Top Towns for 2022: Discover the many things to love about Albany

Danielle Norton pens a love letter to Albany, a port town on Western Australia’s southern coast that endears itself with its bookstores, bakeries and beaches to see why it landed at no.22 on your list of Top 50 Aussie Towns.

Find the complete list of the Top 50 Aussie Towns here.

An Albany love affair

My friends are surprised when I tell them a visit to Albany is like a blind date that goes really, really well. The description on the brochure, a port town in WA’s great South West, did little to highlight the revelatory conversation starters the town had in store for me, the surprises and pleasures that spending time with it would bring, and how it would woo me with its bookstores, bakeries and beaches.

Albany has style and sophistication, but it also has a rugged edge, sitting as it does between the coast and the outback. Alongside the blossoming cultural scene, where film and foodie festivals abound, there’s also the possibility of mountains to climb, historical tales to uncover, and adventures to be had.

Fresh local produce available at the Albany Farmers Market

It’s the little things, like freshly-baked croissants, that make Albany so charming. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

Wandering the streets of Albany, I am struck by the little details that make this town so charming. It embraces the artistic talents of its community. Tiny mosaic artworks punctuate the footpaths and the town’s laneways are adorned with street art by both Australian and international artists.

Walking between the farmers’ market and my hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Albany on the foreshore, I feel like I am being romanced by the town. A fancy restaurant, a contemporary store selling quality clothing, homewares and gifts, a worthy rival for any city shopping strip, an unassuming smile before I see behind its facade into another multi-layered part of its personality.

The town is on its best behaviour, but not afraid to show its true self. A litany of pristine beaches surrounds the town and I am nearly giddy choosing between Ellen Cove and Discovery Bay, where the old Whaling Station sits, Misery Beach (named Australia’s best in 2022), Emu Point and Little Beach.

There’s nothing better than the haul you get from a local farmer’s market. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

Full of history and charm

Albany knows to give me options and I feel like this date has really done its homework about me. There are not one, but two, bookshops. Paperbark is fully stocked with bestsellers and recently released tomes, and I love the Gemini second-hand bookshop, which has a whole section dedicated to Western Australian authors such as Tim Winton, Rachael Johns and Craig Silvey.

I sink my teeth into a potato galette at Bred Co and start to convince myself that this combination of flaky, sweet and savoury could be a snack that would satisfy me for the rest of my life.

Albany has style and sophistication, but it also has a rugged edge. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

My date also knows I didn’t pay close enough attention in school. The pride of Albany is the National ANZAC Centre. I had completely forgotten the fact that every soldier who fought in Gallipoli had been transported to this tiny town in WA to be shipped from the Port of Albany to Turkey.

For history buffs, the gift shop is well-stocked with obscure books and memorabilia. As we climb to the Convoy Lookout at the top of Mt Clarence, the vantage point makes it easy to see why this was such an excellent position for a fort.

Exterior shot of The National Anzac Centre, at night. The National Anzac Centre is located within the Princess Royal Fortress precinct of Albany Heritage Park.

The pride of Albany is the National ANZAC Centre. (Image: National Anzac Centre)

The views of Frenchman Bay and King George Sound are captivating. I love the fresh air in Albany, the beaches at every turn, the tranquillity, the Saturday morning farmers’ market on Collie Street, the Wilson Brewing Company on a Sunday arvo, kids and dogs included.

I love the university options for regional students, the cosmopolitan celebrations like CineFestOz Albany and Taste Great Southern, Sunday sessions with live music in the Hilton Garden Inn, people walking dogs in the early morning on the foreshore lining up to buy coffee at Haz Beanz, whale-spotting tours, the swimming pool platform in the ocean at Middleton Beach where the local kids take their first strokes.

I love the feats of engineering that have constructed walkways over the wild waters of The Gap and the respect for nature that means humans have left the nearby blowholes unfenced. I love learning that the First People of Albany have a history of embracing the white settlers, who arrived on Christmas Day in 1826, and the Noongar population were not imprisoned or embroiled in battles with them.

