Mandurah to Yanchep National Park

Sri Lanka was really great but also exhausting. A whole week of rest at Steve & Sheila’s place did us a lot of good. We were immediately surprised by an extra expense for our car when we arrived home. Our battery had died. Steve was kind enough to drive us to Repco and buy a new battery for us. He installed it in the car. We also had to renew our car registration and transfer it to Western Australia. Having a new license plate on our car made it official.

We all went to the casino for a day to blow off some steam. We had good luck again and won $130. That covered the cost of our new car battery. We also went crabbing together twice. There’s always a good catch in the Mandurah area at Herron Point. The first time, we were successful and could take three large enough crabs home to cook. We had never eaten crab that fresh before. It was amazing! We had slightly less luck the second time, but we were still hooked.

Crabbing is definitely on our to-do list as we continue traveling north. I bought myself a fishing line, and Steve was kind enough to teach us everything about it. Inez also borrowed a fishing line, and we had a lot of fun with it. After fishing, Steve took us for a refreshing swim in the sea. We also decided to take two fishing lines with us on our journey. It had been a long time since we had gone out together to enjoy something delicious to eat and drink. A tasty cheese platter was definitely in order. It was fantastic. As our week ended, we packed up all our travel gear, prepared the car, and picked up Linde from the airport. We immediately showed her some kangaroos, which were very special to her. On our last night, we stayed at Steve & Sheila’s place. Then we were ready to continue traveling along the west coast towards the north. We took them out for dinner as a thank-you to Steve & Sheila. They had done so much for us, after all.

The next day, it was time to load the car with Linde and do the necessary shopping. It took me a long time to do it. Our initial plan was to go crabbing together with Linde at Herron Point. Steve and Sheila kindly lent us their crabbing scoops for our trip, and we wanted to use them well. Linde wasn’t too keen on getting into the water at first, but it became more interesting once she saw the crabs. There was a lot of laughter, shouting, and surprises. We had a lot of fun. Linde saw a few crabs but couldn’t catch any. Inez saw many crabs, but she was holding the bucket and couldn’t catch them. I caught three crabs, two of them in one go, which was quite surprising. Out of the three crabs we saw, one was of a good size to eat. Crabs must be at least 12.7 cm in length before you can take them out of the water. The campground at Herron Point had a few available spots, so we decided to camp there. The fresh crab was delicious and an extra experience for Linde on her trip. We played board games and enjoyed our first evening together.

Linde really wanted to see dolphins. We were told that you can get a very close view of the dolphins in Bunbury. We drove about an hour south (deviating from our original route) towards Bunbury. Linde booked herself a boat tour to see the dolphins. We chose not to join and instead explored the area. We soon found ourselves at a bay where we could see the dolphins from the stone breakwaters extending into the sea. Shortly after, we spotted Linde’s boat in the same bay. Afterward, the three of us rested on the beach and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the ocean. At that time, the Beer & Cider Festival was happening nearby. We decided to check it out and sample a few beers. It was enjoyable sitting on the grass in the sun. We drove to our campsite quite late and woke up very early to spot the dolphins in the sea. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any but we took a morning beach walk instead. We had breakfast by the beach, showered, and then drove back towards Steve & Sheila’s place. We weren’t entirely sure if we wanted to take the crabbing scoops with us. They weren’t in the right place yet, and it wasn’t easy to transport them that way. Steve was helpful and found a new spot for them under our rooftop tent.

We started our journey towards Darwin from Perth. We drove directly to Yanchep National Park. Here, we enjoyed a nice walk around a lake and saw a lot of kangaroos. Linde was thrilled about that. We knew that there were also koalas here, so we made sure to stay at this campground. This way, Linde could also see koalas on her vacation. There is no other place in Western Australia where you can see koalas. Unfortunately, they are not officially in the wild here. They were placed here, but it was still lovely to see them. We took a shower, had a delicious dinner, and saw dozens of kangaroos at dusk. It was a delightful experience. In the evening, we enjoyed tasty nuts. My mom had given these nuts to Linde as a surprise, along with a card.