On the south coast, 430 km south east of Perth. This is the oldest town in Western Australia. As early as 1791, the British captain George Vancouver anchored in the King George Sound (off the present site of Albany), noting that this formed an even larger protected anchorage than Sydney Harbour. But it wasn’t until 1826 that the British decided to establish the first European settlement here, to forestall a rumoured French move into the region. On Christmas Day, the barque Amity arrived from Sydney with 45 soldiers under the command of Major Lockyer. The settlement was originally called Frederickstown, after one of King George IV’s sons. Later, its excellent harbour and strategic position ensured that it became an important port. The Antarctic whaling fleets put in here, and when the age of steam arrived it became an important bunkering port. This was the last point where ships could take on coal before their long voyage across the Indian Ocean to India, on the way back to Europe.

Despite this, Albany grew slowly. As a result, much of its historical character and many of its old buildings have been preserved. To this day, the port only has a population of some thirty thousand. (Compare this with Perth, which was founded three years later, has no real harbour, and yet now has a population of well over 1.5 million.)

Albany has a delightful setting, on hillsides overlooking the wide sweep of King George Sound, and there’s much to see here.

For the best views, head west of the town centre along Marine Drive, and turn up Apex Drive to Mount Clarence. Here you can look out to sea along the coast, and on a fine day you can see as far inland as the peaks of the Stirling Range, which rise to 300 m, over 70 km away. At the top of Mount Clarence is the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial. This commemorates the Australians and New Zealanders who gave their lives fighting in the Middle East in the First World War. The original of this bronze memorial was erected in 1932 in Port Said at the entrance to the Suez Canal in Egypt. This was destroyed during the 1956 Suez Crisis, and the memorial here is a recast version. (Only the damaged horse’s head was rescued from the original, and this is now on show in the Albany Residence Museum (see below). The siting of this memorial is particularly apt, as this was the last point in Australia seen by those who set off to fight.

There’s another fine view over the harbour from the top of Mount Melville, which rises to the west of the town centre. Between July and September you can sometimes see migrating whales spouting out in the sound. At this time of year they also run boat trips to see the whales in the nearby bays. See www.albanywhaletours.com.au.  

The oldest building in Albany is Patrick Taylor Cottage in Duke Street, which dates from 1832. This is now a folk museum, crammed with all kinds of old relics – some of which are intriguing, and some of which should have been thrown away long ago. See www.historicalbany.com.au. Another so-called folk museum is housed nearby in the Old Convict Gaol and Museum, which housed its first guests in 1851. In the old days entry was free, but it now costs you a small fee. From here the convicts used to be hired out as virtual slaves to work for nearby landowners.

The highlight of this historic town is undoubtedly The Western Australian Museum, which used to be called the Albany Residence Museum, which has some really interesting exhibits from the early maritime days. Alternative-medicine addicts should be sure to see the display devoted to bush medicines used by the Aborigines. (It’s often forgotten that the Aborigines were living here long before any of the Europeans turned up. Indeed, their settlement at Oyster Bay is said to be one of the oldest in the region.) See www.museum.wa.gov.au/museums/albany.

Internet freaks will wish to go and jeer at the Inter-Colonial Museum, with its collection of telecommunications equipment, housed in the refurbished Old Post Office. This contains much steam-age communications bric-a-brac: one day soon the internet and all its attendant paraphernalia will appear much like this.

The coastline on either side of Albany is some of the most spectacular in Australia, with all kinds of exotic natural features – including rock bridges, blowholes and even the occasional beach without a surfer in sight. At Frenchman’s Bay, the former whaling station has now been transformed into a whaling museum – Whale World (www.discoverybay.com.au/historic-whaling-station).