In September 2015, a friend from South Africa and I visited a school friend of us who live in Western Australia.

Her hometown there is Mandurah, which is about an hour and a half’s drive from Perth.

We travelled southwards along the coast and visited some villages.

Many of the smaller villages are just as old and dilapidated as one sees here in South Africa, but even though the facilities are old, everything is clean.

We started in Perth, which is the capital of Western Australia. They call it Perfontein 😉 – we often heard Afrikaans.

Perth’s city centre is very nice and clean and public transport is always available nearby if you should need it. There is a beautiful park around every corner. If I had to live there, I would have visited one every day.

One is Kings Park, a huge, well-known botanical garden with viewpoints over Perth and beautiful hiking trails. We went for a walk there very late one night; it’s wonderful safe! It takes a while to get used to not holding onto your purse or cell phone.

Another is Queens Gardens, which is adjacent to the cricket stadium. Queens Gardens is much smaller than Kings Park, but with many stories. One of the replicas of the Peter Pan statue can be found there. The others can be seen in Liverpool’s Sefton Park, Kensington Gardens, the gardens of the Egmont Palace in Brussels, in Toronto’s Glenn Gould Park and in Johnson Park at the Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey.

After Perth we drove from Mandurah through towns such as Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River and Walpole up to Albany. We drove until it grew dark and then we looked for accommodation in the nearest town.

The Busselton Jetty is stretching 1,7 km into the sea and is famous as the longest wooden jetty in the world. There is also a small train that can transport one the short distance, but we rather walked. There is a lot to do in Busselton; it reminds me of Hartenbos in South Africa, although the vegetation is a little different.

In Margaret River we stopped at Providore to taste wine, various pates and exotic spreads and olive oils. There is also a large chocolate factory, The Margaret River Chocolate Company, where one can taste as many as you like… naughty! Also a nougat shop, Bettenay’s, which is located on the most beautiful farm! Margaret River was definitely a highlight and a must-see when you visit Western Australia.

Near Walpole is a small village called Denmark. There we went for the Tree Top Walk in the Valley of the Giants and saw some 400 year old trees. Beautiful to see the trees from below and from above.

Albany was our last stop. There we just relaxed and had something to eat at a place overlooking the sea. From there we drove straight back to Mandurah and flew all the way back to South Africa.