🌄 No Bluff News #26

G'day {{first_name | Friend}}! We're back with edition 26 of No Bluff News – your weekly wrap of positive local news, weekend plans, and all the community highlights you actually care about.

What's coming your way today:

Okay, time to get stuck in.

When Clare Reilly pulled into Albany last Monday, she'd just completed all 1,067 kilometres of the Munda Biddi trail in a wheelchair. Starting near Perth in early April, she tackled dense forest, granite outcrops and shifting dunes in a power-assisted adaptive chair, with husband Jay and a small crew alongside her the whole way.

Reilly has spent six years telling the stories of people living with MS through her podcast MS Understood. Her Wheelchair Meets Wilderness challenge is raising $100,000 for MS research at the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute, with just over $15,000 in so far.

A book and documentary are in the works. "It's been an incredibly exhausting adventure, but amazing," she says.

Albany is sending two of Australia's best young athletes to Darwin next week. Ginger Gleeson and Mason Watkins are both in Australia's 81-strong Under 18 squad for the Oceania Athletics Championships (18–23 May).

Gleeson holds three WA Country Records and the current state U15 800m title. Watkins recently broke the Albany Little Athletics U16 triple jump record with a 12.42-metre effort. Both are on Tier 1 scholarships with the Great Southern Academy of Sport.

Mason also heads to Kuala Lumpur in July to represent WA at the International Little Athletics Championships.

In Albany's bicentenary year, six Menang Elders are sharing their stories publicly for the first time.

Kinjarling Djinnang Ngalak | Country Sees Us opens at the State Library in Perth on 18 May, curated by Menang Noongar woman Denien Toomath. Visitors step inside a 6-metre dome inspired by a kornt (traditional shelter) to hear the elders' reflections alongside AI-powered visual reimaginings of precolonial Kinjarling.

"Country presents, it's active and it's a witness and it holds knowledge," Toomath says. Free, no bookings, open until April 2027. Worth the trip next time you're in Perth.

Albany social collective Women's Monthly spent Saturday scrubbing the windows of vacant York Street shopfronts with buckets and brooms.

"By making the empty spaces look cared for, we hope to send a quiet but powerful message that this town still matters," organiser Grytsje Doust says. It's the group's first project. It won't be their last.

The 2018-19 bushfires burnt all 37 of the world's remaining Banksia montana plants in the Stirling Range. Seven years on, conservation teams have nearly 300 young plants back in the ground.

Recovery work spans seed production sites in the Porongurup, helicopter translocations and phosphite spraying across the park. "If we were to end up with 100 mature plants in a couple of years' time, we would be very happy," DBCA conservation officer Sarah Barrett says.

Empowering Plantagenet Seniors has served 17,355 country-style meals since August 2020, feeding pensioners, hospital discharge patients and locals doing it tough on volunteer effort and donated produce.

The group is seeking Shire backing to employ a dedicated cook and expand its GO-PHER delivery program. The community keeps showing up: locals donated over 100 kilos of fruit in 2026 alone.

Ehsherwahdah Dah grew up in a refugee camp in northern Thailand and arrived in Australia at ten with little English. He studied civil construction at South Regional TAFE Albany, made the language work for him, and has just been named the campus's 2025 Student of the Year.

He's now working for the City of Albany. South Regional TAFE says the award is about more than grades. Dah's story makes that clear.

The western ringtail possum is critically endangered, its range down to just 5% of what it once covered. But the Oyster Harbor Catchment Group's annual tally just found a healthy colony thriving in Yakamiya forest.

Albany's biodiversity strategy is nearly ready for council. The city's native tree planting program is already helping, with possum-friendly peppermint, jarrah and marri going in across Albany.

The Gift of Truth Telling: Monthly series exploring Kinjarling and Albany with Menang Elders, historians and scientists, 5:30–6:30pm | UWA Albany | Thursday, 14 May

2026 Pumpkin Awards: Live music from 3 Fifths, Futari Wagyu burgers, pumpkin soup, kids' colouring. Free entry, 5:30pm | Lower Kalgan Hall | Saturday, 16 May

Golden Hill Steiner Markets: Local stalls, kids activities, food vans and live music, 2:45–4:45pm | Golden Hill Steiner School | Friday, 15 May

Katanning Farmers Market: Fresh local produce, preserves and crafts, 8am–12pm | 4 Pemble Street | Saturday, 16 May

Denmark Dragon Boat Regatta — The Dragonfly Cup: 200m sprint races on the Kwoorabup River, 11:30am–4:30pm | Denmark Riverside Club Foreshore | Sat, 16 May

After School Art Classes with Julie Tulip: Six-week drawing, painting and mixed media course for ages 9–14, 4–6pm | Vancouver Arts Centre | Wednesdays from 13 May

Sunset City Comic Workshops: Free two-part comic-making workshop for ages 13–19, materials provided. 9am–3pm | Denmark CRC | Sat, 16 May and Sat, 23 May

