Holiday to Mandurah

 Dear Matthew, Toby and Josie,

One of our New Year's resolutions was to take you kids on more holidays, however given Josie doesn't love the car just yet, we knew it had to be somewhere close, so we decided to book a short stay in Mandurah. This meant Josie, Toby and I could take the train down to Mandurah station and meet you Matt, and daddy, with the car. It worked well, except unfortunately it was a windy day and your hat fell on the tracks Tobes! Amazingly a kind man jumped down to grab it for you. We hopped in the car at the other end and drove the five minutes to our hotel (we may have gotten a little lost along the way). Given it was still peak travel time, we struggled a little to check in as there wasn't much parking nearby but eventually parked under our apartment hotel and made our way up to the apartment. As you can see below, it was beautiful with a great view over the water (scroll from the bottom up again). Once we'd checked in we headed down along the water to the pirate ship that we'd booked. Boys you had a little play on the playground before boarding the pirate ship for a sail around the waterways. We had a very animated pirate leading our ship with a lot of 'arrrrr's' and cheeky comments. We had a perfect spot at the front of the ship and you both got to steer the ship many times. Unfortunately the heat was scorching so Josie you spent most of the trip hidden under a light blanket! It was a fun way to start our holiday. 

That night your nanna and Darryl met us back at the apartment for fish and chips as they had been staying at Darry's holiday house nearby. As we had been sick at Christmas they hadn't seen you yet so they gave you your Christmas presents and you were spoilt again! It was lovely to watch the sun set over the bridge and enjoy the view over the balcony.

The next day your dad took you boys to Peel Zoo for the day while Josie and I chilled in the apartment as the heat was still pretty intense. You boys loved feeding all the animals and walking around. In the afternoon you had a little swim at the man-made beach in front of our apartments and built sandcastles in the sand. For dinner we had a barbeque and enjoyed our lovely balcony again as a family.

The next day we headed our on a dolphin cruise around the canals. It was on the most beautiful ferry (so very well protected from the sun!) and was so relaxing, even meditative to just cruise around the waters, checking out the mansions on the canals and learning a bit of local history. We even saw a very low flying helicopter spraying for mozzies! At the end of the cruise we did spot a mother dolphin and a baby with her! They were playing in the water and so cute. It reminded me of my childhood weekends spent at my aunty's house in Yunderup, where dolphins would come to the front of our boat, even our kayak at one point! My cousins and I could be heard screaming blue murder up and down the river because we thought they were sharks!

After the cruise we went to the old carnival. As a kid I had driven past this carnival on hundreds of occasions but never gone in, so this was a treat for me too! You boys got to ride some rides and play some games, and Matt you went on the trampoline and managed to do some cool flips!

That evening we had another swim at the beach and had dinner at the restaurant below the apartment. It was a lovely way to finish the holiday. The next morning we headed home. 

Love you all, 

Mum xxx