Perth area

April 5-10 Perth/Fremantle Area


April 5

Well our first stand-by flight using Jermey's pass went without a hitch and we arrived in Perth after a somewhat short 5 1/2 hour flight. Kim and Sue met us at the airport and we were on our way. If you don't remember who Kim, Sue and Hanna Cauchi are, we met them in Fredericton through Angela and Monique. They lived in F'ton for almost 3 years before heading back this way.

Since it was Easter Monday there was no traffic on the streets of Perth, so they showed us around a bit. Perth is a big city compared to F'ton but pretty small compared to others we have recently been to. The population is about 1 1/2 million. There is lots of green space and water, much like many other Australian cities.

Then we were off to their house which is actually in the Fremantle area but it is still connected to Perth city. Fremantle is a port city, which is still pretty active. All the buildings in the shopping area have pretty much kept the original fronts so it looks like something out of a movie set. Actually some parts look like you are walking in New Orleans.

It just so happened that Kim and Sue already had some F'ton guests who were just on their way out. Talk about a B & B! (Do any of you know Bob and Carol Gamble?) Just after we freshened up, all us Canadians and our hosts headed into Freo (what they call Fremantle) for a look around. Hanna, their daughter, is at work so we go and surprise her. Afterwards we just walk around checking out the markets and shops. We ended our first day at one of the MANY coffee shops. Freo is known for its wonderful coffee shops.

April 6

Tuesday morning, Sue and Jessie (their friendly dog) showed us around the river and yacht club, which is a short drive from their house. We walked the river walkway and then on beaches and in the water (the river is tidal, so really it is not so much a river as an estuary).

Later in the day Sue's friend arrived with her Mom and Aunt (from England) and we just spent the afternoon chatting and eating under the sun shelter in the back yard. The ladies left about 4:00 and then we had to zoom off and do some shopping before meeting Hanna and Kim for dinner after work. Since it was Tuesday, the local Mexician restaurant had 1/2 price on nachos . Normally, they are over $20.00 so we "partake in the Mexician pig fest" along with a very large mango margarita, which 4 of us shared. Hanna's boyfriend, Klye, joined us too. After dinner the 'youngins' split and the 4 of us just have a nice stroll around town and the water front. What a wonderful night for a stroll it was. The breeze is blowing, a bit cool, but still real nice. A great way to end our first full day in the area.

April 7

Today was our first day on our own and we grabbed a bus down to Freo. It was great just walking around, checking the place out and doing a bit of shopping. We made it to the Round House for the 1:00 gun ceremony. Years ago they used a 1:00 o'clock cannon blast to help ship captains syncronise their time/direction devices. Today it is more of a tourist attaction. Afterwards we had fish 'n chips at the "best fish 'n chips" place in Western Australia (voted on by someone, not sure who). They were pretty good but we have had better in Canada (now we had to say that). However, as we looked around the dock area we see a lot of places have signs about the best fish 'n chips. Mind you that must have been certain years. The wonderful thing about the shop we decided to eat at, it has large aquariums. It was like swimming on the reef and NO they don't make their fish 'n chips from stuff they get out of their aquariums :) Well, we don't think so anyway! We just spend the rest of the day sightseeing and checking out Fremantle.

We get on the bus before it gets too dark since we don't really know where we are staying. Okay, we have no idea of the address other than a map with a dot where we kind of are staying. Anyway, we make it back without much effort.

April 8

The morning started early for two guys on a vacation... we are in the car before 7:00. Kim drove us into Perth so that we could catch the tour pickup bus. We drive about 1 hour to Rockingham to begin our day touring the ocean park and Penquin Island.

Our first tour is a 2 hour boat ride to watch dolphins. It didn't take us more than 20 minutes and we were in with the dolphins. At first there were only 2 but by the end there were more than a dozen. They are such amazing animals! It was pretty cool to see them play behind the waves the boat made.

After the dolphin spotting, the tour drops us off on Penquin Island. It is pretty easy to figure out what is on this island. See Australia just so happens to have one of the rare penquins that is not freezing its butt off in some snow drift. These Ferry Penquins stand about the height of a big bottle of ketchup when they are full grown. They are the cutest little things and have such personalities.

Most of the island is covered with birds and many are nesting. This includes the pelican, gulls, terns and cormorants. To protect and keep the birds from being disturbed the island has a mostly wooden trail system and many signs asking folks to stay on them. If you are a bird lover this is for sure the place to come. If the smell of bird crap is not for you, well then you might not enjoy it... or just stay on the windy side of the island.

The next part of this trip was the tour around Sea Lion Island. Again it is pretty easy to tell what is on this island. We only saw 3 sea lions because it is mating season and well many are off doing just that. The captain said that these 3 were probably old, sick or just lazy. We had a good laugh at that. It was nice to see them just lazying around on the beach like Canadians downsouth on the March break.

After the tour of the sea lions we were back on Penquin Island for the rest of the afternoon where we just relaxed and took in the sights, sounds and SMELLS.

The tour bus dropped us back into Perth around 5:00 and we ended up taking the train back into Fremantle. This was the first time on their train system but it seemed to work great. The bus this time... not so great. We arrived at our bus stop and had to wait about 15 minutes. It is starting to get dark and colder. See this is their early fall, and of course, the Canadian boys are in shorts and t-shirts. A bus pulled into the bay area but it wasn't ours but the stupid bus driver didn't change the number on the bus so when he stopped at our stop, no one got on. As he was pulling away we noticed our bus number on the side of the bus. There were a few folks who got really pissed off since we all now had to wait another 30 minutes to get the next bus. Oh well what can one do... we just took a breath and waited for the next one.

