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Sunday 8th – The day dawned bright and sunny and we were up and about at 7:30am. Preparing to go away and leaving the caravan behind was not as easy as it might seem. It was difficult enough deciding what clothing we might need. But the real difficulty was deciding what other items that we are used to having at our fingertips we would definitely need in Bunbury. Also, we were not just leaving Sweetie where she was – she would be moved into a storage area – so everything had to be packed away as if we were moving on lock, stock and barrel. Most time was spent on emptying the fridge and packing all the foodstuffs we would use into suitable containers for transportation. A large plastic box took most of the dry goods and the perishable stuff went into a cool box. Clothing (far more than we really needed for just three days) went into the two hold-alls we had bought for our NZ trip. Graham had to cater for his tablets and he also decided he would like his guitar so we had to find a space for that. We were going to take the bikes too.
Bye bye Sweetie -
we'll be back soon!We didn’t know if we would be able to use them but it was easier to take them than to find a place to store them. By about 9:30am we were just about ready to go. PIE was bursting at the seams and everything we didn’t need was left inside Sweetie. She would be moved into the storage area by the park staff after we left and re-positioned for us on the day of our return. We handed in our gate key, confirmed that all the arrangements with the park were in order, and hit the road for Bunbury.
As with most of our journeys in and around Perth, we made excellent progress and were soon well on the way to Mandurah – our intended mid morning stop. We easily found our way into the heart of Mandurah and looked for a parking space near the centre. Unfortunately, perhaps because it was Mother’s Day here in Aus, everywhere was “heaving” with craft stalls and family gatherings everywhere. But we eventually managed to find a space big enough to take PIE with the bikes on the back, and within reasonable walking distance of the centre. It was also the last
day of a Street Festival so there was a bit of entertainment going on as well. On the main stage a “folk” singer was singing a lot of Irish songs that Mo Mac n Me used to do but his best song was about the Irish origins of the O’Bama family, rhyming it with O’Hara, Connemara and so on - it was very, very funny.
We liked Mandurah a lot last time we were there but the fairly central caravan park we had stayed on last time was now a housing estate. We had been warned that a lot of development had taken place since our visit 8 years ago although the central water area was much the same but full of visitors enjoying the festivities. We spotted a couple of high-rise buildings that hadn’t been there before which were a bit of a blot on the landscape. We much prefer towns which have imposed a high-rise restriction near the water-front – as with Busselton – but Mandurah seems to have given in to the pressure of big business – shame. It was still very pleasant though. After an enjoyable stroll we found a fairly handily placed picnic table
Pretty good Irish singer
but his rendition of 'I'll Tell Me Ma' wasn't a patch on Mo Mac n Me's version! a little way away from the car where we thought we would have our cuppa and cake. But, alas, I couldn’t find the cuppa and cake!!! I knew it was there somewhere but other things had been packed on and around it and Graham’s patience was beginning to wear thin. So we decided to continue our journey and find somewhere less busy to stop where it would be easier for me to find the elusive tea-bags and mugs. Although we were on the ‘coast’ road it was easy to see what was meant about development. For a long time we just went through new housing development after new housing development. Mandurah is probably ‘the’ place to live in WA (outside of Perth) and it certainly showed with its huge growth. Eventually we stopped in a very uninteresting rest area but it gave me a chance to find the missing provisions. So at last we could have a cuppa and, as it was nearly lunchtime, we ate our sandwiches too. Back on the road, just a few kilometers away we came to a beautiful picnic spot which would have been an ideal stopping place – oh well, c’est la vie!!
On arrival in Bunbury we spotted the park we had stayed at last time. What an ideal location that would have been now, but I went for the cheaper option which was a little way out of town. Nevertheless, we explored the town and visited the Information Centre. Unusually, for an IC, there was no car parking directly outside. Strangely, if we’d had Sweetie on behind it would have been fine – they catered well for cars with caravans but solo cars were obliged to park elsewhere. We persevered with the parking and picked up a couple of maps and also identified an interesting route along the coast road to get to and from our caravan park which was on the outskirts of Bunbury about 5 kilometers away. Before we went that way, though, we visited the Dolphin Centre which was on Koombana Beach – an ideal location for a swim and with very easy parking. Eventually, we drove along the coast road towards the caravan park. It was a little hilly and a little too far to consider using bikes every day but we hope to use them sometimes. We found the park easily and were soon checking in
to our Swiss style chalet – a little dated but very roomy and with everything we might need. On the way in, the pool looked very inviting so we’ll have somewhere to swim if all else fails.
