We spent last weekend in a new city called Mandurah with our friends Youngey and Ali and their one year old daughter Lacey. Our friends enjoy getting away every so often and taking weekend trips down here so I was eager to check it out. We shared a huge spacious two bedroomed apartment at The Sebel situated on the Mandurah Estuary with spectacular waterfront views over the marina. I was stunned at the views from our own very wide balcony. Although the weather has cooled down lately, it was perfect for this weekend at 25 degrees.
On Saturday morning we took a
semi-circular stroll along the boardwalk around the marina passing all species
of birds including pelicans and shags. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot dolphins
although it is a frequent dolphin spotting (and whale watching) area. We took
Lacey to the park and stopped for coffee and just enjoyed strolling around in
the sun. We conveniently ended up at some market shops and I found a
couple of small things to for our new home (another French style clock and some
flowers!) Our friends are getting married here in October so Ali was excited to
show me the exact spot where they had chosen to tie the knot in a very low-key
ceremony which we are very happy to be part of.
The highlight of the day was hiring
some bicycles from just outside of our hotel and going on a sunny cycling tour
around the estuary with Micky. The area certainly has a relaxed holiday
atmosphere to it as we took in the coastal features. It was only when
Micky and I were cycling around and stopped to check out a pretty
rustic-looking hut standing at the end of a small jetty in a secluded
area near some big trees and grassland that it dawned on me that this could
also be a contending spot for our friends to tie the knot later this year… I
was so excited to find it and tell Ali and the next day I showed her the spot
and she fell in love with it – this was now the spot for their wedding!!
We also cycled beyond the marina and
around parts of the town. The city has experienced a large population boom over
the last 10-15 years and is one of the fastest growing regional cities in
Western Australia. We cycled past lots of newly built unusually modern houses
(Perth is also full of them) - everything from the roads to the houses and
Venetian-like bridges looked newly built. Mandurah is also fast becoming very
popular with tourist and it clear to see why. We had Cicerellos for dinner that night, "WA's best fish and chips" apparently, it was pretty good but in my opinion not as tasty as good old-fashioned English fish and chips back home. My obligatory gherkin and pickled onion were missing for starters!! Youngey brought along a new board game called Balderdash so the four of us spent spent the evening playing this extremely hilarious board game in our apartment and laughing for hours. A great weekend, it was so needed. We'll be coming back for the wedding weekend and I think I'll also bring my mum here when she visits in December...
 |
| The Hut! |
.JPG)
