Albany – Wellstead December 2020

Right now I am realising why it’s a good idea to write a journal or a blog at the time of the holiday instead of relying on facebook for my memories.
So take home message, write this shit down…. or do what a friend who travels does, buy a thing called a map book (WTF) do they even exist and write on the page of the location what you go up to and when you were there. I thought this was cool and it’s added into my note section on my phone so I remember to buy it before my next trip.

Back to trying to remember the amazing holiday that was my first adventure of week long camping with the ponio.

December 27th 2020 – Albany WA

We arrived in Albany the day after boxing day, It really did seem like a good idea to go away after the Christmas madness and spend a few days by the coast but I underestimated the effort in getting everything ready to go, including finding out I had left the registration lapse on my float by accident and needed to take it over the pits the week before Christmas, I might have cried ha ha.

The plan for this trip was Albany 27th to the 30th then onto Wellstead for the 30th to the 3rd before heading home. Good friends Sandy & Jane came along on this adventure that had us staying at the Albany equestrian centre and Wellstead Bush Camp, I will put links down below.

Day 1 28th December 2020

Camping at the Albany Equestrian Centre means direct access to the Stidwell Bridle track, 30kms of marked tracks and with a little bit of winging it you can end up under the windfarm in albany which was on the list for us girls to go do. We might have got a little lost and did 17kms which was 5kms more than we had planned, this was only a concern as we had conned a fantastic local rider who is a octogenarian to join us on the adventure and we were all a bit concerned that we might break her and her horse. She out rode us all. We took it steady as none of us wanted to break our horses on day 1 of the adventure in deep sand but it was a lovely ride.

Day 2 29th December 2020

Today we ventured to Camp Quaranup, it was about this time I started to be able to breath after a shocker of a run in the lead up to the break. Picnics on the beach tend to have that effect after you have been splashing in the water and cantering along the sand.
I could not get the smile of my face and neither could all the girls who came along, Sandy, Jane, the octogenarian and her daughter.
Those that know me as a rider know I am a wuss and have spent the best part of my riding career avoiding cantering or doing it in fear, Sarge has been great for my soul and given me a little more confidence to tackle cantering more often so it was lovely to be able to do this along the sand of the bay.

Day 3 30th December 2020

Hindsight after a trip is wonderful you soon learn what is a good idea to do and what is not, this holiday had a packing up part way through and moving onto the next location which was Wellstead, It was a lesson well learnt that it really is not that much fun to pack up a brilliant camp after a few days to move on. We felt like we had just scratched the service of how good Albany is but a plan is a plan and we were looking forward to Wellstead as well.
Off we trundled after a morning of packing camp, we stopped at Naranup beach for a ride before continuing on the drive to Wellstead. We got a taste of the wind we were going to experience for the next few days, it was blowing a gale as we rode down the beach next to the crashing waves.
Jane used this opportunity to catch up with some family for a picnic while Sandy and I hung on to our horses in the salty air riding, it was a 6km ride and even with the wind it was enjoyable.
This beach allows 4×4’s but everyone was mindful and we had fun offering to help pull one vehicle out that was bogged, he thought we were serious, we left him to let his tyres down again and sort himself out (honestly he deserved to be bogged he was at 30psi) (can you tell i’ve been watching 4×4 adventures with the tolerant husband.

Day 4 31st December 2020

We had a quiet day today, I was coming down with a flu and the weather had turned. Amazing storm the night before with the horses happy in a large paddock we bunkered down in our beds and watched the thunder and lightning roll through, I might have jumped a few times in my roof top tent as it got close.
Quiet days still involve time in the saddle so we went for a sticky beak around Wellstead town site and checked out the rest of the Wellstead bush camp.
The difference 80kms from Albany just a different outlook but beautiful in its own right.

It was new years eve and I am not known to party with any kind of gusto so once again being the germ ridden one I had an early night

Day 5 1st January 2021

I am not a quitter, although I wanted to die, my flu was not great at all but I pushed through because you don’t come all this way and not go exploring Cape Riche.
We gate crashed some summer swimming lessons with the horses lapping up all the pats as we road along the squeaky sand.
We had a picnic on the top of the cliffs and enjoyed the view. Weather was not in our favor so we are lucky the horses are good in windy conditions.
I returned to camp to take more cough medicine and lie down as the girls went exploring the octogenarian family farm

After a nap I decided there was no way I was going to be able to ride another day and with the weather out of control I decided to pack up my camp and get ready to hit the road in the morning, a day early but again glad I left when I did

Day 6 – 2nd January 2021

The long road home – Wellstead to Greenbushes 304kms but with travel time of 5.5hrs without the float so longer with while feeling poorly was not bloody fun but so bloody worth it for this trip. I will post below my lessons learnt from my first trip away and where we stayed and all that jazz.

The Details

Accommodation:

Camping at Albany Equestrian Grounds
https://www.albanyequestrian.net/ – Brilliant facilities, dog friendly on lead, Yards for horses, Hot water showers and good toilet facilities for humans. You can even hire the indoor arena if that is your thing.

Camping at Wellstead Bush Camp https://directory.fullrangecamping.com.au/item/wellstead-bush-park-cg/ – Place is so cute that it doesn’t have its own website but the owners are friendly and easy to contact so give them a call, they were very accommodating