With a few days off up my sleeve, we decided to head out on a mini road trip to South West WA, specifically Bridgetown as we haven’t explored much of this area before. Bridgetown is also known as Fridgetown due to it being one of the coldest places in WA. However, as there was a lot of cloud cover it wasn’t too bad! Apart from the odd patch of rain throughout the weekend.
Getting There
Located about 3 hours south of Perth it’s a perfect distance for an extended weekend trip. We left about mid-morning aiming to get to our accommodation by 4 pm, not wanting to feel rushed.
After a few hours, we stopped in at Dardanup Bakery for some late lunch and to have a break from driving. We each grabbed a pie and dessert. Plus a coffee! The pies ended up being huge and filled to the top!! So we didn’t have dessert until after dinner. The pies were delicious, my only complaint was that they were a little too salty. The pastries were amazing as well.
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Well and truly full, we continued our Journey onto Bridgetown.
Accommodation
After a quick search, we found the perfect B&B called Lakeview. It was a studio style room with its own entrance and bathroom located at the back of the house. This meant we had an awesome view of the man-made lake and it felt completely private.
The little kitchenette was well resourced and the bathroom was really cool. I loved the little touch of the heated towel rack. The owner was fantastic and super friendly. She gave us a quick tour, shared some great tips to avoid hitting the local roos before leaving us to it.
The room was perfect and gave us a great space to relax after a long day of exploring.
Exploring Bridgetown
Exploring Day 1
Refreshed we headed straight into town to explore and scope out options for dinner. We decided to park the car and continue on foot. You can easily walk the length of the main street. It’s the best way to explore a new place as it gives you the chance to see everything without rushing past.
We also wanted to see some of the ‘Fridgetown’ artworks which were really cool! I loved that they played on the town’s nickname and completely owned it.
We came across a really cool lolly shop!! So of course I had to check it out. The shop was filled with any lolly that you could imagine including a few of my childhood favourites. We grabbed a scoop of ice cream to share, some rocky road, plus a few smaller lollies that I haven’t had since I was a kid!
As the shops closed with some time until dinner we headed into the back streets to explore more of the town.
Katanning Playground
On the second day, we headed to the Katanning Playground, suited for all ages. Yes, that includes adults!! It was a bit of a drive but completely worth it. There were multiple giant slides, an adult-sized rocking horse, a see-saw and a flying fox. It was so much fun being a big kid. If I hadn’t snapped my nail (this broke the skin!) we probably would have kept going for a while longer!
There is also a separate area for smaller kids. There is truly something here for everyone.
Golden Valley Tree
Taking a slight detour on our journey back to Bridgetown we stopped in at Golden Valley Tree Park. The arboretum is separated into two main sections Australian and American. There are heaps of different walks, at varying lengths. We selected the short walk as the sun was beginning to set and I didn’t want to be driving back at dusk.
The area was beautiful and made for such a peaceful walk! I’m hoping so I can explore more sections.
To be continued….
You might be wondering what amazing food Bridgetown offered?? Well, that’s going to have to wait for part 2 of this trip!
Keep an eye out for next weeks post.
