Rottnest Island - Fremantle - Hot & Sunny  -   32C

Easter Sunday we had booked a trip over to Rottnest Island, an island off the coast of Fremantle.  We were picked up by the tour bus and delivered to the port.  Being Easter, the boat was full so it was pretty packed going over.  Terry was excited to find himself standing next to Alan Bond in the queue for the ferry.  (For my non-Australian readers - Alan Bond was a renouned Australian business man who backed Australia's famous win over the USA in the America's Cup in the 70's.  No country had ever beaten the Americans in 100 years so it was quite an achievement for Australia to take the cup from them.  The return challenge was held in Fremantle.  Alan Bond now lives in UK and is out here for his granson's wedding.  At one time he owned a manor house and a whole village in England.

On arrival on Rottnest we hired bikes and proceeded to cyle round the island (as instructed by James & Jody).  There are many pretty bays & harbours and some holiday accommodation.  However, no-one is allowed to live on the island unless they are employed there so there are hardly any vehicles - just a few rangers' utes and the local buses all of whom are very considerate to the numerous cyclists.  The distance around the island is 22km and IT IS NOT FLAT.  There were quite a few hills so we were very happy that we were able to complete the ride around the island as it was the middle of the day and it was 33C.



One of the Rottnest Islands beautiful coves



Taking a break from cycling



Quokka's - Rottnest's famous marsupial
we saw several of these cute animals

 

Quokka's



Terry takes a break from cycling

On my bike



We had lunch by this lake



A holiday location with holiday apartments

The Rottnest Mall



The Mall with lots of cyclists

There is some history associated with Rotto (as the locals call it).  It was of course originally inhabited by Aboriginals but later as the Port of Fremantle grew, a pilot for the numerous ships was stationed there together with some staff.  The cottages in the pictures below are where they lived.
The old church is also very different and as it was Easter Sunday when we were there, they were ringing the bells.  I was very amused at their choice ......  Jingle Bells!!!   I think someone has a sense of humour.


The Church

The Ships Pilot Cottage



Old Cottage

The pub is lovely - it must have been recently renovated.  We really enjoyed a couple of cold drinks after our ride.  The bouncer on the door admitted that he was doing his best to make me feel good when he asked me for ID!!! 

Terry enjoying a cold drink at the pub
after the ride around the island 

At 4pm we caught the boat back to Fremantle - not so crowded this time.  We were glad to have a comfy seat on which to rest our sore bums!

Tomorrow we leave Fremantle & Perth to travel north.  We will now be travelling towards the remote areas of WA so phone & internet may be spasmodic.  Keep your fingers crossed for us. 

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A  BIT OF USELESS BUT QUITE INTERESTING  INFORMATION:

Distances as the crow flies:

Perth to Brisbane                             3664km  (2240 miles)
Perth to Bali (Indonesia)                 3011km (1871 miles)
Perth to Singapore                           3911km (2430 miles)
Perth to Sydney                               3292km (2045 miles)

So we are at this moment, closer to Asia than to our home in Queensland and are now heading north  along the West Australian coast beside the Indian Ocean and it is getting warmer every day!

Fremantle -  Cottesloe Beach / Perth.  Hot and sunny - Blue skies - Temps in the high 20'sC.

We enjoyed an early morning bike ride into Fremantle.  The bike paths are excellent and take you right to the park on the front by the railway station.

After that we spent the morning on beautiful Cottesloe Beach.  The sea was clear and sparkling and the white sands were very inviting.

Cottesloe Beach

Cottesloe Beach

Sundial

Unusual coloured parrot

Perth CBD - the prominent high-rise
is the BHP Billiton building

After lunch we headed back into Perth as we wanted to explore the renowned Kings Park.  In 1972 we spent our last day in Perth in this park before catching the train to travel east.  We had to deliver our car to the train station for loading in the morning but passengers didn't board until late afternoon.  It was very hot 105F and the boys were little (4 & 2) so we spent the day under the trees by a tap!!  Terry remembers spraying the boys with water to keep them cool.

