Munglinup

We left Benwenerup just as the sun arrived but we wanted to take advantage of the sunshine at Munglinup Beach which was reportedly great for snorkeling.

For the first time this trip, I sat on the beach and read my book while the kids played contentedly. Matthias snorkeled.

I’d recently been asked by a friend if the "holiday was relaxing?". I actually snorted out loud. The idea of this being a holiday and relaxing hadn’t actually crossed my mind. My very immediate answer was "No!". It’s been exciting, adventurous, challenging and fun, but hard work and constant "go". The only moments I’d actually describe myself as having been relaxed were the short times between 8 and 9pm when the kids were asleep and before Matthias and I crawled into bed. But that casual and very valid question got me wondering, maybe I should be expecting more of a holiday and I should feel more relaxed. And I think, all it took was an attitude shift because, since that afternoon on Munglinup Beach, I’ve genuinely felt like I am on holiday and I am relaxed.

Hugh’s obsession with fishing continues. We found an old line with sinker and hook that we’ve wound around a stick as a makeshift hand line. To give Hugh the real experience, we smashed open some periwinkles for bait and tested our new tackle off the rocks. Not surprisingly we didn’t catch anything. But it was fun luring out the crabs and watching them steal and eat our bait.

We filled an afternoon with more snorkeling, this time Matthias and I taking it in turns. I took a lot of convincing to get in the water but I was so glad I did. I was warm in Matthias’s wetsuit and felt relatively safe inside the near closed reef exploring the underwater world.

The next day we walked to the Oldfield Estuary, 1.5km down the beach discovering shoreline treasures including a dried seahorse and a milk carton from Germany!

That afternoon we drove into the town of Munglinup thinking the $2 showers and a burger and chips would be a good rainy afternoon activity. It turned out Munglinup wasn’t much more than a roadhouse (with no indoor dining) and the shower was a tiny 2x1m brick room tacked on to the public toilets on the main street. We all piled in. Just as we’d got the temperature right we were joined by a huge spider who did a frantic lap of the perimeter before I opened the door in all my glory and she ran out.

From Munglinup we headed further up the coast to Starvation Bay.