Lockdown

This is Day One of a five-day lockdown.  Here in W.A. we have lived normal lives for 10 months, with no community transmission. Suddenly, a leak has occurred from a quarantine hotel which houses returned travellers from overseas. Perth has been accepting about 500 of these every week and now has a few with the UK and S.African strains. A security guard has tested positive and the govt has published a long list of all the places he visited before and after he felt unwell. One of these is a petrol station which I normally frequent, though I haven't been there recently.  He may also have worked as an Uber driver. The contact tracers will be busy, as will COVID testing sites.

So, I'm staying put for the rest of this week, with just an early morning walk each day. I don't like walking with a mask on at all and have to leave my glasses at home. Luckily I did a big grocery shop on Saturday morning, having just got back from our holiday in Mandurah. My wine cellar is not looking too good:

One bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc;

One 2-litre cask of Cabernet Merlot;

Half a bottle of Aperol;

5 Peroni Leggera;

4 mini Prosecco.

Maybe that's enough for the week!

Early on Sunday, before the lockdown, I decided to explore a local bird sanctuary, since we so enjoyed our Mandurah trip. I drove to the Eric Singleton Reserve, on the other side of the Swan River just opposite the Ascot Racecourse. I saw very few birds, possibly because it's right next to a dog exercise area known as Riverside Gardens.  I've never seen (or heard) so many dogs racing around - including lots of greyhounds, all off the lead. Is that allowed? They also race into the water of their own little dog beach. One pure black greyhound with a limp took himself into the shallow water and stood there for a good 5 minutes, not moving.

Dog beach

A white heron crossing an overflow weir

Back to the reserve

We were a bit late getting up after our night out. By 9.00 am it was already getting too hot in the nature reserve and all the best birds had been and gone. Only the ducks were left, swimming around with the water to themselves. I came to a big stand of paperbark trees, where it was nice and shady:

In the distance, I spotted a few white herons, up to their knees in shallow water, too far away to get a good photo:

I walked as far as the osprey’s nest, but there was no sign of life:

Back at Mandurah Quay, I persuaded E to do a Juliet on the balcony of our accommodation:

Flics Kitchen

We dined at our favourite Mandurah restaurant:

The food was as delicious and innovative as usual. Here is the menu:

Crab croquettes:

Bloody caviar:

Tempura whiting:

Shark Bay prawns and gnocchi in mushroom sauce:

Desserts:

Rain???

Shock, horror: raining at 7.00 am when I set off for a walk! There were plenty of water birds in the nature reserve swanning around regardless. No kangaroos though. I was wearing my bright red waterproof jacket, not ideal for birdwatching, I must admit. The spoonbills were busy going back and forth scooping up food. They have to spend many hours each day feeding.

We think these little birds are Welcome Swallows, but we came on holiday without our bird books or binoculars, not realising that this area would be so prolific:

Lots of samphire growing round the waterways:

When the weather cleared, Rocky posed for us as well:

Early morning walk

Up with the lark today (or rather the noisy magpies) I went to explore the birdwatchers paradise right next door. I was taken with the spoonbills scooping up food in their wide beaks:

I met a real birdwatcher, dressed in camouflage from head to toe, with the longest paparazzi-style lens that you ever saw. She was sitting on a little stool, focussing on all the waterbirds. She posts her photos on Instagram under @treehuggerjess and has 3.5k followers!

Later I met a kangaroo and we had a staring match for a minute or two before he bounded away:

After breakfast we made a trip to Dolphin Quay. I went for a swim whilst C and E preferred to see if any shops were open. The beach outside Seashells Resort was the scene of our close encounter with dolphins two years ago. On that overcast day, the beach was very quiet so the dolphins came close into shore. On a sunny Australia Day it was a different matter:



Back at the ranch, the pool was deserted for a change. We had a turn in the hot spa and E took a few selfies:

Australia Day celebrations

The resort put on a pre-Australia Day BBQ, with a sausage sizzle by the pool. E and C availed themselves of the free food and drink, whilst I enjoyed taking photos of the action.

Could you walk around in this? She claimed it belonged to her mother! They seemed to have over-catered on the sausages, so C helped herself to a few to add to the spaghetti sauce she had made:

We took a late afternoon walk into the nature reserve on our doorstop. There are warnings up about the mosquito-born disease of Ross River Virus, so we gave ourselves a good spray first. The location is brilliant, though:

There had been a recent fire through the area, and there was still a lingering smell of smoke, but the green shoots are already coming through:

Mandurah

We have come to Mandurah for Australia Day and the rest of the week. We have a 3-bedroom dog-friendly unit in Mandurah Quay Resort. The houses are all arranged around the swimming pool, which is full to overflowing with kids all day long! The time for a quiet swim is 7.00 am.

The situation of the resort is really nice. It is on the Peel Inlet, not on the sea coast, with lots of walks around the marina and beyond. C has already done a 6 km loop. Rocky has been on 2 walks before breakfast and is now flaked out on his bed:

The following pics are from our walk: