Mandurah
Mandurah is a large centre to the south of Perth, essentially a commuter town for people working either at the Aluminium Refinery in Pinjarra, in the heavy industry at Kwinana, retirees, or workers prepared to make the daily trek north to Perth.
Mandurah grew from isolated holiday communities along the shores of the Peel-Harvey Estuary, and with the growth of Perth, it has become a popular lifestyle alternative. Mandurah's connection with the Perth CBD has been strengthened with the building of the Perth-Mandurah railway line.
In spite of the development, the city centre foreshore near the mouth of Peel Inlet is still home to a variety of wildlife including dolphins, pelicans, shags, and an abundance of marine life including the manna crab, which has become synonymous with the area.
Where Is It?: 73 km south of Perth at the entrance to Peel Inlet.
Like neighbouring settlements Bunbury and Rockingham dolphins and whales frequent the city annually and dolphin and whale watching are a popular pastime. In December, the canal areas in Mandurah becomes well known for their Christmas lights and special boat cruises are often promoted as a result. Two zoos lie within the outskirts of the city, as well as a miniature village, a tourist railway and a national park.
Halls Cottage in Leighton Road, Halls Head (cross the inlet from the town centre and head north) was built in the 1830s, restored in 1975, and is a very good example of the earliest dwellings in the area.
The National Estate register records that 'This vernacular cottage is built of local limestone with a high hipped roof and two verandahs, front and back. The interior walls are made of rough untrimmed limestone blocks and rubble held together by lime mortar and limewash. The interior features pit-sawn floor boards, and open fireplaces. The buildings is typical of the period. The Historical Society has a useful sheet on the cottage.
The original owner, Henry E. Hall, was the first person to develop a fishing industry in the Mandurah district. Halls Cottage is now a museum of local history.
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On the corner of Pinjarra Road and Sholl Street is Christ Church which was consecrated in 1871. The cemetery attached to the church includes the grave of Thomas Peel the founder of Mandurah. Near the church is the anchor from the James Service which was wrecked off the coast on 31 July 1878 with a total loss of life of all passengers and crew. Many of the bodies which were washed up on the beaches in the area are buried in the church cemetery.
One of the delights of the area, although access is extremely difficult, is Cooper's Mill which is located on Culeenup Island and is only accessible by boat. This was the first flour mill in the Murray region. Joseph Cooper built it by collecting limestone rocks and, every morning, sailing them across to the island. Cooper began work on the mill in 1843 but he was killed in an accident before it was completed in 1850. The mill was used for only a short time. A combination of floods and bushfires effectively brought milling operations to a halt. It was used as a smokehouse for curing fish and then in the 1950s it was restored. The result is a beautifully white washed building. It is possible to visit the mill as part of the MV Peel Princess tours of the Inlet and Town Waters.
Joseph Cooper obviously had a great ability to build structures which stood the test of time. Cooper's Cottage, on Mandurah Terrace, dates from 1845 and was once used as the Travellers Wayside Inn. It is now occupied by a local business.
Mandurah has a range of attractions, including Mandurah Farmworld, a 480 ha sheep and cattle property which offers conducted tours. There's Kerryelle's Collector's Museum with bottles, dolls, coins, spoons, seashells and gemstones. The Western Rosella Bird Park has, apart from the birds, mini golf, a manmade waterfall, kangaroos and emus. Marapana Deer and Wildlife Park has a mixture of fallow deer and native animals.
There are potteries and boat cruises and even a Castle Fun Park where models of a Bavarian village, complete with a model of Neuschwanstein Castle, are displayed in an area which also has a mini golf course and a skateboard park.
Halls Head Beach
As well as all the commercial attractions there are plenty of beaches and coastal activities to keep the visitor occupied - swimming, surfing and boating. There are big jewfish about and Mandurah has some of the best fishing near Perth, particularly around the offshire reefs. Mandurah is also known as 'Crab City' as the estuary is full of blue swimmer crabs. Environmental problems, relating to the Peel Inlet, have been cleared up by the Dawesville Cut which is a great fishing spot in itself.
Mandurah is famous for the beaches along the surrounding coast. There are many family friendly beaches such as Doddis Beach, Blue Bay and Mandurah Beach. There are also many surf beaches around Wannanup and Dawesville such as Avalon, 4th Groyne, Pyramids and The Wedge.
A natural estuary that is home to abundant marine wildlife including crustaceans such as the Blue swimmer crab and the Western king prawn and fish species such as black bream, mulloway, tailor and cobbler. It is occasionally visited by dolphins. The estuary is heavily used for recreational boating and fishing with numerous boat ramps and picnic sposts along the extensive foreshore with shaded sandy beaches. Houseboats can be hired at Mandurah to explore the estuary and the Murray River.