The views below of Perth and the beautiful Swan River are taken from Kings Park.........



View of Perth from the left



View of Perth centre

 

 

View of Perth right with bridge to South Perth

 

Kings Park in Perth

 

Kings Park

 

Kings Park

Terry admires the Black Boy Plants in the Park





 

These plants can often be seen out in the bush but a licence is required to export them overseas.  We know someone who exports them to various countries and has even provided some to Le Louvre.

 

 





War Memorial in Kings Park
(Terry)



 

 

 

 

 In the evening we went into Fremantle for dinner at a fish restaurant on the front.  We also walked through the famous "cappuccino strip".  Fremantle came of age after it became the first location to hold the Americas Cup outside the USA for the rematch after Australia became the first country to take the Cup from the Americans the previous year.

 

Fremantle Cappuccino Strip
(for Jacqui)

Fremantle -  (Visited Rockingham) - Another sunny warm day - Temps in mid 20's

Spent the morning catching up on chores & paperwork (bills still have to be paid).  We then headed south to have a look at Rockingham.  Rockingham is home to a Naval Base and ship-building is an important industry there.  We saw a large boat being built for Customs.  It is also a big export port for grain etc with large loading facilities.




Spinning Ball on water
Rockingham Esplanade

Rockingham Esplanade

Jolly Jollopies

The beach is lovely and there are some beautiful views from the cliffs to Penguin Island.

 

View to Penguin Island

 

Rockingham



The bridge across to the Naval Base

Ship-building

The area is also benefiting from the mining boom with new estates filled with huge luxury homes - road after road of them!

New homes

Another large new house

Fremantle / Perth  -  Much warmer today - sunny and hot - 27C

We caught a train from Fremantle Station to the centre of Perth.  Perth is the state capital of Western Australia.  We were very impressed by this town - they have balanced old and new buildings perfectly in this city.  The centre of the city has two wide malls with street entertainers everywhere.  The shops are new and varied.  The lady at the Information Centre was friendly and very helpful.  On her advice, we caught a Red Cat.  There are 3 different loop bus routes around the city - the Red Cat, Blue Cat and Yellow Cat.  (There is soon to be a 4th one - a Green Cat). These are all free as are the normal city buses!  You can hop on & off wherever you like and they run every few minutes.  So with these buses we managed to have a look at most of the city returning to where we started. In between we took the ferry from Barrack Square across to South Perth.  (The train, ferry and buses to & from the station in Fremantly were all covered by a $4.40 TransPerth day ticket - excellent value   (for the Poms that is about 1.9 pounds sterling) even Stevo couldn't complain about that!!!

Perth has both Old & New Buildings

London Court - Built in 1937

We remember walking through here when we first arrived in Perth in 1972.  We were only in Perth for a month before travelling across Australia to the east but we remember it well and it has grown so much since then.  It was only a small town back then.

Lin at the entrance to London Court

 

There are many bronze statues around Perth.  The ones below represent the business man through the ages and are especially interesting.

 

 

 

Businessmen through the ages with the modern one in front

 

The earliest businessman - at the back of the pic above



 

South Perth - across the Swan River from Perth city



A Pub in South Perth

Perth City taken from across the Swan River

The ferry coming to take us back to Perth

The Bell Tower located in Barrack Square
beside the Swan River

The Bell Tower is one of the world's biggest instruments.  It is 82.5m high.  It houses the Bells of St Martin-in-the-Field.  These bells together with 5 specially cast bells were presented to WA to commemorate Australia's bicentenary.  There are galleries from which the bell-ringers can be viewed.

One of the Perth Malls - late arvo

A Bronze Statue in the Mall

A quick trip back to Fremantle on TransPerth's efficient rail system after a great day in a great city.

I have to add here that the mining boom is apparent everywhere here.  Money from mining is everywhere especially apparent in the high numbers of large, new, luxury homes being built.