We took time to settle ourselves in and then went for a stroll around the park, chatting with a couple who lived “on the road” - they have a house in Perth but prefer the gypsy lifestyle. He actually had a job in the area and was about to go to work on night shift but he did contract work and they would move on when the time was right. We enjoyed our evening meal and then Graham settled down to watch a very good drama called Blood Brothers – based on a real life Australian family tragedy which I vaguely remembered hearing about. Ashamedly, mainly for my benefit, we then sat up into the wee small hours so that I could keep track of Man Utd’s crucial game with Chelsea on the computer. Luckily (?!!) it was a great result for Utd so I slept really soundly!
Despite the late night, Graham was up and about early and I followed
soon after. We intended to make things up as we went along today, Monday, but a visit to the dolphin beach at Koombana would feature at some point. After breakfast we went out armed with all our swimming and snorkeling gear and also with the bikes still on the rack. We drove along the coast road into town and realized what a lovely outlook it was and probably an ideal spot for a sunset. We also spotted the way to The Big Swamp, a large area of wetlands close to the centre but deliberately left un-developed to encourage wildlife and birds to the area. Apparently it has been a very successful project so we look forward to visiting it in the next day or so. We made our way through town to Koombana Beach but, as with yesterday, there was no dolphin activity that we could see. It is a lovely beach so it was no hardship to sit a while and have a cuppa from the flask I had prepared. By now, late morning, we had given up on seeing any dolphins so Graham took the bikes off the rack and we cycled back into town. Good cycle paths
are a feature of Bunbury so we had no trouble finding our way to what we thought was the centre. Surprisingly, though, we could find no public racks to secure our bikes to so, having padlocked them to some fencing, we walked along the main streets. It was pleasant enough with some interesting sculptures but nothing special. Then we just “happened” upon a shopping arcade which led to a bigger arcade reminiscent of many city centre shopping complexes. I popped into ‘Target’, which is a great clothes chain store and on the way out I bumped into the lady from the caravan park who we had chatted to the previous evening. She kept herself busy during the day when her hubbie was sleeping by being the ‘bag checker’ there. The shopping centre was excellent and we did a bit of shopping and had some lunch which was a good value roast dinner. After we found our way back to the bikes we decided to cycle around a big lake adjacent to the centre which was probably a distance of 5 kilometers. We knew it would take us back to where the car was parked at Koombana so we enjoyed a
very pleasant cycle for the next hour or so, stopping to admire another wetlands area with a boardwalk and excellent signage explaining its name, Leschenault, and its main wildlife inhabitants.
Once we were back where the car was parked it was very tempting to have a swim – the beach, even without dolphins, is beautiful with very little wave disturbance. But Graham persuaded me to have a swim back at the caravan park where the pool was just a short walk from the cabin and we’d be able to nip back to the cabin to shower etc. When we got back, at about 3:00pm, the pool was empty and the sun was really warm so I thought Graham had made the right choice but when we got in, the water was FREEZING – much colder than the sea had been at Koombana. I still managed a swim, after an initial struggle, but “wimpy” Graham only got his feet wet!!
We needed to do some grocery shopping, which we were unable to do when we were on our bikes earlier, so we found the nearest group of shops to the CP, about a kilometer away. There was a KMart
where I was hoping to buy some new beach shoes but all I bought was a pair of shorts for Graham. I did my grocery shopping at the Coles supermarket and we then went back to the chalet. Graham realised that the sun was very low in the sky and if we were going to witness a good sunset we needed to get to the beach quickly - it was only about 5:15pm but, sure enough, the sun was about to set. So we dashed off up to the coast road and found a suitable spot to park up – just in time to watch the sunset. The sea was quite rough at this point but the beach was great with plenty of people walking, jogging or exercising their dogs – it was a hive of activity. We had parked near the access to The Big Swamp so we made our way back through that area so we would know where to go tomorrow. Back at the chalet we had a light meal and then I set about trying to make sense of various credit card statements that Sarah had just emailed to us. Strangely, even though they’re with the
Where are all the dolphins?
they are often seen close in to the shore here - but not today! same bank, we can access the bank account details but not the credit card details (that’s another painful story!), so Sarah painstakingly photographs them and emails them to us! It’s been quite tricky this last week or so trying to get the most out of both our UK and our Aussie back accounts. Graham settled down to watch Carlton versus St Kilda – a highly competitive Aussie Rules footy match. It was all very exciting but a lot of the time the players just seem intent on beating each other up! Anyway, Carlton won with virtually the last kick of the game and after that we were definitely ready for bed!
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