Fri, 10th Mar, 2023 Roadside Rest Area, east of Two Rocks, WA (exploring Two Rocks)

 Emma’s birthday so sent her a message. Quiet night here which was good. We are at the top of the coastal road before it turns inland.

Rang Terry, Erica had slept all day yesterday. 

Relaxing morning reading then I cut Steve’s hair. After a cuppa we headed into town. Found a Red Cross Op Shop and bought a few DVDs, no books we liked unfortunately. We gave them the DVDs we have watched.

Got a hot chook and a few bits from the IGA then drove around to the marina. Walked around to a nice spot that we could have a dip but the water was too cold!

Looking over the limestone wall to the beach and a limestone rock. There is another bigger one close by.

We continued around the marina groin wall to the end point.

We then went along the beach to check out the limestone rocks. A few people were trying to catch some lunch but no luck yet. The water is lovely and clear where there is no sea grass.

On the other side of the rock there are plants growing on it.

I walked in to check the water and Steve took a photo but didn’t tell me a wave was going to hit so I got a wet rear end! Bit of a rough ride in the boat.

We walked back up another track to Leeman’s Landing and found a plaque about a wrecked ship in 1656. Further around was the plaque about First Officer Leeman who came ashore looking for survivors of the other ship in 1658 and it was documented that he landed here.

Back to the camper for lunch. It is hot in the sun but the breeze is cool so very comfortable in the camper. 

Rang Margaret for a chat. The roller door had turned up so they are ready to head off when we are - depending on the temperature further north of course.

Terry rang - he had accidentally dialled my number but we had a chat any case. Erica had slept all morning again. David and Amanda were coming up later so Terry said they wouldn’t be going to the pokies today as she would be too tired.

We had a cuppa then walked along the marina boardwalk - lots of cray boats here.

Found some info about the past, The Birdman Rally.

Continued around to where most of the sculptures are placed in a park behind the IGA from the time when the area was to be a Marine Park etc by Alan Bond - 1981 Yanchep Sun City plan, closed in Aug 1990. Lots of famous faces here but no name plaques.

More were placed in a garden below.

Got this info of the Wikipedia after I read it on the Geocache site.

History[edit]

In the 1970s Bond purchased 20,000 acres of land in Yanchep with a plan to build a large resort and residential area.^[2][3][4] The Park was constructed in 1981 with the hope that Perth's rapid expansion would be accompanied by an equal growth in tourism. Six months before the park was opened, seven bottlenose dolphins were caught locally and trained as performance animals for the next ten years. The park was opened by the Premier of Western Australia the Hon. Ray O'Connor and the chairman and president of the Tokyu Corporation Mr Noburu Gotoh. In his opening speech Mr Gotoh explained that Atlantis was the first element in an expansion plan to make the Yanchep Sun City a premier leisure recreation region.

In 1988, three female dolphin calves were born, which as a result of changes in regulations for holding marine mammals meant Atlantis would have to construct a larger dolphin enclosure. This, coupled with the park gradually losing money, was the reason for the owners closing Atlantis in August 1990.^[5]

Dolphins[edit]

Prior to the park's opening, seven bottlenose dolphins were caught from the local coastal population and were used as performance animals for the next ten years. At the time Atlantis closed in 1990, the park had nine dolphins, six wild born, and three captive born juveniles.^[5][6]

With the closure of the park, the owners Tokyu Corporation of Japan^[7][8] agreed to a proposal by Dr. Nick Gales, a marine park veterinarian and research scientist to fully fund the release of the animals to the wild, provided it would end their financial commitment to the dolphins. The project to release the animals into the wild began in March 1991; the rehabilitation program began in the park pools and eventually moved to a sea pen at the Two Rocks Marina in October 1991. The dolphins were fully released into the wild in January 1992.^[5]

The initial release encountered problems, with some of the dolphins losing a lot of weight. Three of them were recaptured and returned to the sea pen. The three recaptured dolphins were not re-released to the wild, but were relocated to Underwater World, now the Aquarium of Western Australia.^[5]

King Neptune is further over.

We then walked up the rise, a couple more sculptures then we reached King Neptune.

Followed the Geocache app to a small dune opposite King Neptune where there was supposed to be a cache but we couldn’t find it in the shrubbery but at least the information was good.

Back to the camper then back to the rest area for the night. The Supercars are racing in Newcastle tomorrow so we put up the TV to see if we can get reception as we only have rabbit ears but we got signal so we will stay here tomorrow and watch the race.