We spent the day cleaning and organising the caravan. The van needed a major cleaning to rid itself of a two months of Geraldton dirt/dust. Enjoyed happy hour with Di, Terry, Carol, Stephen, Faye, and Bruce.
Friday morning saw me take Sandra shopping to celebrate her 53rd birthday. We went to Karrinyup Shopping Centre which is only a five minute drive from where we are staying. Another large shopping centre of which Perth seems to have more than it's fair share. We found Sandra a new handbag and some new beach towels. Both were bargains as well which was even better. Lots of sales on as retail tries to generate more sales in challenging times. We enjoyed a somewhat relaxing afternoon with a number of birthday phone calls and a good Skype visit with Justine.
We had a lovely birthday dinner hosted at Faye and Bruce's caravan. Beautiful salads, prawns, and oysters topped off with a huge Pavlova. Life is hard on the road!!
Saturday morning we had originally planned on a quiet day but made a quick decision to catch a ferry to Freemantle for some sightseeing and hopefully a cool sea breeze. Was very hot and no breeze early this morning at caravan park. Di, Sandra, and I planned on catching a bus and train to the ferry port but unfortunately we stood on the wrong side of the road. After we watched our bus fly by on the opposite side of the road we decided driving was a better option. Once I got my stress level back under control we found the drive to the port was very straightforward and only took about 10 minutes. Public transportation and the roads are so much better in Perth than any other major Australian cities we have seen so far. We found some all day parking before meeting Carol and Stephen at the Old Perth Port where we purchased our ferry tickets for the trip to Freemantle. The trip over was beautiful in lovely air conditioned comfort. The Perth port and the cruise up the Swan River to Freemantle was very nice with lots of beautiful parkland and amazing properties. Another great feature is that 90 percent of the waterfront is public access. It really doesn't diminish the value or appeal of the residential properties that line the river bank and allows everyone to enjoy this wonderful waterfront. The tour described many of the glamorous properties along the way. Many of Australia's richest apparently live along this stretch. One property was worth $57 million with another one for sale at $26 million.
We arrived in Freemantle in just over an hour. Freemantle is a cargo port and was lined with huge container ships and cranes. We left the ferry just after noon and enjoyed a walk along the waterfront to fisherman's harbour. We enjoyed a seafood lunch overlooking the harbour and marina. Great selection of gluten free seafood. Sandra and I shared orders of Garlic Prawns and BBQ Scallops. Yum! Did I mention that life is so hard for us grey nomads?
From lunch we enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the harbour with Di getting lots of picture of the fishing statues. We toured the Shipwreck museum (Gold coin donation) which was very interesting. Had a recovered piece of the Batavia Shipwreck on display which was very large but only a small section of the ship. Lots of recovered treasures from various shipwrecks (coins, various pieces of metal, glass, and china) on display. Had to keep an eye on the 3 girls to make sure nothing went missing.
Walked from there to a lookout where they shot off a gun to help sailors keep track of time which overlooked a nice beach. From there back to the port where we walked through the market E Shed and enjoyed an ice cream before boarding the return ferry to Perth.
Wonderful to see all the people using the waterfront in so many ways (speed boats, sailing, jet skis, walking on sandbars). Kids were lined up jumping off the rock cliffs in one section. Trip back was hot as no air conditioning and breeze had dropped to nothing. I think we all enjoyed a cold shower and/or a swim when we got back to our respective homes. Enjoyed a quiet and light evening meal before turning in early.
Sunday morning we did some laundry, cleaning, and computer catch up. After lunch we took Di and Terry over to Karen & David's in Sorrento. We left the cars there and Stephen dropped the four of us and Carol off at Aqua which is the Perth Aquarium. It was beautiful with lots of colourful fish and coral. The two highlights were a pair of very large tanks where you could view the coral and fish from under the water level. The one was an outdoor pool that you viewed from the side which contained masses of coral and thousands of small colourful coral fish. My personal favorite was the other large tank which you travelled around and underneath on a moving sidewalk. This tank had larger fish included sharks, Sting rays, sea turtles. The second time we went back they actually had people snorkeling in the tank. Very cool! I was interested in giving it a go until I found out it cost $179. It was great just watching all these large creatures move around with the divers. The sea creatures seemed to steer clear of the divers as much as possible. I could have sit there watching them for longer but eventually it was time to go. The Aquarium while expensive was well worth the visit from my perspective. I would happily return.