The walkways over the wild waters of The Gap are feats of engineering. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

The two cultures coexisted at a time when fierce wars were being fought around the country. The Noongar philosophy of sharing the spoils of the land was extended to the newcomers. I love that so much evidence of this exists today; I see the fish traps at Oyster Harbour on the Great Southern Outback Eco Tour, where the traditional owners have been catching fish for about 40,000 years.

I love that the local council respects the Noongar calendar of the seasons, which is installed as an artwork in the courtyard at the visitor centre. When people arrive at this, the southern terminus for the Munda Biddi Trail and the Bibbulmun Track, they can look down and see the six seasons depicted. Albany, I am very impressed. I’ll be waiting for your call.

Explore more of Albany in our travel guide or find out which other towns made it into your Top 50.

Soon after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, when troops were called to mobilise from both Australia and New Zealand, Albany – a tiny, unassuming town in south-west WA – was chosen as the unlikely locale for the biggest fleet the Commonwealth had ever assembled.

When Henry Lawson visited Albany in 1890, he described it as a town that “will never change much – it is a pretty town, but vague. It seems to exist only in a somewhere-on-the-horizon sort of way”.

But Mr Lawson was not to predict the events of October 1914, when the locals woke one morning to several large ships arriving into King George Sound to dock at the vast, sheltered Princess Royal Harbour. Not an unusual sight for a port town, one may think – except that these ships had on board thousands of troops bound for the First World War (by the time they departed, there would be 38 ships, 30,000 troops and 7000 horses in total). Thanks to censorship, no one had any idea they were coming.

The scene intensified even more at the arrival of our New Zealand comrades, who met the Australians they would fight side-by-side with for the first time here.

“The cheering and counter-cheering, the Maori war cries and answering cooees would have moved a stoic,” says New Zealand War Historian, Major Fred Waite. “Young Australia was welcoming young New Zealand in no uncertain manner in the first meeting of those brothers-in-arms, soon to be known by a glorious name as yet undreamed of.”

Surprised? There is much to learn of Albany’s ANZAC connection. Here are 10 ways to do so.

1. Walk down memory lane

Wander along York Street and Stirling Terrace – the locations for daily marches, where some of the troops were given the chance to stretch their legs and escape the confines of the ships – and you can almost picture the extraordinary scenes that would have taken place here.

There are recounts of locals, who largely embraced the arrival of the ships, presenting some of the men with sprigs of wattle as a memento of home, as they marched optimistically down these streets, waving their hats in the air in a celebratory fashion. Make sure you stop to look at photographs of such scenes, which are available at the Albany History Collection in the public library, as well as the Western Australian Museum.

2. Visit Australia’s first-ever ANZAC museum

The first-ever dedicated ANZAC exhibition in the country will open its doors here on 1 November: the National Anzac Centre. James Dexter, director of creative and regional development for the Western Australian Museum, says it is intended to be the country’s premier destination to learn about the ANZACs, though “we are not seeking to glorify Australia’s military achievements,” he adds.

“We are seeking to allow those who sailed on the first two convoys to speak directly to you.” That is, almost literally, the case: the museum will offer access to personal, never-before-explored stories of 32 Australians and New Zealanders on board one of the first two convoys, as well as the stories of a Turk and a German who were involved in the battle at Gallipoli. Visitors will be allocated one of these identities on arrival, learning of their personal story through the state-of-the-art interactive, multimedia exhibition.

3. Lay a wreath at ANZAC Peace Park

Stand in front of the granite wall here, eyes closed, and consider these statistics: from a population of fewer than five million, over 416,809 men enlisted in the First World War; over 60,000 of these were killed and 156,000 were wounded or taken prisoner.

Banjo Paterson beautifully summed up our sacrifice as a young nation in his poem We’re all Australians now: “The mettle that a race can show is proved with shot and steel, and now we know what nations know and feel what nations feel”. Laying a wreath on the wall is a special way to pay tribute to those men and women who left from this very spot 100 years ago, and all those who have worn the Australian uniform in every battle since.

Wreaths at ANZAC Peace Park, Albany.

4. Read personal messages from the war

The newly built Convoy Walk, officially opening alongside the National Anzac Centre, has 21 markers along its route, at which you can learn about the ships in the first and second convoys, including names, images and where they embarked their troops.

The most moving feature of the walk is placed at its start at Mt Adelaide: Longing is an aluminium artwork, which features inscribed text from letters sentby Australian troops to their loved ones back home during the war.

