As Western Australia’s oldest, permanently settled town, Albany’s rich heritage is reflected in the architecture throughout the town. Aside from being the oldest settlement it WA, it is also the home to the last whaling station in Australia. I have a certain affinity for this sleepy little town and I always enjoy learning about the history of a place, so we had to check out the old whaling station that is now a tourist destination called Discovery Bay.
To me, whaling stations seem like a thing of very distant past, so I was surprised to learn that the Cheynes Beach whaling company in Frenchman Bay operated from 1952 to 1978. That’s less than forty years ago! The property is on the end of the southern most point of Western Australia, with gorgeous views of Albany and Frenchman Bay. Fortunately for us, the weather was wonderful again, so we didn’t mind exploring the property before the guided tour began. We learned a bit about the history of the Cheynes Beach whaling station and we got to get up close to whale bones and explore an old whaling vessel.
After that, we headed to Due South which is located near the Albany Entertainment Centre. The funky shape of the building, the bold walls, and the gorgeous views provided for a wonderful photographic experience before we sat down to enjoy some snacks and live music.
I loved the upbeat, classic rock vibe of the band while sipping on my cloudy cider (Ryan, on his soy mocha) as we waited for our food. There was a decent turnout for a Sunday night, but it was a holiday weekend. We ordered the chips, which were delicious, crispy and hand-cut, along with the chicken wings. We opted for the BBQ sauce for the wings and loved the flavour and how crispy the chicken was. True to stereotype, this midwest american born girl, loves corn… so I had to try the corn on the cob special; which was corn covered in a chipotle sour cream, parmesan and coriander (cilantro). The corn was an Aussie attempt at Mexican street corn, but it worked. I enjoyed the flavour, I just found the corn to be a bit overcooked. As the sun set down over the horizon, we had to agree that Due South was a great spot to spend our last night in Albany.