Once a quiet seaside village of holiday shacks, Dawesville is today a suburb of Mandurah. Being located between the Harvey Estuary and the Indian Ocean, it is surrounded by water. The Estuary side is a more established suburb which is quiet and friendly, offering keen boaters the doorway to the Peel Inlet.
The Harvey Estuary and the Peel Inlet combine to produce an array of fishing and crabbing options in the summer months. However, due to the crab population declining over the past half-decade, September and October and now banned from crabbing in the estuary. Attractions outside crabbing and fishing include canoeing,jet-ski and skiing, whilst being only 500 metres from the beach over the highway is another attraction. Pyramids Beach, the most popular beach in Dawesville, is currently undergoing development of the beach to make it a future surf spot.
Preston Beach is a small beachside town located just off the Old Coast Road, between Mandurah and Bunbury in the Yalgorup National Park. Preston Beach is known for the town's abundance of Western Grey Kangaroo. Other marsupials that can be found in the area are the Common Brushtail Possum and Bandicoot. The surrounding parallel lakes attract a variety of native animals and birdlife.
Preston Beach is famous for its fishing and plays host to several major fishing carnivals. Preston Beach also features a nine hole golf course adjacent to Yalgorup National Park.
This small, peaceful coastal settlement is known for its golden sands and safe swimming. Myalup means place of the Paperbark tree, which comes from the Aboriginal word 'mya' meaning Paperbark tree. These trees are abundant throughout this area. Myalup lies at the southern edge of the pristine Yalgorup National Park - a haven for native wildlife, a bird sanctuary and a rare location for stromatolites (one of the first life forms known on earth).
The coastline is 4WD-accessible, but vehicles are restricted to the beach only. The large sand dunes provide scenic views over the ocean. Dolphins are frequently spotted along this stretch of coast frolicking in the waves.
Mandurah is the closest city to this park which is home to modern thrombolites as well as an array of flora and fauna. It contains a chain of about ten lakes. Lake Clifton and Lake Preston are both situated within the boundaries of the park and are home to a large variety of bird-life.
The Yalgorup National Park was established in the 1970s to protect the coastal lakes, swamps and tuart woodland in the area. The area is also central to waterbird migration patterns. At the edge of Lake Clifton, rock-like structures called thrombolites can be seen, built by tiny microorganisms believed to resemble the earliest forms of life on Earth. Scientists have suggested their presence here may be due to upwellings of fresh groundwater high in calcium carbonate. An observation walkway has been constructed to allow visitors to view these fragile structures.
The Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary is a body of water to the south of Perth, that is fed by three watercourses - the Serpentine River from the north east, the Murray River from the east and the Harvey River from the south. The latter flows north into Harvey Estuary, which empties into the Peel inlet to the south of Mandurah. Peel Inlet empities into the Indian Ocean at Halls Head, Mandurah. The area surrunding the Peel Harvey Estuary and the waterways that feed it are known collectively as the Peel region.
Situated 74 kilometres south of Perth, Peel continues to be the fastest growing region in Western Australia and Australia, recording a population growth rate of 5.9 percent between 2003 and 2004. Recent infrastructure includes an extension of the Kwinana Freeway from Perth through to Bunbury in Western Australia's South West, an extension of the Tonkin Highway to join the South West Highway, and the Southern Suburbs Railway that makes Mandurah a 48 minute rail trip from the centre of Perth.
The Peel is a region of major contrasts, with a diverse area of land bordering the Indian Ocean, a wide coastal plain and a large expanse of majestic native forests and rolling farmland country to the east. In total the region covers nearly 5,500 square kilometres and comprises: the City of Mandurah and the Shires of Boddington, Murray, Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Waroona. The Peel district was founded in 1834 by Sir Thomas Peel and it boasts some of WA's most unique heritage sites. The Murray River flows all year throughout the District, starting in the picturesque hills of Dwellingup, through the heritage town of Pinjarra and onwards through Ravenswood and the Yunderup canals, eventually flowing into the Peel Harvey Estuary.
The economy is mainly based on mining and mineral processing, while agriculture, timber production, fishing, tourism and equine industry also feature strongly. Mandurah, located at the mouth of the Peel Harvey Estuary, is the residential and commercial centre of the region.
The Peel waterways and bird habitats have come under increasing pressure from population growth in recent decades. The area is one of the fastest growing in Australia and this has had a major impact on the natural environment. Studies by conservation groups and the Water and Rivers Commission warn that the waterways will continue to deteriorate as th population increases until resources can be found to improve water quality and protect bird habitats.
