Just to finish off yesterday ..after our lovely trip out, we had dinner at 47 Degrees..the main waiter service restaurant. Then we met up with Shami and Jo for the 80’s music quiz where we scored a magnificent 21/21. I made a fine contribution with my obscure answers of T’pau and J Giles Band. Hurrah but unfortunately we lost out on the tie breaker question. We had planned to go to Karaoke later but somehow the girls persuaded us to go to see the ‘Truly Lionel’ show which featured a Lionel Ritchie tribute act. The place was absolutely packed by the time we got there and he was actually very good. We loved Mark’s video tribute to his Mum as he sang ‘Hello’. By the end Jane was Lionel’s number 1 fan up and dancing the night away. Another great night!
Waking up the next day we had our first Day at Sea whilst we sailed along to our next stop, Aruba. In the morning Captain Freddie announced a change to our itinerary due to bad weather (wind). We can no longer visit Curacao but instead we will be stopping at St Vincent and they swapped around our next day at sea. They’ve quickly sorted loads of activities for us to choose from so you really can’t fault it!
So whilst we’re having a lazy day at sea spent sunbathing on Deck 10 with the hordes, let’s talk about the ‘other people’ (OPs). I think a lot of people are put off cruising because of the presence of OPs on the ship. The thought of being confined at sea with 1000’s of them is indeed a worry.
By comparison the current biggest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s ‘Icon of the Seas’, has:
20 Decks, 7600 passengers, 2350 crew, 20 restaurants, 20 bars, 7 pools and 6 water slides. It is taller than the Eiffel Tower and is for no apparent reason, sponsored by Lionel Messi!
So we are relatively small but what’s it actually like? I must admit it is a little daunting especially today on the pool and sunbathing decks. By 7-30am, when we went to nab our sun beds with towels before breakfast, the place was already packed with sunbathing beauties toe to toe. Yes…you can nab your sunbed and I was quite proud that when we got back I had received a ‘Sunbed Parking ticket!
Once you’re on your sunbed and staring out to sea , it’s not so bad but it was very noisy – even though everyone’s pretty chilled. Elsewhere on ship the restaurants nearly always allow you to sit immediately or after a short wait with a buzzer. Bar service can be a bit random and slow. Trips off ship divide us up into smaller groups and there are plenty of areas to find a bit of quiet. We rarely seem to see the same people twice. That chap I chatted to on the plane? Well after an encounter in the lift on day 1 ,I’ve never seen him again.
OPs are generally v nice and friendly but we’re glad that the main restaurant no longer insists on you sitting at big round tables with randoms! Instead they do a great job of getting tables for your group size. Much better.
Now, if they could just stop making constant loud speaker announcements round the pool about what’s on offer in the shops or spa, that’d be perfect.
Well, before we get to St Lucia, we need to talk about the Silent Disco. This is a thing that’s been on my bucket list and finally we got to give it a go. So we were in the Squid and Anchor bar with about 50 other people and we all had our headsets on. This was a competitive Silent Disco with two channels to choose from Red or Blue. I think it was meant to be something like UK vs The Rest of the World. Who knows but it was far from silent as we all sang along to the epic tunes on our chosen channel with the two DJs encouraging each team to be louder than the other! We had a great time with Shami and Jo singing loudly and dancing the night away. It was hard to know whether the swaying was a result of the ship moving or something else but at least Jo said it wasn’t just me.
I had a good nights sleep again but we had to be up at 6-30am and by the time we went to breakfast we’d already docked in Castries, St Lucia. Our trip today was a 6 hours trip on a catamaran to Pigeon Island and then the famous Pitons. This would be another big bucket list tick for me. There was a bit of phaffing about whilst they got us organised and then we just walked a short distance along the dock to our beautiful, huge catamaran called Carnival of the Seas. On board there was plenty of space for the 50 or so people taking the trip and we wisely chose to sit in the shade. The crew were introduced by Samantha the tour guide and they were all lovely and friendly and helpful all day.
We set sail along the west coast of the island upto Pigeon Island National Landmark. St Lucia did not disappoint with its lush tropical vegetation, mountainous backdrop and beautiful blue waters. Pigeon Island is a fortified rocky outcrop right at the top of the island. It’s famous for being the site of the battle between the French and the British who swapped the control of the island 14 times between the mid 1600s and early 1800s. There is a lovely park where the St Lucia Jazz Festival takes place and there are a couple of gorgeous sandy coves with turquoise waters.
