Western Australia VII

Day 8:

Albany

Named Dog Rock, this huge granite outcrop near the town centre of Albany resembles the head of a bloodhound sniffing the air. Around this monument, there is a Dog Rock Hotel and a Dog Rock Cafe. Maybe there were other "Dog Rock" shops that we did not notice.

The Gap at Torndirrup National Park. The massive granite outcrops, cliffs, and steep sandy slopes and dunes are just amazing. A bit hard and risky to navigate and walk with the kids. But the scenery is worth it!

The Natural Bridge, just next to The Gap.

A sweet old couple from Perth took this photo for us. The further south we went, the more unfriendly we found the people. People in Perth City were so friendly and helpful. People in Albany .... hmm ......

Whale World - saw the sign for this place while driving, and decided to go there, thinking that it'll entertain the kids. It's another expensive place - $25 per adult, but we were "attracted" by the 3 "state of the art technological theatres", including the world's first 3D animated film on whales "Giants Exist". Well, the shows were so "exciting" that Uncle Mel and Mummy dozed off. But we did learn something about whales and whaling from this place.

A very exhausted Nadine. 1st time in 9 days that she's dozed off at a site. She had, at most, dozed off in the car, never while we're outside coz it's always too exciting, too many things to see, feel, play, touch and explore.

Daddy, Mummy, and even Nadine had searched everywhere for a nice pair of shades for Nadine. Each time we go into a shop that sells shades, Nadine would pull out several pair to try. So girl! We finally found this cute pair that fits Nadine perfectly at Best & Less in Albany. She loved it. Kept alternating between wearing them and putting them on her head, imitating the adults. And after getting her own pair of shades, she no longer objected to Mummy wearing shades. In fact, she wanted Mummy to wear shades!

Day 9 was spent driving back to Perth City. No photos were taken. We spent most of the time in the car, even in the city. We were supposed to go to King's Park during one of the nights that we were in Perth. Never got the chance. So we thought we'll go there to chill and wait out till dinner. Turned out there was a huge concert at King's Park that night. There was such a bad jam going into the Park, and after half an hour, when we finally go into the Park, there was no parking available. And by then, it was time to go for dinner.

The red-eye flight back to Singapore was even later, or earlier (2am), then the flight to Perth. Nadine was very unsettled on the flight there. Hardly slept, and kept crying - meaning Daddy and Mummy hardly slept too. We prayed really hard that Nadine would sleep through the flight back. And she did! Except, we didn't pray specifically enough. She slept most the time on either Daddy's or Mummy's shoulders, and the last maybe 1 1/2 hr lying down. Well, at least she slept.

It was a wonderful 10 days (including the flight) together as a family. Such great bonding, especially for Daddy and Nadine, as Daddy carried Nadine most of the time, and even showered her a few times. Wish we can take such holidays every few months!