Fewer than 24 hours till Leg 4 starts, a relatively short hop of 2100 nautical miles to Sydney. Our route takes us South of Tasmania (thankfully avoiding the Bass strait, notorious for its severe and unpredictable seas) and should take a couple of weeks.  

  

Albany has been a great stopover, and although it’s a very small place by comparison with Cape Town or Rio,  the up-side is that we’re quite a big deal for the town, and everyone knows who we are and what we’re doing.  The race has been here before, and local shops and restaurants have photos from previous races on their walls and in their windows. 
Although it’s a small town, Albany was the departure point for two huge convoys carrying the ANZACs to Europe in 1914 and consequently is home to the National Anzac centre. This thoughtful, humbling, respectful place  blends high-tech interactive displays and traditional museum exhibits to tell the ANZAC story, from formation to Gallipoli to the Western front or the Sinai desert and – for some – home again. It’s a fantastic memorial and was a real highlight for me. 

   
   

Notable but less pleasant was the whaling museum, the last whaling station to close in Australia (1978) and almost belligerently proud of the work that the 120 men (and one woman) carried out. There’s still a palpable sense of loss in the community after the station’s closure. 

   
  

 

My last outing was to the Castle Rock, just north of the town; a big granite outcrop with a stainless steel walkway bolted to it. Not for the faint hearted, but amazing views across Western Australia from the top.