24th - 25th October

Back in Oz after our Bali interlude . Arriving at Perth International at 8:30pm we just slid through Passport, luggage and Customs despite needing to await Roscoe's surfboard availability via "Oversize Luggage". Our homecoming to the Lotus Inn was a happy event despite the cold of the night in the Perth hills. Back at Bec and Will's, though Will is away at work for his three weeks on, we enjoy a day with Bec and the kids, including a BBQ the first evening. Thanks guys!

Soon enough we are Mandurah bound for a busy schedule of social and business engagements. Mandurah surprises, firstly we learn it is WA's second largest city (did you know that), and then we discover it is beautiful with long beachfronts, waterways snaking throughout and the huge Peel Inlet sitting behind. We head to the Mandurah Info with the Lotus still attached and find a large car park to leave it whilst we take a walk. The Info centre is in an area reminiscent of a Fishermans Wharf, actually the whole CBD and surrounds feels like a fishing village .

It's lunchtime as we emerge from the Info office armed with brochures and recommendations, and here we are standing in front of Cicerellos Seafood, an institution in this part of the world, so, in we walk and find our self in a long line of patrons ready to order from an extensive menu of dine-in or take-away dishes. We choose a "Seniors Special" (for Roscoe) of entree Seafood Chowder & then Battered Fish & Chips ($16), and a Seafood Chowder and head off to find a table in this large, hectic and chaotic restaurant. The food is excellent, the ambience reminds us of the rustic seafood restaurants we had enjoyed so much in Alaska. 9/10.

From our brief visit and perspective Mandurah must only just scrape into the "City" category as the feel is more that of a coastal community such as Port Macquarie. All the services are here, but the relaxed layout and vast waterways gives the whole place a holiday face. It is the most liveable city we have seen .

After lunch we head beachside to meet a couple who were on our August cruise, the Odyssey. Ross and Jan have asked us to stay with them tonight, and once we arrive they have a surprise, another couple from the cruise, John and Judy, will join us for dinner. It is a merry meeting, and an eventful one when Jan drops the beef roast into the oven and flames leap forth. Roscoe to the rescue by closing the door and smothering the flames. No real harm done, and the roast is perfect. Ross and Jan's place is their weekender, an old fibro two story beach shack which is charming, a reminder of beach holidays in the 1950's or 60's. The following morning with Ross and Jan we walk to a nearby Dome Café for a relaxed breakfast before saying our farewells.

The next part of our Mandurah engagements involves taking the Lotus to a local authorised caravan repairer, Peels, for our yearly service and a few small warranty repairs, but that is not till Monday, so we have a day to kill. Being slightly tardy from last evening we decide on a leisurely walk around the city centre and surrounding parks and waterways, then, with Weekend papers in hand we return to the Lotus for a relaxed afternoon.