2nd November 2022
Albany
Mount Martin Botanical Reserve
A long walk in Gull Rock National Park. The Life of Py blog describes it better than I could ever attempt.
Undaunted by the 'Road Closed' signs at the end of Ledge Beach Road we drove the couple of km to the car park without seeing any signs of road maintenance. We walked all the paths, including the 'there and back' tracks to 'Dick Redshaw Lookout' and 'Whale Lookout'; the guides estimate this as approximately 11.4km. We stopped for lunch at Voyagers Park overlooking Emu Point. At Voyagers Park we met a chap who was doing a long trail walk who was waiting for low tide so he could wade/swim across to Emu Point. He looked pretty tough and seemed to know what he was doing!
Jo's sister, Sarah, had asked (challenged) Jo to look out for a sedge (Mesomelaena tetragona) which she had given Jo a photo of. Much to Jo's amazement she found one, and then another, and once she had got her eye in, plenty of others. Jo felt very pleased with herself.
Scariest moment was when we came across a monitor type lizard (a Sand-Goanna) lying across the path. (Can't help noticing the similarity between Goanna and Joanna!) A lot of jumping up and down eventually persuaded him to move. I later learn that if they feel threatened they tend to run up trees and can quite often mistake a human for a tree!
I had earlier read that a restaurant worth visiting was The Garrison at The National Anzac Centre. As this was on route back to the hotel we stopped by in the hope of making a reservation for that evening. Sadly it was closed and didn't open until 5:00pm, however, back at the hotel I was able to make an online booking. The Garrison lived up to its reputation and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal there. The one downside was that it was a drive from the hotel (which in reality we could have walked), so no wine for me this evening. Instead I had a 'Not Gin & Tonic' - not to be recommended, but it didn't spoil the meal.