But this morning we fancied a hike so we made our way to the fortifications at the top of Pigeon Island. It was a steep and hot climb but the 360 degree views were well worth the effort. There was no time for a swim as when we got back it was time to get back on board.
Now we turned round and sailed south again and as we did they announced that it was time for lunch. It was only 11am but as soon as they put a big bowl of salad on the table, the whole boatful of starving wretches jumped up and formed a disorderly queue. It was like some sort of feeding frenzy and Jane and I watched agog as the queue went twice round the boat and out onto the sunbathing nets . How come these people were so keen to eat? Was it because:
A) it was at least 2 hours since they’d eaten their full English breakfasts?
B) they’d read on Trip Advisor that the Cajun Chicken legs were likely to run out
C) they were all very keen snorkellers who wanted to fully digest their food before our next swim stop?
Who knows but eventually the crew got everyone organised and fed the starving masses. Jane and I meanwhile sat patiently and waited for the queue to shrink. Lunch was in fact very good and Jane particularly enjoyed her Bob Marley Fish!! Or was it Mahi Mahi that the lady said?!
After lunch we sailed a bit further and pulled into another tropical sandy cove where we could snorkel. It was called the Bay of Pigs but not THE Bay of Pigs. It seemed appropriate after the lunchtime feeding frenzy. Jane obviously did not partake in this activity after her recent history but I gave it a little go. It was a-bit crowded but I saw some nice coral on the huge boulders and a few fish. We only had about 30mins but it just wasn’t the same without Jane and her wonderment at the underwater world.
Now we’d finished snorkelling it was time for Ruby to serve the rum punch as we sailed along until we got the classic side by side view of the Pitons. These are ancient Volcanic plugs and truly impressive. We didn’t really get as close as I would have liked but I managed to do a little sketch.
On our way back we took a little detour into Marigot Bay. This was an absolutely stunning inlet with deep emerald green waters, white sand coves with colourful saily boats and skinny palm trees. Wow…now here’s a place we could return to!
We sailed back to Castries listening to gentle reggae music and drinking a few more rum punches! What a superb day it had been and it was only 3-30pm with the rest of the evening yet to come….
On boardPigeon ParkPigeon Peak viewSnorkel spotThe PitonsMarigot BayOur lovely crew
At some point during the evening I am pleased to report that our suitcases did get delivered to our room. This meant that we could properly make ourselves at home including fixing our specially purchased magnetic hooks to the wall. This was a great tip from my lovely friend Sarah who had done this trip in the past. Unfortunately I’d purchased super strong magnets which meant that basically once they’d stuck to each other they’re virtually impossible to separate. However, they’re now doing a great job of holding up my hat and dressing gown.
Anyway…once we’d unpacked we had a reasonable nights sleep before waking up with the alarm at 6-30am. This may seem a little early (it is) but the trips ashore all start at about 8-30 to 9 so in order to be ready this is what’s required. We had breakfast back in the Islands Restaurant and then made our way off the ship and along the pier. Here we were greeted by the steel band and lots of people waiting for our various trips. Today we’d selected the Grenada Heritage tour. This involved us getting on a small traditional bus with wooden seats and open sides. We had a lovely lady tour guide who gave us interesting information about the island as we drove along. We started in St George’s weaving our way slowly through the narrow and steep streets. It was really colourful especially as the next day was Independence Day. In 1974 Grenada became independent from the UK and today they celebrate by covering everything, including themselves, in the islands colours of red, green and yellow. There were lots of interesting little stores with amazing colourful signs and it was very busy.
Once we left the town we wound our way up the mountainside through lush vegetation and colourful houses. There were plenty of roosters and a few goats to be seen along the way. At the top we made it to Fort Frederick which had 360 degree views back down to the port and our ship and over to the rainforest behind us. Our guide explained a little about the politics of the island. Basically after independence some friends from Aruba came over and decided they’d run the country. But they fell out and ended up having a bloody massacre in 1983 which then led to Ronald Reagan sending US troops in to stop the chaos. I couldn’t quite follow what happened next but by all accounts it didn’t go terribly well and our guide said that to this day, whilst it’s peaceful, lots of people are still afraid to talk about what happened. I’d thought it strange that, as we arrived at the fort, there was a lady with a rifle hanging casually over her shoulder. She didn’t seem to be wearing a uniform but it seemed a bit heavy handed for a parking attendant.
