All the flowering bottle brushes on the golf course looked sensational today. I enjoyed my game, came 4th with 36 points AND I won the $2 bag ($105).

 

Ethan's 2nd Birthday

Big brother helping Ethan open his presents

Loves his trucks...

Auntie Mandy enjoying the toys too and little Ben, Sofie and James' son loved all the diggers.

Tash made this fabulous cake with a bin truck on the top emptying all its rubbish (lollies). We were all singing Happy Birthday when this photo was taken.

Blowing out the candles...and a smile on Flynn's face.

 

Will and Ethan....imaginative play with Grandad

Watching the footy Grand Final with an ice cream ...

The boys stayed the night....they are such a pleasure to be with.

 

The view from our verandah this morning...magical!

The original farmhouse on the land where we stayed the night..."Brookdale"

First stop on our trip home was the Golden Valley Tree Park, the largest arboretum in Western Australia.

The park is divided into two sections, one area for Australian trees and the other for the World Collection. 

There were pretty little ponds...

...and more wildflowers..

Next stop was the Wellington Dam, to see the amazing mural painted by Guido Van Helten.

Lunch stop....one thing I won't forget about this trip were the very full dams on the farms....they just looked like puddles...

 

Many friends had highly recommended the National Anzac Centre in Albany and we weren't disappointed. Pete and I enjoyed a good couple of hours there. It overlooks Albany Harbour where the Anzacs from all over Australia and New Zealand left to go to the War in Europe in 1914.

The views from inside are stunning.

On our way home, stopped in Walpole for lunch.

The view from the verandah of the little house in which we are staying in Balingup.

So green...

....Wth lots of flowering trees.

 

Bald Head Walk Trail Torndirrup National Park

This was a walk Pete and I have been wanting to do for ages.  The walk is along the Flinders Peninsula which is about 15 minutes from Albany.

When we started out it was quite cloudy and cool. In this photo we are approaching Isthmus Hill with views of the Southern Ocean on one side and King George Sound on the other. In the distance you can see the round domed granite headland called Bald Head.

The ocean views were spectacular.

And there were so many beautiful flowers that I had never seen before.

The hills were full of flowering wattles.

...the limestone ridges

Some of the rockier sections of the walk.

Nearly there...this large expanse of rock was amazing and also very exposed, we were nearly blown off our feet. 

This is where we stopped for lunch, a great view of the headland.

These gorgeous large, crimson banksias were along the path and dotted up and down the hills.

Bald Head....quite windy but a magnificent view. Behind me is an interesting rock formation. We sat and watched the waves pounding over it.

During our walk back along the peninsula, the sun came out. Everything looked more colourful.

When we didn't have views of the water we could enjoy the wildflowers.

Looking back to the headland at how far we had walked.

A great view of the isthmus and the track.

Kind George Sound

This amazing beach and large solid rock wall looked totally different in the afternoon.There was access to the beach but we didn't have the time to go and explore but we really hope we can come back one day and walk along the rocky shore. We did the walk in just under 5 hours.

 

This morning a group of ten of us took off on a bush walk along the Bibbulmun Track. We started at the Albany Wind Farm and walked as far as the last windmill then returned (just over three hours). 

The views along the coast were stunning.

There was an abundance of wild flowers...

Looking south on our return. 

After an afternoon rest we all met up again at the Squid Shack at Emu Point and had fish and chips for dinner.