April 9

We were on the road pretty early again this morning to catch the high speed ferry to Rottnest Island. The Island is about 30 minutes ride on this catamaran ferry that travels about 70 km/hr (land speed). The claim to fame about this island is the Quokka. These little kangaroo looking creatures are so small that originally they were thought to be big rats. You will see by the pictures that they somewhat do look like a rat. When we first spotted them we thought they were shy creatures but I guess with all the folks visiting the island they are not so shy anymore.

We arrived on the island about 10:00 a.m. and had a coffee and decide what we wanted to do. Oh, the other cool thing about this island is that there are no cars allowed, only pedal bikes. So we got our rented mask/snorkles and bikes and headed off for a leg powered sightseeing trip around the island. Since the island is about 28 km round trip and we didn't want to spend all day paddling, we just did about 15 km or so. You can see by the pictures that this island is a special place and you have not seen Australia if you have not come to Rottnest Island. The coves with its white sand and clear water is some of the best we have ever seen. The new motto for Western Australia should be "The Hell with The Great Barrier Reef! Come to Rottnest Island" We take our time since there are many small hills and sea breezes and try to stop and enjoy the views around pretty much every corner. We come to this one spot where the view is great but the Quokkas are even better. Here they are so use to humans that they come out to meet us. There is a rule about not feeding the wildlife because human food is not healthy for them. However, it seems you are free to water them. It is pretty dry around and we are not sure where they get their water but still they very much enjoy ours. It takes them no time to be licking out of our hands. They are so gentle when they are doing it. Their little tongues licking the water up. You wouldn't believe how soft they are (the fur not their tonque but they are soft too). It is like a back of a cat's ear. As much as we didn't want to leave this experience, we knew we must since the rest of the island is calling.

The rest of the day is spent on the bike sightseeing and on the beaches walking. After we return to the ferry area (the main part of the island) we have a quick lunch and then get back on our bikes and head for a short ride to The Basin Beach where 3 of us head into the water while Sue watches over our stuff. The water is clear and amazing but I guess we are growing Aussie skin since we thought it was coldish. Before we knew it our time was up and we needed to head back to the ferry and hand in our rented stuff and head back to the mainland.

As you might imagine all that paddling, sun and fresh air has pretty much wiped us out so when Kim arrives from work we had pretty much decided we were going out for dinner. Besides it is Friday night and that is normally our custom in Fredericton. We have a nice dinner out in Freo and then crash fast. Sleep, oh sweet sleep!

April 10

Our last full day finds us on a family road trip. Since Hanna is in her first stage of her driving (they get their full driving license here in stages) she is required to have a minimum of 25 hours of driving over 6 months. So she is the driver for the 2 hour highway part of the trip. She does an amazing job for being on a highway and having her parents and two Canadians in the car. How is that for a bit of stress? The drive takes us out to the country where one can see wonderful rolling hills and cattle. We even drove through 2 communities whose names are familiar to both of us. They are called "Brunswick" and "Harvey", believe it or not. The drive also takes us out to one of the wine regions, Ferqurson Valley. We stop at a few spots and try the wonderful wines. Most of us Canadians know how good Aussie wines can be. We have a wonderful lunch at one of wine tasting shops and continue on our way. We ended up taking this back road that looked more like a road in a field but as you know you should never just stick to the easy route in life because sometimes the harder route pays off more. Not too long in, we spot a pretty large "herd"of kangaroos. This is pretty exciting for us. After some pictures, we continue on our way and then we spot some that are even closer and one pretty much jumps across the front of the SUV. Ah to spot the Australian mascot in the wild!

It is now getting on to mid afternoon and we are about 3 hours from home, so we decide it is time to head back. However, there is one spot on the way back that the lady at the tourist information centre says we MUST do. So who are we to not take advise of the locals... Gnomeville here we come. Now this place is as bizarre as they come. How it ever got started is a good question. This is a 'community' of gnomes. Yes, your regular variey of garden gnomes. Some clustered in families, others placed everywhere. Some had signs explaining there existance. Go figure! We walked around and laughed (in a quiet way, since it almost seemed like a grave yard and one had to be respectful).

The drive back seemed to come by pretty fast (with one stop for some lollies - "candy"). The sun had almost set when we returned to the house. We packed up our suitcases while Hanna and Sue got another wonderful meal ready. Kim is a lucky guy with such great cooks in the house! We ate like we were at one of the finest restaurants around. Thanks for the DELICIOUS meals, girls!

April 11

Our time in Perth/Fremantle has come to an end. A week has just touched a small portion of what we could have done, however, it leaves it open for our return one day.

We say good-bye to Hanna and the dog, Jessie, and Sue and Kim drive us to the airport for our 4 hour trip back to Brisbane (faster on the way back). It is always hard to say good-bye to good friends when we live so far apart.

Kim, Sue and Hanna... we want to thank you so much for your hospitality and for making our stay in "your neck of the woods" so memorable! We hope you can return to Canada soon.

Our flight back to Brisbane went as planned and Angela and Monique picked us up at the airport and whisked us off to this WONDERFUL dessert place. Afterwards we did a bit of walking around and then headed back to their house to unpack and repack again, since we fly off to Bali, Indonesia for 5 days. Now we were not sure about this until we arrived back in Brisbane and spoke with Jeremy. So with a bit of planning we are on our way again.

For those of you who have missed the blog entry of April 1-5 we have started a little game. You should read that blog to get the rules/idea before starting the next clue.



Clue number 2

In 1983, what city in Western Australia starting with F, after 132 years, won this nautical challenge?

Take the 3rd and 4th letters of this city and save them for a word that is to come.
 

A view of Perth

(below Canadians and Aussie coffee break)

Fremantle

Quokka

Our first steps in the Indian Ocean

Wine tasting

The Gnomeville Park

Wild Kangeroos

Some of the sites below the water at the Basin