Perth, Western Australia: Mandurah Foreshore, Hotel Clipper, and More Family Catch Up - Day 9

Mandurah foreshore train and playground. The train is not usually
this spooky it was still decorated for Halloween.

My Dad's Partner took Enigma and I on a trip down to the city of Mandurah for the morning. Mandurah is just under an hours drive from Perth, with a very nice foreshore area that has plenty to see and do beyond visiting the beach.

Stingray? Photo: Enigma

The plan was for my Dad's partner to keep an appointment she had with a friend in Mandurah, long before we even booked our trip, while Enigma and I checked out the foreshore area. After which we would meet up for lunch, and then go visit one of my step sisters and her family.

At the foreshore we were dropped off at the 30 minute parking bays just up from the enclosed Kwillena Gabi Pool, which is a safe swimming area that is fed water from the sea (although I don't think this area is looking directly out to sea, it's more of an inland water way. However Enigma did get a photo of a small stingray swimming by the walkway.

Kwillena Gabi Pool, Mandurah Foreshore.

From there we walked through the parkland to the foreshore cafes, gift shops, and art galleries.

Along the way we saw train tours (on a mini 'trackless' train), ferry boat tours, a 3D painting on the ground. We looked in a couple of galleries and gift shops.

While in one gift shop an older lady let the automatic doors open and she started a very loud conversation with the young girl behind the counter, a good distance away. She seemed preoccupied with people's star signs and asked the girl hers. The girl cheerfully played along. Seemed like this wasn't an out of the ordinary event.

After comparing star signs the lady moved along on her way. Later when we came out of the same shop I noticed this lady seemed to be with a group of older, possibly mentally challenged (just based on the fact that one of the older guys was pushing a shopping trolley around with another person in it commentating on what they should and shouldn't avoid), people and their carers. So maybe they were locals.

This 3D painting is located just outside the Mandurah Tourist Information Center. 

At about noon we met up with my Dad's partner and drove back to Rockingham (which I always thought was a city in its own right but is actually a suburb of Perth) to Hotel Clipper for lunch in their restaurant.

Clipper Bar and Café.
Photo: Clipper Hotel Website.

The restaurant/café area was pretty quiet with only one or two other guests the whole time we were there. I guess Wednesday lunch is pretty slow.

My Dad's Partner and Enigma both ordered pulled pork and slaw sliders (small burger buns), while I had a steak sandwich with tomato chutney, American cheddar, onion, tomato, rocket, aioli in toasted Turkish bread. All meals came with chips on the side. The food was very nice.

Afterward we ordered desert from the cake counter display. I had a cupcake of some sort, Enigma was served the biggest piece of banana and pineapple cake you've ever seen (almost a quarter of a round cake). We brought what she didn't eat home in a container. My Dad's Partner had a muffin of some kind.

From there we headed back in the direction of home with a side visit to one of my Step Sisters and her family. Both her daughter and son showed us their numerous medals in their chosen sports, Cheer Leading, and Golf.

By that time it was getting late so we all headed home proper for a quiet rest of our evenings.