March 19 to March 23 - Perth - Fremantle - Rottnest

Saturday March 19 - Perth to Fremantle
On Saturday morning we picked up the rental car and drove less than an hour down to Fremantle. We went to do some food shopping and then checked into the apartment we have rented for the next five  nights till we fly to Borneo. It is quite suitable and we have done a big wash, and vegged for the remainder of the afternoon. In the evening.we ate in which is just great after eating out so much. 

Sunday March 20

The next day, we had a relaxed morning then headed off down to the Fremantle Market. Busy, colourful, and quite fun!! We are staying in a really funky area, and we love it. The buildings are interesting, there are tons of people, and the lanes and shops are neat. The restaurants are all packed to over flowing. It really is an Aussie phenonomon.

Later in the afternoon we drove over to meet Brendan and Marietta (Sue Kearney’s son and his wife) and their two little girls. We ended up in a restaurant nearby. They fed the girls pasta and chips, and shared a pizza. Ray had a tea, and I had a black coffee. We had a really great time time. Marietta was really lovely, and both she and Brendan were so relaxed and seemed to enjoy our visit. The little girls were quite sweet, busy, but no problems at all. Brendan told us we had to drive down to the river and so after we left them we did just that. The River Swan I believe. It was so beautiful. The river was really wide, we had a beautiful view of downtown Perth (just like the view from the Toronto Islands over to Toronto), and the area was one of large beautiful homes, and avenues of trees. Truly lovely. 

We drove back to the apartment around 7:00 p.m. and decided to go and check out the ferry terminal where we will catch a ferry to Rottnest Island on Tuesday. So, we ended up investigating the harbour area. It is amazing!! We loved that too. We noticed a tall ship's mast behind the ferry dock and went to investigate. There was a tall ship with all kinds of people crawling over the rigging and working around on the ship. As we stood looking at it a woman came up to us and started chatting (people are very friendly here!!). Her daughter had just spent the day crewing on the ship, and there she was high up in the masts.

Monday March 21 – Fremantle Gaol

We had a relaxed morning: uploaded some blog posts, did emails etc. then around noon we walked over to the Fremantle Prison. This is our third prison tour in 4 months – Alcatrez, Port Arthur in Tasmania, and now the Fremantle Prison, so we are becoming experts about the lives of convicts and prisoners, their crimes, their attempts to escape, and their successes as contributing and creative members of society.

The prison was constructed as a convict gaol by prisoners in 1851 to 1859 and  in 1886 became a prison for local prisoners.There was a massive riot that ended in guards being taken hostage and a fire that caused $1.8 million damage in 1988. It was closed in 1991.There were stories of attempted escapes, but I can't really remember how many were successful - around 6 or 7 I think, if that.

In the evening we headed to the supermarket to buy some dinner, and came back to the flat and had another home cooked meal.

Tuesday March 22 – Rottnest Island

On Tuesdaywe took the Rottnest Express over to a small island off the west coast in the Indian Ocean. We had checked out a place to park and the location of the ferry the night before and headed straight there in the early morning. We parked the car and headed to the ferry terminal. It had moved! It wasn’t there! I said it was one way, Ray said it was the other way! Eventually I asked a guy on a bike, and he told us where it was. We had parked in a different car park! We couldn’t believe our stupidity!!!

Anyway, the ferry was just a passenger ferry and it sped smoothly across the water like a bullet. About 30 minutes later we arrived at Rotnest, picked up the bikes we had rented which also came across on the ferry, and rode off the jetty to explore.

The first issue I had was trying to get used to riding a bike with an extra 7 – 10 lbs on my back (my backpack with camera and lenses, swim stuff, hat, glasses, etc.). So the initial part was a little wobbly!! The bikes were aluminium and after our mountain bikes at home it felt as if we were floating above the ground as opposed to pedaling a machine on it!  I couldn’t really tell much difference between the three gears which made the uphills a little tough, but it was all good exercise!

We arrived on the island at 9:00 a.m. got a map from the Visitor’s Centre, and headed out of the busy activity area. For the rest of the day we travelled steadily along paths, or roads, that curved up and down and around the craggy coastline through the coastal heath and the constant onshore breeze. I felt good at the beginning because like seasoned runners we started into the wind believing that at the end of the day when we were heading back to the ferry the wind would be behind us; but because we are runners, we weren’t surprised when no matter which direction we cycled in, the wind was always in our face!! 

As we rode along we learned about the various shipwrecks caused by the angry ocean which had smashed the early unsuspecting ships against the rocks. One in particular, the “….”, broke its moorings in Freemantle and ended up being broken up on the rocks just off shore by Rottnest. You can still see a couple of pieces of  it close in to the shore. We saw three lighthouses, but as we headed towards the third, we decided that we were lighthoused out! There were also various pieces of art work mounted in coastal viewing areas.

The best part of the trip for us, was at the top of just about every mini-climb of our undulating road, we were faced with another brilliant view overlooking a cove or bay, filled with golden sands and rocks, and turquoise blue oceans, and flanked by the beauty of the coastal heath vegetation. Some of the coves were deserted, some had been discovered by other cyclists. One we took a swim in the ocean and relaxed on the beach in the sun while we at the packed lunch I had prepared. All took our breath away, and we just wanted to look, and look, and look some more so that the images would be etched in our memories.

Another highlight of the trip were the Quokkas. A guy I spoke to told me what they were and the story goes that when the first settlers arrived in Rottnesst, they found these little creatures and thought they looked liked rats, so they named the island Rottnest, the Aboriginal word for “little rat”. In fact the creatures are small wallabies and have the very sweet, inquisitive faces of the wallaby, and they “hop”! Despite numerous signs asking people not to feed them, they do. The only consolation is that I did read an article that said they were adapting well to their new environment of visitors and that the main threat to their existence is the lack of Aborginal burns which create the new, succulent shoots that they originally lived on. They are very brazen and come right up to you to ask for food, to investigate your back pack, and just to have a little conversation with you. Very sweet indeed.

We loved being able to ride the bikes through such amazing scenery, stopping when we wanted to admire the views and absorb the beauty  of the land and the birds and animals.

When we arrived back at the built up area, we had a coffee/tea in the Dome and relaxed for a few minutes recalling our best experiences of the ride. Then we headed to the 5:00 p.m. ferry and journey back to Fremantle. The ocean had changed; it was no long calm. The swell had built up over the day and when we started out a member of the ferry staff was positioned on each floor of the ferry and announced that the journey would be rough and to advise passengers of the location of the “sick bags”. So, the first part of the journey was lots of fun, but it soon settled down, and though admittedly the boat was travelling much slower than in the morning, the last part of the journey was reasonably smooth.

That evening, after a quick shower, we headed out to The Local Hotel for dinner.

Wednesday, March 23 – Fremantle

In the morning I spent 2 ½ hours in the hairdressers having my hair cut and the roots coloured. Then in the afternoon we washed clothes, packed, checked in, got directions for the airport, and prepared to leave our little apartment in eclectic Fremantle.

We ate dinner out and headed to bed a little earlier than usual in preparation of our early start in the morning.