Monday saw Sandra & I enjoy a quiet day around the caravan. Sandra cleaned out all the cupboards and drawers before giving the caravan a serious vacuum and scrubbing. I got caught up on some paperwork and computer work. It has been very warm and supposedly getting hotter for the next week. High 30s now with 40+ expected. Power at our area of the caravan park kept tripping out so I have put our fridges on gas or 12V until it stabilises. Good news is all the fridges are working beautifully! Sandra & I went for quick shop in the afternoon to restock our veggie supply and pick a few other necessities. Enjoyed a happy hour at our caravan before Sandra & I enjoyed a BBQ Salmon and salad dinner. The wind picked up during the night and our awning flapped most of the night. Not a good sleep for either of us.
Tuesday morning the six of us travelled by car down to Freemantle again where we caught the 9:45 ferry to Rottnest Island. A quick but rather rough (up to 3.5m swells) trip of 30 minutes saw us land at Rottnest Island just before 11am. Di, Terry, Sandra, and I purchased a discovery bus tour around the Island. The tour took about 90 minutes, taking us to all major sights around the island, and was very informative. We saw a few of the rat like Quokkas as well as a number of beautiful bays and beaches. One of the highlights was the rocky cliffs and pounding water of the secluded West End. No vehicles including bikes are allowed here other than the bus tour. As usual we got a number of wonderful pictures.
We enjoyed a lunch back at the main settlement area before hopping on a bus which took us for a quick swim at Salmon Bay. Beautiful water but a bit rough because of the Southerly breeze. Sandra tried with snorkels for a bit but found the water a little too rough. I enjoyed a quick snorkel along the rocks. Coral definitely not as good as previous snorkels but a number of good sized fish. Could have caught a lovely meal or two. Only had time for a quick swim as we needed to catch the next bus back to port for return ferry. Bus was overloaded and late but luckily we had allowed extra time to make it back. A number of fellow passengers hadn't been so lucky and were sprinting from bus to jetty. There is certainly a lot to see and do at Rottnest, and I could see myself spending a few days there. My complaints would be that it is very busy and very expensive. Being it is still school holidays and the weather is so nice it is quite understandable that it is busy. However I feel they could certainly do something about the affordability. We had to pay separately; for the ferry, the tour bus, and the shuttle bus which added up to a costly day. I think at least the shuttle bus should have been included in either the tour ticket or the ferry ticket. While a very beautiful location I would be reluctant to go back because of the cost. We enjoyed another quick trip back to Freemantle arriving just after 5pm. In hindsight we should have caught an earlier ferry this morning as we could have used a little more time on the island. Had a bit of a slow trip back to the caravan park as traffic was fairly heavy. We had another easy light dinner.
We slept somewhat better as only a few big gusts of wind instead of continual. Very hot night again and Sandra is washing the sheets for the umpteenth time this week. We had an easy morning and early lunch before heading over to Karen & Davids. We enjoyed a much appreciated cool swim there before I headed off for a round of golf with Stephen, David, and their son Mitchell. We enjoyed 9 holes at a beautiful public course, Wembley. The weather was not too oppressing even though the temperature was around 40. Luckily there was a bit of a breeze and as usual I spent a fair amount of time in the trees. The girls took advantage of our absence with some shopping and a trip to the air conditioned Cinemas to watch a little George Clooney. We had dinner at Karen and Davids before returning to the caravan and an early night.
We decided to use the vehicles to see the rest of the park. Drove down the memorial lane which is very sobering with trees planted for Western Australians lost in war. We stopped at a park area where there was a lovely water feature and lots of kid's play equipment. We kicked the kids out of an area where water was spraying down and we all cooled off.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch where we were lucky enough to find some shade. We returned home to the caravan park and enjoyed a lazy afternoon trying to keep cool and conserve energy.
Saturday we did some shopping at Karrinyup again which was very busy. Temperature was 43 when we left shopping centre. Another easy afternoon trying to keep cool. Di, Terry, Sandra, and I enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner at our caravan. Enjoyed some Pink Snapper and Scallops! A southerly change came up during the night which cooled it off a bit but of course the wind made the awning quite noisy.
Sunday we were preparing for setting off again Monday morning. We did a bit more shopping and cleaning. Visited Karen and David for a couple of hours in the afternoon to say our thanks and goodbyes. They were great hosts and we look forward to seeing them again in NSW. Late afternoon saw us packing up and ready to go before having a nice easy tea.
Talk to you again soon!
