A Relaxing Weekend: Yallingup, Western Australia.

Weekend in Numbers
Kms Driven: 518
Dips in Plunge Pool: 3
Sunsets watched: 2
Bottles of wine consumed: 3
Kangaroos spotted: 2
Beaches visited: 3
Plugger blowouts: 1
Photos taken: 92539


I have always loved exploring. 

From reading about faraway places and mystic lands as a little girl to avidly following travel bloggers on Instagram and booking as many trips as my purse will allow as an adult. I never truly grew out of the blazing wanderlust. 

What started off as a lunch time 'jungle excursion' around my back garden and yearly holidays with my family, became a solo venture around Europe and the USA, a one-way ticket to Western Australia and a hell of a lot of shorter trips in-between. 

I'm not done exploring the world yet, I don't even believe it is possible to ever be truly 'done' exploring the world. However, University means that right now I can't stray far from my new home in Perth for extended periods of time. Right now I'm settling for exploring my way around Western Australia. If you can even call it 'settling.'

Western Australia is incredibly beautiful. From the greenery of the hills surrounding Perth, to the never ending white sand of the coastline. Not to mention the unbelievable sunsets, all within a short car journey's distance from my house. I still have so much left that I haven't seen, and I intend to travel every square inch of my new found home state (all 2,646 million km² of it).  

This time last year, Michael and I both wanted to get out of the city for a little while and just explore somewhere new. As it was his birthday weekend, we decided to splurge on two nights in the gorgeous Chandeliers on Abbey just outside of Yallingup, around a three hours drive from us. We stayed in the plunge retreat, and though admittedly at $450 a night is a little steep... boy was it worth it. 

Our room came equipped with an idyllic balcony, private plunge pool which is heated to 30°c all year round and a spa bath large enough to bathe an army.

We set off from Perth just after lunch time on Friday and arrived at the chalet in the late afternoon, quickly dropping our bags before rushing to explore the area before resigning to the heated plunge pool for the evening with a bottle of wine.

Saturday morning I awoke to the sun beaming in through the balcony doors at the end of our bed. I decided to let Michael have a birthday lie in and went to sit on the balcony for a little while to just appreciate the sheer beauty of where we were staying. I sat and watched as the morning sun lit up every inch of the garden before me. Previous guests had noted they were lucky enough to see some kangaroos basking in the golden sun at dawn, but for me the only company I had was a soundly sleeping Michael and a family of kookaburras in the neighbouring tree.

To this day, I'm fascinated by Australian wildlife. I truly believed that kangaroos were mythical creatures until an embarrassing age, and I still can't shake my excitement upon seeing them.

After a sufficient lie in, I decided it was high time I woke up the birthday boy with a caramel coffee from the coffee machine. We consider coffee machines an absolute luxury since we moved into our own house and away from Michael's parents fancy coffee machine. He opened a few presents from the comfort of our bed before we went out onto the balcony together to watch the sun blazing through the trees as we polished off the last of our coffee. Followed by a swim in the plunge pool, not a bad way to start his birthday.

Once we'd found the energy to drag ourselves out of the pool and pack our bags for the day we set off on a hunt for the perfect birthday breakfast. We both opted for eggs benedict and yet another coffee to fuel us for the long day of exploring.

Firstly we thought it would be nice to spend a couple of hours in the morning sun on Yallingup beach to let our breakfast settle. It seems we were not the only people to think of this idea as the beach was truly packed, there wasn't a parking spot in sight. It was only then that we realised that it was Australia Day weekend, meaning that a lot of people would have come down to Yallingup to take advantage of the long weekend.

Instead, we decided to take a drive down to Canal Rocks which is an incredible formation where the water has eroded the rock down to create passages between the rocks, or 'canals.' There is a wooden walkway across several of the rocks that allows you to see the canals from above. Unbeknownst to me, thrill seekers love jumping off of the bridge and into the water. I received the fright of my life when someone leapt off the bridge next to me down to the water below.

There is something uniquely captivating about Canal rocks. I never tire of watching as a dense turquoise wave launches itself into the granite rock,  softening on impact to a milky white, as it seeps its way through the canals ahead, leaving fluffy jet trails in its wake.

After the serenity of  Canal Rocks we were hoping to go down to Wyadup Rocks and relax in the natural spa down there but it was absolutely flooded with people. Instead we decided to hop back into the car and continue to adventure along the coastline, in hunt of our own private little slice of heaven.

We were lucky enough to find this gorgeous spot not far from Wyadup rocks. The whole beach was deserted, meaning we had it to ourselves. Although the waves were far too rough to even contemplate swimming (I'm talking fifteen feet high), we found a section of the beach which had its own rock pool and so we spent the day blissfully floating in the calm water listening to the raucous waves mere metres away.

By the end of the day it was obvious we hadn't applied enough sunscreen as the pair of us were sporting a colour that would give Mr Krabs a run for his millionth dollar.

Having returned to the chalet for a cold shower and healthy dose of aloe vera, we realised that we had nearly missed a really beautiful sunset and leapt into action. We raced (within the speedlimit, don't worry mum) to catch the very last of the beautiful colours over Yallingup beach. We stayed at our lookout until there was no trace of pink, orange or red to be seen and the colours had darkened to a deep blue-grey before we retreated to the chalet for our final night of relaxation.

All in all, our weekend was the perfect mix of relaxing in the plunge pool and exploring the surrounding area of Yallingup/Dunsborough. I cannot recommend Chandeliers on Abbey enough for anyone considering a weekend break in WA, as well as it being in the perfect central spot, they have three seperate chalets with the plunge being the most expensive. Though truly worth every penny. 
Yallingup Recommendations 
1. Chandeliers on Abbey. We stayed in the Plunge Retreat but the Forest Retreat and Spa Retreat both look just as beautiful.  2. Canal Rocks. This place is my absolute happy place.  3. Oh Delhi Indian Restaurant in Dunsborough, for the best curry I've had to date.  4. Wyadup Rocks, head down the hill but keep walking along until you find your own private space. 5. Follow Caves Road down to Yallingup Beach road and just take it in as the bay opens up in front of your eyes.  

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