Next we continued our drive through the countryside. Stopping every now and then to look at a particular tree or other. Breadfruit, mango, avocado, nutmeg, cocoa and Akee. We passed the locals favourite beach which had beautiful milky turquoise waters and we stopped in a lovely park overlooking this where we got ripped off for $10 US for a couple of ice creams. But they were very welcome in the heat and mine was a particularly pleasing blue colour and Cotton Candy flavour.
Next stop was Grand Anse Beach. This is a spectacular stretch of beach with beautiful warm water and soft white sand. We sat in the shade of the palm and sea-grape trees drinking a Carib Beer. Stunning. We chatted to our new friends Shami and Jo who are sisters from Birmingham and the hour soon disappeared but it was lovely.
After this we joined the total gridlock on the way back to the port. We boarded the ship and spent the afternoon on the pool deck. I’m not a fan…it’s too busy and too noisy but at least we got sun beds (there are plenty) and discovered the indoor pool in the Glass House. This is a lovely cool and refreshing pool and very quiet. Hurrah.
Jane was intrigued by the fact that even this area had a restaurant offering. There is food on offer EVERYWHERE it’s really quite incredible.
In the evening it was the ‘Dress to Impress’ night so we did get all dressed up and gathered in the Atrium to watch the Captain introduce his crew leads. We met up with Jo and Shami and had dinner in the formal main dining area. We had a lovely evening getting to know them and as they are now our new best friends, we finished the evening off by going to the Silent Disco….but that’s another story….
Steel band welcomeFort Frederick viewBlue Cotton Candy ice creamVery Grand Anse BeachDon’t park thereLoiteringWeird stuffNot so silent disco!
Long before blogging was a thing, we went on our first and only cruise. For Jane’s 50th we went on a Thomson’s Red Sea Cruise with Joyce and Enid. We all really enjoyed it but for one reason and another, have not been on a cruise since.
Well, about 3 weeks ago we got fed up of the UKs miserable weather and booked ourselves onto a Marella Caribbean cruise. To be honest, we’d been keeping an eye out for some time, hoping the prices would come down. They didn’t but when I spotted that we could go on a 2 weeks cruise for less than just one of the weeks, it was a no brainer. So here we are!
The trip consists of two separate cruise itineraries joined together. Exotic Islands and then Coconuts and Cocktails or something like that. I’ve had Antigua and St Lucia on my ‘travel wish lists’ for many years and this combined tour ticks off both!
After a very easy 9 hour flight from Birmingham we arrived in Bridgetown, Barbados. We left behind the cold and wet and arrive to sun and blue, slightly cloudy skies and 28 degrees heat. Gorgeous. We loved the fact that a bus picked us up at the bottom of the airplane steps and then drove out of the airport straight to the docks. No need to enter the airport at all! The drive through Bridgetown was busy and colourful especially as it was the end of the school day.
The ship is called Discovery 2 and it’s bigger than the last ship we cruised on but not one of those floating megalopolis. Once on board we found our cabin 6533 which is an inside cabin but really very acceptable. When you’ve been staying in a campervan, everything is spacious in comparison and so much storage space! Our luggage hadn’t yet arrived so we soon set about exploring the ship. We visited the Atrium bar and sat outside looking at the docks and then wandered upto level 9 and the main pool area where the 6 Nation’s rugby was being shown on the big screen. We then had dinner in the fabulous Islands buffet restaurant with views of the sun setting as another huge cruise ship set off. We then went back to our room to check on luggage (nothing) but were handed our first copy of ‘Cruise News’ the daily update on what’s happening across the ship, I remembered this from our last cruise and I was very excited to see that they hadn’t gone digital!
This then led us to the rest of our evenings entertainment. A music quiz in the very pleasant ‘Squid and Anchor’ bar which is not at all as naff as the name might suggest. Then we went to check out the show lounge and their Country Music night which was really very good. Bless them all. We round off the night by poking our noses upstairs at the pool area where a local reggae band were playing at our Sail Off party. I think we’re going to enjoy this…..
Our last trip in the Hop on Hop Off Uber was the next day (Sunday). We’d done our packing and had to check out of the hotel at 11am. Our flight wasn’t until later in the afternoon so we had time for one more stop. One of the most visited attractions in Perth is the historic Perth Mint and it looked an interesting place to spend our last morning.
