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The Caves of Penguin Island.

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Located around 660m off the coast of Shoalwater in Western Australia, is an island that is home to a colony of around 250 Little Penguins/Fairy Penguins. This is only part of the incredible story of how it came to be what it is today! Paul Seaforth McKenzie was a mining engineer from New Zealand who left for work one day and didn’t return home as he usually would. Instead, McKenzie spent four years, from 1914 to 1918, squatting on Penguin Island, presumably dreaming up his grand plans to turn it into a holiday resort. In 1918 he was granted a lease from the Government and spent the next eight years turning his dream into reality. He created the Caves of Penguin Island with hand tools and explosives, forming accomodation, a general store, a library, and a grand ballroom. Each with fancy names such as Manor Hall, Fairhaven and Tudor Hall. He even built his very own ‘mansion’ from timber and iron, but this would be closer to a shack in reality than an actual mansion. Rock slabs formed bed...
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Mandurah Giants!

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Created by world renowned recycle artist Thomas Dambo, the Mandurah Giants are beyond incredible! Each Giant took around 750 hours to build, and each have their own names and stories. We are yet to visit the Subiaco Giant, Bille Bob, but will get there some time in the holidays!  The story of the Giants is set up like a treasure hunt, beginning at Mandurah Visitor Centre. I will try to keep from posting spoilers, only what can be found on the official website. Here are our photos and a snippet of our experience.  Little Lui. How incredible is he?!! Start at Black Swan Lake in Lakelands. The walk is around 45mins, remember sunscreen, bring water, comfortable shoes and insect repellant. Be mindful of ticks. This is one of the easier walks. Santi Ikto!! Santi Ikto is hidden in Halls Head.  Around a 20min walk, it’s pretty easy, but there are some steep sections. Be mindful of local wildlife here (read: snakes) and again, sunscreen, comfortable shoes and water!  Isn’t he...
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Detours, Dams and a Dairy!

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Happy 2023!!  We usually see in the New Year with the fireworks in Mandurah, but this year we decided to try something new! We headed down to Busselton instead, only to find out the article I read about their NYE fireworks was a few years old, and unfortunately no 2022/23 fireworks for NYE this year.  We didn’t let that stop our fun though, we had glow-stick suits, sparklers and a whole lotta fun! No sky show? No worries!! We will just make our own! We ended the night with a glow stick fight, a clean-up race, a dance party, and a baby that wanted to stay up and party into the early hours!  We packed up to head home around lunch time and decided to take the scenic route back and ended up on a spontaneous adventure! First stop was Wellington Dam!  We ventured down the lookout and took in the sights. The children loved seeing how the dam drains to the river. It was so peaceful and serene, everyone we saw was so respectful of the space. The colours and the views of the w...
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