gon' south | part one

So I went AWOL again, I'm so sorry. After our amazing family day trip to serpentine falls we decided to go a little further a field, luckily everyone had the week off so in true spontaneous aussie fashion once again we packed up the car and hit the road.

Our first stop wasn't technically South, wave rock is about 4 hours East of Perth in Hyden. It's a 14m high, 110m high rock face, part of the Hyden rock formations. Believed to be some 2700 million years old it was formed by gradual erosion, the amazing colour streaks are the result of chemical deposits.

It was around 44c when we arrived so we didn't manage all the walking we'd intended, but a quick hike on top of the rock provided an amazing view. It was then back in the car, a quick lunch, and then the mammoth drive South begun. But boy was it worth it.

The next day we were up bright an early to go explore the Valley of the giants..

I really wish I had a living room big enough to fits 1000s of people in, so I could show you all the photos, I'm trying my best to keep to only a handful per post but when everything's so spectacular it's really hard! I'm sure you'll all know that as big of a beach bum as I am, I also adore the forest. So this was when the trip really got special to me, trees towering above us and air so clean you almost feel giddy with oxygen.

The tree top walk itself isn't all that huge, but took a while due to a sister in law (to be..one day...maybe) who's rather scared of heights! After that we grabbed lunch and went for an explore in the woods...

and engaged in some token tree hugging...a must when the trees are that big!

When our legs were tired we headed off for dinner and a very well deserved snnoooooze.

Hope you're all okay & see you soon for part 2

xo

a not so lazy weekend

I dont know how but swimming in/ around / near a waterfall seems to be part of the Australian dream, so Saturday we piled the family in the car and headed out to Serpentine falls (about 50 minutes from Perth).

A $11 national park entry fee gives you access to the falls, picnic areas and walking trails (in this heat, no thanks). We spent the day splashing around and sunbathing on the rocks. Silly old me forgot to take a picture of the falls, but dont worry it's only a dribble down a rock at this time of year (no mysterious girl-esque photo shoot for me!)

Sunday we decided to spend the day crabbing from the kayaks...

crabbing isn't really the most taxing activity, you load your nets, paddle out for a minute or two and drop them and then relax....

then pull them back up and hopefully find a big ol'crab or two

and when you're tired of crabbing, a kayak makes for the perfect sunbathing spot..

and if you get too hot, it's only natural you capsize yourself and cool off...

and when the sun sets and the chill sets in you carry your crabs home and cook them up

lovely.

xo

our island

Every family has somewhere special, this is ours...

The island is just a few minutes from Mandurah by boat, I dont know its real name I'm afraid. There's not really a lot to do on the island, you moor up and jump off in to the warm water and carry your towels ashore, if no one else is around the radio gets turned up so you can dance on the beach and if you're feeling adventurous you can go for a walk around the island. When it's time to cool of you grab your lilo and go for a little float, but make sure you've got a line to the boat, the rips are super strong (and if you're anything like me, you'll panick thinking a cutesy dolphin is a shark, and want to get back on board pronto). And when tummy's start to rumble the BBQ's fired up and burgers sizzle, whilst fresh beers and opened from the ice cold esky. The boys are free to run along the beach chasing a football whilst us girls top up our tans and gossip.

I'm pretty happy knowing this is how I'm going to spend my days off when we get here.

Jealous? I hope so.

xo

yanchep national park

Yanchep national park is hailed as Perth's natural and cultural meeting place, we couldn't resist spending the day on our way back down South...

random hannah fact, hibiscus are my favourite flowers

we started our day with a guided tour of crystal cave and enchanting 'jewelled city' of stalactites, stalagmites and helictites.

After that we headed down to the lake for a spot of relaxing and lunch,before heading to see what we really came here for, the koalas.

Despite often being referred to as koala bears, they are in fact marsupials like Kangaroos and a baby koala is called a Joey! The lucky devils spend up to 20 hours each day asleep and have a thick wooly coat to protect them from rain, cold and heat (same concept as surfers wearing ugg boots). Mummy koalas are only pregnant for just over a month and babies are born about the size of a jelly bean. Grownups weigh anywhere from 6-14 kilograms depending on where abouts in Australia they live (Southerners tend to be heavier!), in the wild Koalas live to around 10 years old and girls live longer than boys.

And that's my koala knowledge exhausted.

Yanchep has a small boardwalk area where their little family of Koalas live, it's a lovely way to see them in their natural habitat and is included in the park entry fee.

For more info on Yanchep park check our their website here. 

xo