Next was to Mandurah: Another harbour town that had similarities to Fremantle. Mandurah is were you find some million dollar houses, million dollar boats and lots more fish and chip shops!
We discovered that the further you head north, the more expensive and less value for money the campsites get! The most southern campsite we visited, Big Valley within Margaret River cost $25 per night... In Busselton's Sandy Bay $33 per night... Mandurah's Belvedere was $43 per night and the facilities were fairly poor! The campsite promised a camp kitchen and outdoor BBQ area however there was no camp kitchen and the BBQ was tiny. As the weather was fairly terrible still, the cooking area also wasn't sheltered so we had no where to sit and eat tea on a nighttime so once again Joey got full usage. It wasn't the most well maintained and the whole place felt grubby. The campsite itself looked more like a trailer park as the majority of people lived in their caravans and some lived full time in their tents with their junk, possessions and gnomes scattered outside. We was definitely in clampit city! Visiting the local supermarket our fears were confirmed as we was greeted by photos of local thieves and our eyes were greeted with large people walking about with no shoes and wearing nothing but hot pants and crop tops! It felt like we had stepped into Wayne and Waynettas environment!
We continued our visit of Mandurah by taking a walk along the harbour and gazing at the beautiful apartments and boats that lined the walkways. After a visit to the local markets to window shop we then walked around the local shops before stopping once more for fish and chips. This time purchasing a mix which included some giant prawns, squid, fish and scallops... much better! We finished the day admiring the biggest pelican we have ever seen and then relaxing in the sun (finally!) while Jonathan tried a spot of fishing off the harbour wall.
The following day we headed off to Fremantle for another walk about and then back to Rockingham to prepare for the house sit the day after. Finding it pointless checking into another campsite for the night due to us getting to the house early the following morning we decided to find another quiet road to kip in within the car. Finding a remote car park off one of the points we settled down for the night. Soon we was awoken as it became boy racer city! Music pumped, neon lights glared at us and we watched on as they attempted handbrake turns and other tricks within their cars. Myself falling asleep due to a migraine, Jonathan was kept awake for some time before they finally disappeared around 2am. At 2:30am we was awoken by knocking on the car door, winding the window down to find a police car. Luckily we didn't get the fine of $1000 and he left us alone content that we was not causing any trouble. Strewth!!! That was lucky!
Finally we had reached the end of our ten day tour and we was excited about checking into our next house sit. This next 2.5 weeks are going to feel like luxury...Yay! Hayls and Jonathan x