Welcome to the Big Grove Bed and Breakfast and Spencer Cottage website. Whether you are interested in staying at our home at Big Grove or the self-contained Spencer Cottage in the heart of the city; visiting Albany; or simply wish to view our site; please feel free to look around. We hope you find something of interest and enjoy your online stay at the website.

The site contains a virtual reality tour of Big Grove Bed and Breakfast; a page on Spencer Cottage; a booking form; some information on the history of Albany, and advice on upcoming events in and around Albany and the Great Southern Region.

Your hosts are Jim and Jo Hillis who moved to Albany to enjoy the lifestyle.  They invite you to share in their piece of paradise at Big Grove, or if you are looking for a self-contained holiday Spencer Cottage is ideally located in the centre of town.

Jim was born and raised in Dumbarton, Scotland, and grew up climbing mountains, catching salmon and generally revelling in his native Scotland. He is now a retired engineer, sometimes antique restorer and woodworker extraordinaire. Not to mention his gardening skills, they are developing rapidly. Jim has happily called Australia home for the past 25 years.

Jo was born in Melbourne and grew up in Port Melbourne in the inner city. At 21 she went off on the 'Grand Tour' to Britain and Europe. Following a one-week visit to Scotland, she postponed the 'Grand Tour' to spend the next 9 years familiarising herself further with Jim's native land. After returning to Australia with Jim in tow, Jo studied and graduated in Business Management, specialising in Human Resources and has for many years worked within the health sector.

Between the both of them, they make a formidable team who love meeting people and their aim is to make their guests' stay enjoyable and relaxing.

ABOUT ALBANY:

Located in the South West region of Australia, Albany sits at an altitude of 15m. It is a thriving rural and tourist centre with a population of around 28,000 people. The climate is one of cool summers and mild winters.

Albany is Western Australia's first and oldest settlement. With magnificent scenery, its historical significance and natural wonders, Albany has something for everyone and is a popular place to visit all year round. It is particularly well known for its whale watching season from August to October and the spring wildflower season around September, but there are many activities all year round. Big Grove B & B is located near the Torndirrup National Park, where the Southern Ocean has sculpted a Natural Bridge in the coastal granites and formed The Gap, where the waves rush in and out with tremendous ferocity. The Blowholes, a crack line in the granite, 'blows' air and occasionally spray. The noise is quite impressive. Windswept coastal heaths give way to massive granite outcrops, sheer cliffs and steep sandy slopes and dunes. The area was one of the first in Western Australia to be gazetted as a national park, in 1918, though it was not named until 1969. Torndirrup was the name of the Aboriginal clan that lived on the peninsula and to the west of what is now Albany.