5. Take in the view from Mt Clarence

Did we mention Albany also has some pretty-as-a-picture scenery? A walk up to Mt Clarence showcases this, with a spectacular panoramic outlook to Princess Royal Harbour and beyond. But also at the top – where the Dawn Service is held each year – stands the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial, a nine-metre recast of the original bronze statue that stood in the Suez Canal until it was destroyed in the war in 1956.

It was resurrected in Albany in 1964 atop original granite blocks that still display bullet marks, as a tribute to the ANZAC spirit and that beloved notion of mateship. Although you can drive up to the site, you can also walk up the Avenue of Honour along the gum tree-lined road, each of which displays the name of a soldier lost at war.

6. Go to the site of the first Dawn Service

Also atop Mt Clarence is a lookout named after local icon Padre Arthur Ernest White, who, it is believed, held the first ever Dawn Service at this exact spot, on 25 April 1930. After serving as the chaplain to the 44th Battalion in the trenches of France, he returned to Albany and was appointed the Rector of St John’s Church (on York Street).

After mass, he and a group of parishioners climbed to the summit of Mt Clarence to watch a boatman cast a wreath into King George Sound, as he recited those most revered words: “As the sun riseth and goeth down, we will remember them”. If you’re interested in Padre White’s story, you can head to the church to see his original chaplain war kit, alongside the church register that recognises his Dawn Service as the first.

7. Contemplate our eternal connection with Turkey

The channel between King George Sound and Princess Royal Harbour was renamed Atatürk Channel (after the Turkish wartime president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk) in a reciprocal recognition of our countries’ losses. (The beach at Gallipoli, where the ANZAC troops landed, has in turn been officially renamed ANZAC Cove.)

A statue of Atatürk, erected in Albany in 2002, is inscribed with the words he famously uttered at the 1934 Dawn Service: “There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side…” It is a moving sentiment to contemplate as you take the three-kilometre beachside boardwalk from here into town. The trail has spectacular lookouts to the turquoise waters of King George Sound as it sweeps around the bay, taking in the area’s ruggedly beautiful landscape, passing through ANZAC Peace Park and ending at Stirling Terrace.

Ataturk Memorial, Albany, WA.

8. Pay respects at the Memorial Park Cemetery

Albany’s ANZAC story didn’t end when the first two convoys departed in November and December 1914; another 243 Australian and New Zealand troop and hospital ships called in both outward and homeward bound until 1919. Albany’s hospital treated the sick and the wounded aboard these ships, but sadly, some died and are buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery and also Allambie Park.

9. Go whale watching

John and Forrest Woodbury, owners of Albany Whale Tours, are significantly involved in ANZAC commemorations each year, running two free cruises at dawn and midday on ANZAC Day and on this year’s Memorial Day. “We don’t feel right charging people on such an important and revered day for Australians,” says John, who encourages all participants to consider what those on board endured, such as the less than hospitable weather, illness, minimal food supplies and problems with body waste.

The tour also passes Breaksea Island, home in 1914 to 15-year-old Fay Howe, the lighthouse keeper’s daughter who signalled to the troops via morse code, thus becoming their last hope of getting messages telegraphed back home – an impressive mark on the ANZAC history made by one young girl. Free ANZAC tours are offered on a first-come, first-served basis – just call to book your place. On all other days, tours run twice a day during whale season (late May to October) when humpback and southern right whales are regularly spotted. $9 per adult; $55 per child; under four free.

Swimmers on Middleton Beach, Albany (photo: Fleur Bainger).

10. Attend the centenary commemorations

Of course, Canberra’s War Memorial still remains the centre for anyone seeking to understand Australia through the conflicts it has been involved in, but any Australian interested in the ANZAC story would appreciate a visit to Albany.

The town’s program of events during the ANZAC Centenary will run from 31 October to 2 November, and will include the Royal Australian Navy Ceremonial Sunset, a lighting display in Princess Royal Harbour, a troop march, a commemorative service, a community concert, the opening of the brand new National Anzac Centre, a symbolic ship departure, and a ‘mess hall’ where market stalls and pop-up restaurants will take place, among other smaller events.