Convict Gaol, The Princess Royal Fortress (commonly known as The Forts), Patrick Taylor Cottage, ("is the oldest dwelling in Western Australia, c1832"). Albany has a great deal of historical significance to Western Australia. Albany is also the southern terminus of the Bibbulmun Track walking trail.* (*Wikipedia)

There is a memorial to the Desert Mounted Corps on top of Mount Clarence. The memorial consists of a statue of an Australian mounted soldier assisting a New Zealand soldier whose horse has been wounded and a wall bearing the words "Lest We Forget".

The first commemorative dawn service was held here on Anzac Day, 25 April 1923. A dawn service has been held ever since and currently around several thousand people participate each year. [wikipedia]

Albany was officially named by Governor Stirling at the beginning of 1832, at the time that political authority passed to the Swan River colony. It is named after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, and son of King George III. Its metropolitan area has a population of 35,000 as of the 2007 census, making it the fourth largest city in the state.

Rich with history, many of the original colonial buildings are now museums, restaurants and galleries which add to its uniqueness. Albany is Western Australia's first European settlement (1826).

Middleton Beach, Albany, Western Australia