Friday 31 January we were up very early, checked out, and got a cab across to the domestic terminal at Brisbane airport. It wasn’t too far away and seemed odd that it cost less for a taxi than it would for both of us to go on the hotel’s shuttle bus…. Check in / security clearance for the domestic flight was easy so we quickly headed to the food court for some breakfast.
The flight was on time (9am) and we were delighted that our Apple Air Tags confirmed our bags had been loaded on board. We took off and settled down to read some books – this flight was not too long (five and a half hours) or a full service one. So no seat-back screens to while away the time on movies etc. But we didn’t mind….coffee / tea and water were served free of charge…but everything else was at a cost. We changed our watches to the Perth timezone and, about an hour before landing, we had a glass of wine and some cheese and biscuits. Very nice.
Once we had landed security was easy again although there was a long terminal walk with our bags to find the uber that we had ordered. We drove away from the airport and arrived at the road where our apartment was located around 1pm. But the road was sealed off with roadworks going on….never mind….the uber driver was great and he went around again so that we could enter. We were dropped off quickly and made our way up the 12 steep steps to the front of the apartment block – one of the workmen who was digging up the road helped me with my luggage LOL. We sat on some benches and reviewed the access information – well it was a lock box on the wall with security boxes inside…so followed the instructions and, voila, I had the keys and security fob. So we quickly went upstairs to have a look around. The apartment seemed dark on arrival and very small compared to the beautifully-shot promotional photos. Never mind, it had everything we could possibly need…. And we had been naughty accessing it earlier than the official check in time of 3 pm LOL.
After we had got ourselves familiarised and semi-organised we headed out down to the Elizabeth Wharf area so we could check out where we were going in the morning as we had a return ferry ticket to Rottnest Island booked. Mission accomplished – by now we were getting pretty hot – so headed to the Hilton Hotel bar on the roof for some views over the Swan River.
We enjoyed that very much before heading back up the hill towards our apartment having found a recommended Thai restaurant en route called the Long Chim which was located in the basement of the historical State Buildings.
We didn’t have a reservation so we had to sit in the bar area rather than the restaurant itself but that didn’t matter as we weren’t exactly dressed to the nines either LOL. Had a lovely meal but mine was so heavily laced with fresh chilli that, despite doing my best to avoid eating them all, upset my stomach. We didn’t find anything on the wine list that inspired so we decided just to have water as we ate our main course. Was absolutely delicious and great service / fresh food. So we headed back to our apartment for an early night.
Saturday morning we were up early and walked down to Elizabeth Quay, found pontoon 3 and swapped our online tickets for real physical ones. We headed into the nearby cafe for a drink and we waited forever for my sparkling water to come along…. Finally it was time to board the ferry and we managed to get seats on the top deck – we had lathered up heavily with our factor 50+ suntan lotion in advance – and met a lady who worked for one of the mining companies (they are huge here in Australia) who was in Perth for a conference with some colleagues. She was a bit standoffish to start with but warmed up and we enjoyed chatting to her during the journey.
We admired the scenery as we headed out to sea and, finally, arrived at Rottnest Island. We didn’t have a tour booked nor did we have bicycles booked either (the main form of transport on the island). For those that know me well, will also know that I’m not actually able to ride a pushbike as I have no sense of balance. Probably the reason why I was never sea sick on the boat….
Anyway – we were hungry – so headed towards the first eatery we came across to be told that the kitchen was closed and they were not serving. The next place – a nice looking hotel – had the same response although was definitely a bit friendlier and helpful. So we wandered off on her recommendation and stopped off – Richard enjoyed his pancakes and I had the healthy fruit and yoghurt option. Very nice it was too….
Afterwards we headed up to the Main Street with the intention of going on the hop on-hop off bus. Two single deckers were circling the island on an hourly basis. Thought it might be a bit more regular than that…. And the queues were horrendous for both purchasing tickets and to get on the actual bus. We got lucky in the queue as a quokka decided to come by and say hi. After that bit of excitement we got on the next bus and, by this time, we were lucky to be one of the first ones boarding so got a seat. Only a single decker but they were being counted on by one of the guides so all the standing room was taken up too.
Of course the minute we got off the bus – at a lookout place – we lost our seating privilege and, for the rest of the day, we had to stand up on buses as they circled the island and we got on and off. Pretty tiring to say the least. Final stop was a beach which we enjoyed just sitting in the shade looking out at the boats anchored off…. People were bobbing and swimming but, despite having our swimmers in the bag, weren’t convinced this was a safe activity as they have big dangerous sharks here LOL. Throughly enjoyed the wild and spectacular coastline of this island – and check out the mares tails in the sky warning of strong wind. At least it kept the temperature down a bit (was 30+ degrees centigrade)…
Finally we arrived back from where we had started and went to the hotel for a drink. There was a DJ entertaining the crowd and we enjoyed listening to his tunes and watching the quokkas wandering around trying to get fed by the tourists. Of course we didn’t feed them but many people were….. You are not supposed to touch them either but of course people were…. They might look cute but actually they can be quite aggressive and despite their reputation we never saw one smile either LOL.
We found a bar closer to the main wharf and headed there for a final beer…. Anyway, time to go, and down the wharf we went to board our boat. The wind had really picked up 25 knots + so we knew it was going to be lumpy on the way back – so we elected to sit in the air conditioning downstairs this time LOL. We also enjoyed a few beers as we were sitting pretty much next to the guy serving….
Off the ferry and we headed into the pub called the Lucky Shag and sat outside on their waterfront terrace. Anyway, we enjoyed some more music, chatted to some Americans who lived nearby and we reckon they were spooks from Pine Gap as they were very secretive about their work…. Anyway, we had the taste for it by now, so swapped to wine and, eventually, wobbled up the hill towards our apartment. Had been a fantastic day!