It was another very hot and sunny day and we waited for the start of our tour in the shady courtyard. I managed to blag a copy of the kids quiz which featured multiple guess scratch off answers! We decided to listen to the tour first and then see what we had learned.
The tour was very good and we learned about the history of the place as well as getting to gaze upon and even handle plenty of gold! The Mint was established in the 1890s as a subsidiary of the Royal Mint in the UK. The population of Western Australia was growing very rapidly due to the discovery of gold at Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and Murchison. The Mint produced coins for the growing colony as well as being the place that miners brought their raw gold to be turned into coins and bullion. We handled huge replicas of some of the most famous gold nuggets including ‘Welcome Stranger’. This is the biggest gold nugget ever discovered and was found by two Cornish Miners in Victoria, Australia in 1869. It weighed 72 kg or 192 pounds. The miners were paid £9381 for it back in the day but at 2019 gold prices it would be worth £2.3million. The plastic version I handled weighed slightly less and was worth about £2.34
Once in the Mint itself we wandered freely around the exhibition which had real gold and silver nuggets on display. It also held the 1 tonne record breaking coin. This didn’t look real but is made of 99.9% pure gold with a lovely bouncing kangaroo on it. Its face value is Aus $1 million. We enjoyed standing on the scales and having our ‘Weight in Gold’ recorded and then also trying to lift the real gold ingot. This weighs 400 ounces and is totally enclosed so that, even if you can lift it, you can’t scarper with it. Bad luck thieving Brummies!
The final stage and indeed highlight of the visit was watching the ‘gold pour’! This is where we got to sit where the furnaces are and watch our guide as she got dressed up in all sorts of PPE and poured the molten gold out of the ‘Crucible’ pot and into the Ingot mould. This was all very dramatic and done in the dark.
We bought some souvenir gifts in the shop and then made our way back to the hotel where we had a bit of time by the lovely pool and then got changed ready for our flight. We got another Uber to the airport where the Qantas lady was able to resolve the issue we’d had with our seats so that we could sit together on the way home. Phew. Now we just needed to relax so it was a bit unnerving when the very loud alarms went off when we were part way through security. The tannoys said that there was a ‘security breach which was currently bring investigated’. It kept saying this over and over again v loudly. The staff went into lockdown mode and we were asked to stay where we were. It felt as if there might be a terrorist on the loose but the security lady said it was more likely to be someone vaping in the toilets.
Eventually, we were allowed to go and made our way through to the Gate with Jane in her wheelchair. Unfortunately, the retail experience through here was very poor so my plans for last minute purchases were made impossible.
Once on the plane we settled in for the 17+ hour flight home. Very little sleep was had by either of us but all in all , it wasn’t too bad. We arrived back at Heathrow at 5am and I was very glad when our lovely taxi driver, Luke, came to pick us up and drive us home.
I think it will take me some time to process my feelings about the whole trip, the ups and downs but my overall sense is of a new respect for the vastness of this country and a love of its people, animals and strangely -trees. As we were driving to the airport in Perth I saw a sign with a helicopter (rescue) on it and the words ‘Help. It’s what Australians do’. How true that is.
Well that’s all very nice but I must say I feel very relieved to be home with Jane, safely in one piece. I always knew that Australia is basically out to get you ever since reading Bill Bryson’s book ‘Down Under’. So let’s leave things with the words of Bill Bryson-
Australia: It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world’s ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures – the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish – are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. … If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It’s a tough place.” 😳🫣😀
Now we’re really thankful that we made it back!
Welcome StrangerGolden Nuggets1 Tonne CoinPure GoldMade at Perth MintThieving BrummieWorth my weightGold PourOne she made earlierCool poolAustralia: it’s out to get you.
Sunday would be our last full day in Perth and we had considered getting on the Hop on Hop off Bus. However, in the end we decided that there were three main ‘stops’ that we wanted to spend our time at so we’d just hop about by Uber instead. We actually woke up to some cloud today and temperatures of a mere 28 degrees.
Our first stop was to return to the Bell Tower at Elizabeth Quay. It is a very modern structure made with copper and lots of glass. The lady on reception told us we were in luck as the bellringers would be doing there thing today between 12 noon and 1pm. The bell tower includes the 12 bells of St Martin’s in the Field, Trafalgar Square London and these form part of a 16 bell peel with two extra chromatic notes. They are the second largest set of change ringing bells in the world. The bells from London were rescued from being scrapped in 1988 and donated to Western Australia in exchange for the metals for new bells to be made for St Martins in the Field.