Taking Back Saturday: Emo and pop-punk night with My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and more. Doors 9pm | EVE Late Night Bar | Friday, 15 May

Casino Royale: Blackjack, Roulette and prize pools with professional croupiers. $65 includes finger food and starting bets, 6:30pm | Railways Sporting Club | Sat, 16 May

RnB Soul Train: Acoustic R&B with rich harmonies and originals, 5–8pm | Wilson Brewing Co | Friday, 15 May

Finn Pearson: Acoustic folk and storytelling, 8:30–11pm | Six Degrees | Friday, 15 May

Albany Blues Club: Terry Mackintosh and Triple Shot: $20 at the door, BYO nibbles, 7:30pm | King River Tavern | Saturday, 16 May

No Secrets: WA pub-rock covers with guitarist Brett Hazel and friends, 8:30–11pm | Wilson Brewing Co | Saturday, 16 May

Rob V: Easy acoustic sesh of covers and originals, 1–3pm | Karribank | Sunday, 17 May

Sign of Four House Concert: Genre-blurring string quartet reimagining Piazzolla to Sting in an intimate setting. Doors 6:30pm, 7pm start | 12 View Street | Sunday, 17 May

BRAG Meets Albany: Works in Progress: Works-in-progress exhibition from local artists in the main gallery, 10am–4pm | Vancouver Arts Centre | Opens Friday, 15 May

Howard Taylor: Material Practice: State Art Collection works exploring landscape and material practice, Tue–Sat 10am–5pm | Albany Town Hall | Opens Friday, 15 May

Kaarla Wirren: Fire-led performance by Aunty Carol Pettersen and Southern Edge Arts, with fire artists under the stars, 5–8pm | Albany Historic Whaling Station | Sat, 16 May

LEAD: Growth and Wellness Forum for Women in Business: Speakers, panels, workshops and networking, 9am–2:30pm | Albany SLSC | Wednesday, 13 May

Denmark Kwoorabup Sustainable Home Awards: Awards for home design, renovation and waterwise living, 5:30–7:30pm | Shire of Denmark Reception Room | Thurs, 14 May

Totally Renewable Denmark Renewables Fair: Free family-friendly fair with kids' activities and live music, 10am–2pm | Strickland Street RSL Hall | Saturday, 16 May

Albany's longest-serving state MP is putting his story on the page. Peter Watson (who represented the Albany region in state parliament from 2001 to 2021) launches his memoir On the Front Foot at Albany Public Library on Wednesday 20 May, with an in-conversation alongside Ian Hooper from Leschenault Press. Free entry, light refreshments, 5:30–7pm.

Albany's on the map for laughs. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow brings a handpicked lineup of Australia's best established and emerging comedians to the Albany Entertainment Centre. Tickets from $25 for Under 25s, $59 for adults, 7:30pm. Recommended 15+.

The Great Southern's biggest fight night is back. Nemesis Rising 4 features seven local fighters and the ISKA Featherweight State Title as the main event, with grandstand and table seating, a licensed bar and food trucks on site. Doors 4pm, first fight 5pm at Albany Leisure & Aquatic Centre. Grandstand tickets $75.

The 2026-27 State Budget for the Great Southern: investments in health, housing, and jobs for the region, while providing cost-of-living relief measures. See the breakdown.

Free unlimited counselling for Great Southern farming families: Rural Aid's Louise O'Neill offers free, confidential mental health support. Reach out to get started.

Gnowangerup wins WA's Place Innovation Award: The Shire took out the Regional category for its Stirling Range Cultural and Tourism Precinct. Read about the award.

Dog trainer: one-on-one and group positive-reinforcement training as a flexible contractor, clients and admin support supplied | RSPCA WA | Albany

CEO: lead strategy, governance and operations for the Shire of Cranbrook, $168–$258k performance contract, housing and vehicle included | Shire of Cranbrook | Cranbrook

Associate principal (secondary): six-month FT leadership role from Term 3, leading Years 10–12, extension or permanency possible | Dept of Education WA | Mount Barker

38 Angove Road, Spencer Park: Tenanted commercial block on 175m², close to schools and main roads | Offers above $299,000.

11 Robert Street, Mount Clarence: 2-bed, 1-bath on 541m². Harbour views, jarrah floors, high ceilings, single garage, 2.7km to Albany CBD | From $890,000.

129 Frenchman Bay Road, Robinson: 6-bed, 3-bath on 1.15ha. Two dwellings, harbour-front with Bibbulmun Track access, double garage | Offers above $2.2 million.

Albany Boardriders Junior Wavefest: A record 67 young surfers competed for the Albany Boardriders Junior Wavefest at Middleton Beach, with Alaia Williams and Kalgan Simmons taking out the U18 titles.

GSFL Women's Grand Final: Railways edged out the Albany Sharks 33 (5.3) to 26 (4.2) at Retravision Stadium to lift the Women's trophy, with Georgia Whitelaw named best on ground.

And that's a wrap!

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See you next Tuesday!