Sunday, we had planned to go to Fremantle Markets on public transport. But having done two 15k step days consecutively, Richard decided I needed a bit of a break! I wasn’t arguing with that…the heat just completely zaps everything…so I focussed on doing some laundry and getting a blog done and published. Later on – mid afternoon – we headed out again towards the harbour looking for somewhere to eat but, this is Perth, and most eateries shut their kitchens during the afternoon (around 3pm) and reopen them again around 5.30 pm for dinner. So out of luck unless we wanted fast food (which we didn’t) and so we walked a huge circuitous route anyway, clocking up 10k steps. Oh well, so much for giving my legs a breather LOL. Having failed miserably to get fed we decided to go shopping and picked up some provisions for cooking / eating dinner in our apartment. So in the end we had a quiet night in enjoying some home cooked grub.
Monday morning we were up a bit later as we were going out at lunchtime on an organised tour. This was into the Pinnacles Desert to see the sunset, have a BBQ dinner, and star gaze through a large reflecting telescope that had been set up by the guides. Anyway, we were picked up right on time and met the rest of the small group. They were mainly Asian – Korean, Japanese and Chinese. Plus the odd Brit, Australian and German thrown into the mix. The driver was pretty entertaining but, as we were at the back of the bus, we couldn’t always hear him too well as his microphone had failed!
The first stop of the day – about an hour and a half later – was to a bakery, ice creamery and toilets in a small town called Lancelin. Pretty remote to say the least! At this stage we met up with another minibus doing the same excursion from the same company and we travelled in company after this. Anyway, the next stop was to the sand dunes to go sand boarding….and our guide asked us if we actually wanted to do this. Think we may have been age profiled LOL. We confirmed that we weren’t bothered…having done it before….so he offered to drop us off at the Lancelin Sands Hotel where we could enjoy a view over the water / walk up to the lookout / and generally while away some time while all the youngsters got covered in sand! We thanked him and took him up on the kind offer…. So we were dropped off, Richard went for a walk up to the top of the lookout, and I sat down with a glass of wine in hand. And lovely it was too! We enjoyed checking out the langoustine fishing boats who were pulling hard on their moorings behind the reef. Finally Richard returned and he joined me…. By now we should be going so we walked back out to the car park to rejoin our minibus – then the two minibuses returned – and gave everyone a break. So we stayed put and had another!
After about another 10 minutes or so we all took off towards the Pinnacles Desert. On entry into the National Park we stopped at the toilet blocks for a comfort break first and picked up a couple more tourists who were joining just for this part of the trip. We drove into this moonscape – OMG how fascinating – absolutely blown away by it all. We took a few photos before climbing a rock for a good view when the sun went down. I got a bit tired of clinging to the top of a rock so headed back to the minibuses where the drivers were organising dinner…and enjoyed the sunset from ground level.
Richard returned and we had cheese and biscuits – wine was on offer – but decided to go for a hot drink as by now the wind had turned very chilly. Of course we had not brought our jackets with us…. So we huddled down together and enjoyed our BBQ sausages and fresh bread / salads before wrapping ourselves up in a blanket to keep warm. By now one of the guides had set up the telescope so encouraged everyone to have a look at the moon – and showed us how to take photos of it too. So here you are….enjoy!
The guide was very knowledgeable and, although it was not a completely dark night and too early in the season for the Milky Way to show itself, we watched as the planets and stars revealed themselves to us. Was lovely. All too soon the show was over and time to return to our apartment, a two hour trip back for the driver. So we were dropped off just after 11.30 pm having thoroughly enjoyed our tourist excursion.
Tuesday morning we went out for breakfast down near the Wharf and then got on the Hop On Hop Off Tourist Bus. We stayed on enjoying the sights of the city as we decided to not get off until we reached King’s Park as we fancied checking it out.
We arrived at the Park but were too slow to organise ourselves getting off at the right stop so stayed on for another couple – and then decided to walk back to the original bus stop through the botanical gardens, admire the views of the city from various lookouts, take in the war memorial etc etc. Of course, like mad dogs and Englishmen, we were out in the midday sun without any water with us. What idiots – you would have thought we would have learnt by now?!? So to start off we decided to hydrate in a cafe we came across near a child’s play area (plus dinosaur of course) before starting our walk. Richard told me it wasn’t far and led by goggle maps off we trotted…. It wasn’t the nice lawned park we had been expecting as it was largely bush and sparse vegetation on red dust paths in places…. Sometimes it was pretty hilly too. It even had a glass bridge into the tree canopy… But worth it for the spectacular views over the city.
Couldn’t believe how many joggers passed us along the way too. Anyway, a while later, and only 11k steps to our name in 39 degrees Celsius heat we arrived at the first car park and found another cafe and had a restorative glass of water to recover. We were both absolutely shattered.
We had made arrangements to meet Richard and Hannah (and their daughters Sophie and Abigail) later in the afternoon at a waterfront East End pub called The Royal. So we decided not to wait for the next bus and got an uber back to our apartment where we enjoyed restorative showers / clean clothes / and a rest up before heading to the pub as previously arranged. Richard and Hannah had both worked with Richard in London before they moved to Australia and had become a couple after relocating here. So was lovely to see them and to catch up on their news…. Oh yes and the pizza was pretty good too LOL. Lovely family and another great reunion!
So that concludes our stay in Perth but not in Western Australia – on Wednesday we checked out of our Perth city centre apartment and collected another hire car to do some more exploring of the area.
So bye for now and come back soon for the next instalment. Jan