Following the Leeders

Paul Seaforth McKenzie was a mining engineer from New Zealand who left for work one day and didn’t return home as he usually would.
Instead, McKenzie spent four years, from 1914 to 1918, squatting on Penguin Island, presumably dreaming up his grand plans to turn it into a holiday resort.
In 1918 he was granted a lease from the Government and spent the next eight years turning his dream into reality.
He created the Caves of Penguin Island with hand tools and explosives, forming accomodation, a general store, a library, and a grand ballroom. Each with fancy names such as Manor Hall, Fairhaven and Tudor Hall. He even built his very own ‘mansion’ from timber and iron, but this would be closer to a shack in reality than an actual mansion.
Rock slabs formed beds and he carved shelving and fireplaces into the walls. Guests to the island were invited to listen to poetry readings in the library by lamp light. One day, in the Grand Ballroom, he held a ceremony where he crowned himself the King of Penguin Island. From then on he referred to himself as the Governor or King.
In 1926 when his lease was not renewed any further, he returned home to New Zealand to his wife and children claiming that he had suddenly remembered his family after being missing for 45 years!
Although visitors are not permitted to stay on Penguin Island overnight, the vision to turn it into a tourist destination lives on, with the island remaining mostly untouched and still incredibly breathtaking. The caves that were created by the King of Penguin Island remain, and while guests to the island are not allowed to enter them, they are still an amazing sight to behold!

Another blog post up! This one a little closer to home, The Mandurah Giants 😍😍

Mandurah Giants! Mandurah Giants! Get link Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Other Apps - January 05, 2023 Created by world renowned recycle artist Thomas Dambo, the Mandurah Giants are beyond incredible! Each Giant took around 750 hours to build, and each have their own names and stories.We are yet to visit the Subi...

Wellington Dam in Collie.
This incredible mural took 4 months to paint, covers 8000 square metres, required a specially designed scaffolding platform and has images taken from actual photographs of Collie’s history!
The artwork is named ‘reflections’ and it was completed by Guido Van Helsen in February 2021.
We didn’t spend too long here as it was a spontaneous stop to get some fresh air and stretch our legs, but there are camping grounds, picnic spots with bbqs, toilets, drinking water and a kiosk, as well as plenty of walking trails.
Stunning!!! 😍

Besties (when they wanna be 😂) MadMia

We love our Library hangs after school!! We returned a heap of books and borrowed some more. A love of reading is something I hope I can pass on to my kids! And the girls telling everyone who commented on their socks that they are MadMia Ambassadors of course 😂