Yanchep and Dandalup Dam

During our stay in Meadow Springs, we used our location to our advantage to branch out and visit the local sites of natural beauty.

Two and a half hours up from Meadow Springs is a place called Yanchep. Yanchep is well known for its National park; with its bushland and wetland being home to gray kangaroos and a raised boardwalk providing close views of Koalas, and its Beahc; known for its lagoo formed by the rocky outcove.

So, our first stop was the National Park to visit the Koala walk. This was a slightly contained part of the park, with wooden boardwalks to allow visibilty of the resident Koalas. They are pictured below, although hard to spot due to their position in the trees! After the boardwalk we enjoed the abundance of nature further into the park as we headed towards the lake. We walked past a sign reminding us to shut the gate behind us to stop kangaroos getting in, only for our first wildlife sighting to be a kangaroo sunbathing by the water! I witnessed a White Ibis (pictured) search through the reads searching for its next meal, and coudn't believe the number of dragonflys flying around the water edges.

Now for the beach! Yanchulup is another lovely beach with white sands, famous for its lagoon. The rocks just offshore protect the bay from the harsh waves, creating a sanctuary for marinelife in the calm waters. This shallow bay is filled with all sorts of marine life, including large shoals of fish. I had great fun watching the shoal move underwater and creating gaps within the large mass of fish as I moved aorund - every fish always staying a couple feet away from me.

On a seperate occasion we visited Dandalup Dam. Danalup is a small town roughly a 30 minute drive inland from Meadow Springs. The dam was built in response to the rapid popoulation growth in Perth. However, despite the water being used as drinking water for the city, it is unsafe to swim in its water due to the risk of contracting aerobic meningitis. Despite this, the dam is a popular picnik area for locals, and as with many public areas in Australia, free BBQs are provided alongside picnik benches.

Here we set up for our first public BBQ in Australia! Although, i'm still arguing whether these things can be classed as a BBQ - when they run on gas and theres no rack - but thats a discussion for another time.