A friend of Galih once told us to try hunting the Giants of Mandurah. Last month, we finally started the journey with a couple of friends. It turned out to be one of those simple adventures that stayed with us long after the trip ended.
We drove to Mandurah and met our first giant: Seba’s Song in Wannanup, quietly sitting by the sea. We couldn’t really see his face because he was facing the ocean, almost as if he were watching over the water.
From there, we continued to Santi Ikto in Halls Head. He sits in the hills overlooking the coast, and the walk there was absolutely worth it. The journey itself was beautiful, with the sea stretching alongside us. We ended the day with a picnic near Mandurah Eastern Foreshore.
Weeks later, we decided to continue the hunt and find the rest of them 😆
This time, we started at Lake Clifton Thrombolites — we were just drawn to the lake. Then on a whim, we searched for what was nearby and stumbled upon Jyttes Hytte, quietly hiding among the bushes. Total happy accident!
By then, we were completely hooked, and that day we decided to hunt down the rest. 😄
The long drive became part of the adventure too. We stopped at our first WA rest area, sang along to our favourite songs on the road, and simply enjoyed being together. We’ve always loved road trips, and doing one together in Western Australia had been one of our little dreams.
Vivi Cirkelstone was resting peacefully by the lake at the Yaburgurt Winjan Memorial Park in Coodanup, right in the middle of Mandurah’s famous blue swimmer crab region. Standing there, we promised each other that we would come back to do some crabbing together someday. Little Lui was tucked away in the bushlands of Lakelands, where we also met a few kangaroos along the path. And last but not least, we visited Billie Bob in Subiaco, Perth. Each giant has its own story to tell, and a hidden meaning for you to find.
Somewhere along the road, the trip became about more than just finding giants. We felt like we were on a mission. When we finally found them all, we looked at each other and laughed like we had just completed something much bigger than a day trip. At different stops, we even crossed paths with several senior couples doing the same hunt, and it reminded us that this is exactly the kind of thing worth doing with the people you love.
Finding the Giants meant discovering ourselves more deeply. It also gave us peace, knowing we had accomplished a mission right before going back to living long-distance again. All the laughter, the walks, the little victories along the way — we’re carrying all of that with us as we face the distance again.
In a way, the giants reminded us of all the “giants” we’ve faced throughout our long-distance journey too. By God’s grace, we’ve been able to conquer them together, and that realization gave us strength once again.
We are grateful to Thomas Dambo, the artist behind the Giants.
Galih later told me that these giants exist all around the world — there are over a hundred of them.
Now we’re officially on a mission to find them all. One giant at a time feels like a pretty good reason to keep travelling the world. 😊