Perth WA 02 – 03 Feb, 2016

OMG!!,  we are in Australia and that feels like an achievement in itself, having gone this far around the world to get here! Not that we saw much of Perth when we landed, just after midnight at the city’s airport.

Our maiden flight with Quantas (from Singapore) was just over five hours and was a very nice experience (it did seem weird to me that all the crew had Australian accents for some reason tho).

Still the Jet lag plays havoc with our sleep pattern and it was a fairly restless night that was ended with the sun shining through the hotel window from a bright blue sky when we could finally say “Good Morning Perth”

A stroll around this chilled City was the first order of the day. Many of the old traditional buildings still stand in the front drop on the high rise offices. All being used for some purpose, these are beautiful buildings. Half a dozen office blocks dominate the skyline at the bottom of town and the new Elizabeth Quay had just been opened a couple of days before in the harbour area.

This is not a large & overcrowded city, quite the opposite in fact. It’s a fairly quiet, compact and relaxed place under a canopy of blue. Using the free bus system in the city, we headed up to the impressive Kings Park and Botanical Gardens in the afternoon. A beautiful place to chill with acres of manicured grassland, trees, flora and fauna.

Tall white trunk trees planted in 1929 line the roads to the main entrance but you can wander into Kings Park anywhere from the side of the road. The Park also contains the cenotaph of Western Australia.

Sitting in the warm sunshine and beautiful surroundings waiting for the bus back, the thought stuck me that this is not what it is like waiting for a bus on a February afternoon in London.

A nice breeze the temperature is just right all day and ideal for an early evening pint at ‘The Lucky Shag’ a waterfront bar, which was buzzing by 5pm!

Elizabeth (not Queen) Quay sounds like it has been under construction for sometime, many locals seemed surprised by the fact that it had actually opened! A wide open space with artworks, a tower, a double bridge, sculptures and fountains. More food and bars on the way, this should be a nice spot for the locals to meet up for a while to come.

We ended the evening with a very decent steak and Australia Day 1 was complete. Impressed!

Wednesday 3rd Feb we decided to head to Rottnest Island, a 2 hour boat ride from Perth via Freemantle. A major conservation site the 7.3 Sq Mile island was the sole supplier of salt to WA for sometime, it was used for gun emplacements in the Second World War and has a long shipwreck history. 2 Lighthouse’s are on the island today.

We hired bikes so ended up with 5 hours to ride round the island and settlements, get lunch and have a swim before heading back.

This is a wonderful island and great for a bike ride. No traffic apart for a few service vehicles and the island bus, the place just has people riding around on their hire bikes.

Saw one guy approaching me on the opposite side of the road put both legs in the air suddenly … as he ran over a snake and a Peacock swiped the end of my ice cream cone ( I had left on the bench seat). One of main island inhabitants is the Quokka. This looks a bit like a kangaroo but is the size of a domestic cat. They are not dangerous and are often seen searching for crumbs where humans congregate.

At the Geordie Bay food-stop we pulled over for lunch. I went to the Men’s cubicle to change swimming shorts for normal shorts, only to find a Quokka sitting on the floor of the cubicle. I left my swimming shorts on!!

Most of our ride is posted on Strava which shows 10.8 miles and some (small) hills. Well done Julie!

Perth did not ever seem that busy after 8pm. What restaurants that were open, were not busy and the choice of somewhere to eat after 9ish was very limited. Whether most people eat in the hotels or we were in the wrong part of town (there was a murder the night before in the city) I’m not sure but, the food budget is back on track after Tuesday’s steak with Wednesday’s McDonalds and more ‘hanging with the (travelling) kids’.

4 Feb: It’s off to Base Camp today (yes I saw Everest on the flight to Perth) Fiona and Mike are kindly letting us stay with them before we head off on Road Trip No.1 on Friday, north up the Coral Road.

Pete