Albany (pronounced owl-bann-ee), a port town turned tourist-filled city on the western coast of Australia (about 409km south of Perth), is apparently well-known in Western Australia, and perhaps much of the country - and even bits of the world - for its extraordinary amount of inherent 'boringness'. Even the local graffiti artists pick up on the ennui, with one piece of scrawl stating quite depressingly:

Albany: is death the only escape?

This 'ambience' is probably the fault of the first explorers (read invaders) who on arrival killed anything of interest, including some of the local Aborigines, the Mineng Noongar people. Even though the city is officially recognised as Western Australia's first settlement — founded in 1826 — it should be remembered the locals had been there long beforehand.

Speaking of killing stuff, nearby Seal Island is so named because in 1791 English explorer George Vancouver and his friends slaughtered a whole bunch of seals there, then decided to call it Seal Island. Fancy that. The place remained a popular haunt of sealers, who also decided they'd nab a few of the local Aboriginal women from around Albany for their own personal use (read sex slaves). This happened right up until about Christmas 1826, when a military base was set up by one Major Edward Lockyer. He became somewhat a local hero when he set about rescuing the Aboriginal women from their captors who lived on the various islands dotted off the coast.

It all went downhill from there though, when the place was officially named in 1832 by Governor Stirling, after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, and son of King George III. Whaling became the local industry, along with locking up criminals. The old gaol is a popular tourist attraction to this day. (The new one isn't so much.)

Despite all that, the port of Albany has had many visitors, from royalty through to Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. Lawson said something unmemorable about how Albany will never change much, but was later proved wrong - whaling finished, and the city ended up having a huge supermarket built. Yippee! Meanwhile, when Mark Twain came to the port, he perhaps sensibly decided to stay on board the ship.

Other things that happened: people went to war (many Anzacs¹ departed for the beach of Gallipoli from Albany), the local women married some Americans during and after another war, and then the whaling station closed. Then it reopened, as a tourist attraction. Other notable events include the arrival of a McDonald's restaurant, the radio station Triple J, and a bit of a university where you can attend for first year, but then you have to go to Perth to finish your studies.

The Best Bits

All in all, the picture painted of Albany so far isn't a particularly great one, granted. But we haven't even mentioned the scenery. It's quite simply beautiful. The city overlooks the Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound, which can be viewed from nearby Mt Melville and Mt Clarence - and if you're lucky, well, not so much lucky but looking in the right place, such as out to sea, you'll probably spot (actually it'd be hard to miss) some dolphins, seals and (between July and October) humpback and southern right whales.

Beachcombing

The proper way to see the 'true' Albany is on foot though. The beaches in Albany are actually quite remarkable, as are most of the beaches in Western Australia. Middleton Beach is the central one, a long stretch of white sand with a boardwalk coming off it that goes up Mt Clarence. Straying from the Mount Clarence path, you can clamber down the rocks past a few anglers down to Seal Rock. Surprisingly, Seal Rock is not named for the same reason Seal Island is, but because a lone seal sits on this rock. Other seals swim near the rock, but this one seal is invariably on the rock, out of the water. A local once remarked of the seal,

If this was a Disney movie, the seal would be singing.

which, in all honesty, it's best that it's not a Disney movie as we're all still recovering from the singing animals in The Lion King.

The Wind and the Waves

If your feet are worn out from wandering the beach and trekking up the hills, a drive out past the prison will take you to the Western Power Wind Farm - huge windmills taking advantage of the wind that comes straight up from the Antarctic. This really is a must-see, not because of the man-made structures, impressive as they may be, but because of the spectacular coastal scenery out there. After the sight-seeing you can head back into Albany and 'chuck a Yorkie' (every town in Australia has a name for the action of driving up and down the main street. In Albany's case, it's called 'chucking a Yorkie', as the main street is York Street²).

Dog Rock

Dog Rock is perhaps one of the burning issues for the natives of Albany - aside from Whale World, a museum that gives good account of the move from whale-killing through to the more serene whale-watching industry in Albany. And the fact that the city is stretching out, with more and more people migrating in and looking to buy a house on the beach - complemented by the lifestyle that brings.

Anyway, back to Dog Rock. The large granite rock stands about 15 metres high, and apparently looks like a dog's head - a labrador, some say. The hotel across the road is named after it, as is the shopping centre that resides next to it. It's all made worse by the painted collar around its base, and the consensus seems to be that the locals hate it. But tourists love it, and take photographs of it all the time - hardly a day goes by without someone taking a snapshot.

Cafés & Bookshops

In such a cold town (by Australian standards), the number of out-door street cafés is startling. Undoubtedly though, the most popular café in Albany is Dylans. There are some old advertising and historical photographs on the walls, but its popularity owes more to the fact that when the door closes it's warm inside. To end on a positive note, there a few good bookshops in Albany. The library isn't too bad either. Books 'n' Things is a bloody good second-hand bookshop, and while there doesn't appear to be any 'things' in it and the range isn't fantastic, the prices, well, they rock.

All said and done, death certainly isn't the only escape in Albany.