In addition,there is one absolutely enormous bell called the ANZAC Bell. It’s made of gold, copper and tin and is the largest swinging bell in Australia. We visited the 5th Floor of the Bell Tower in time to see this being rung at midday. Luckily our ears were protected by the glass encasing it!
Next we went down to level 4 where you could see all the 16 bells ringing as the Bellringers began to do there thing. The sound brought back memories of royal weddings and other events back in London.
There was lots of information on the wall about the bells including a note of the inscriptions in each. I was doing a bit of sketching whilst listening to the bells when this older gentleman, approached and made a comment about the bells. Somehow, I got chatting to him and he introduced himself. It turned out that he was the main man behind the whole initiative to bring the bells over to Perth. He was here visiting with his son and family and his name was Laith Reynolds. He asked where Jane and I came from and when we told him he said that he’d lived in Burford (Cotswolds) for many years and had just sold his house there! Next thing you know, Laith invited us to join him and his family for a behind the scenes view of the bellringers! Of course we were up for this! So down we went to the 2nd level and into the bellringing chamber where there were eight people holding onto the ropes. We had to be absolutely silent and if anyone asked, we were members of Laith’s family! Laith is massively keen on everything related to bellringing- hence his passion for saving these bells.
Afterwards we felt very privileged to have been allowed into the inner sanctum. But more than this- to have met Laith. I Googled him later and found that he’s an incredible chap. He was a fine example of the Australian Entrepreneurial ‘Have a Go’ spirit. He and his wife had lived all over the world (Canada, Bangladesh, China, Hawaii and of course Burford! ). He’d worked for Philips developing two way radio systems, then branched out on his own into mining, agriculture and now even healthcare- developing new blood tests to detect cancers. What a guy.
I admit we were a little star struck by our meeting and afterwards we needed to cool down with an ice cream from the Gelateria. It had been recommended by someone at Rosebridge House. I had pineapple and mint and Jane had the special which involved vanilla, raspberry ripple and Vovo biscuits. Both hailed a success.
By now it was 2pm and we caught the free Blue CAT bus to Kings Park. This is one of the world’s biggest inner city parks and is actually located just above our hotel. There is a Jacobs Ladder that climbs up to the entrance of the park but that’s no use to us! We decided to concentrate our efforts on just the Botanical Gardens part of the park and the first stop was the very classy gift shop. Here I bought several items for inspiring future art projects!
We started at the War Memorial which is in memory of the ANZAC troops who served in WW1. Being Sunday there were lots of families enjoying the green space and we liked the views across to the Perth Skyline once more.
Once we entered the Botanical Gardens proper we did a little circuit which allowed us to explore the different regional areas, magnificent Eucalyptus trees, beautiful Banksias and Baobab. I was particularly keen that we walk along the raised walkway and glass bridge that took us through the tree canopy. It did actually start to rain as we were doing this but it only added to the magic of this place as the sun made everything sparkle.
Jane was very tired as we made our way around but we did complete our circuit and then decided to have a quick beer before catching our Uber back. We sat out side in the cafe admiring the views over to the city and the setting sun. The Eucalyptus trees lining the street were absolutely stunning and burned an image in my memory. It was so lovely that we decided to stay and eat here which was a good decision as the food was delicious.
I’d been struggling to piece all of the different parts of Perth together in my head. Sydney made perfect sense but somehow Perth seemed to be these disparate areas that had no real connection. However, I think the visit to Kings Park brought things together for me and meeting the legend, Laith Reynolds, was the icing on the cake. What a good day it had turned out to be.
Swan Bell TowerBell ViewAnzac BellLaith ReynoldsOldest Bell and LaithCampanologistsStretch ArmstrongsBotanical EntranceBaobabBanksia #1False PineappleBanksia #2Perth SkylineEucalyptus ViewFraser’s Restaurant
On Saturday we woke up early which appears now to have become a thing! Today was one we’d be looking forward to and we were very glad to still be able to make the trip. We were off to Rottnest Island to see the Quokkas and this time, in the wild.
Originally, we had been due to catch the ferry from Freemantle and then hire bikes to get around the island as there are no cars. Luckily, in the circumstances, we’d been able to change our booking and were now leaving by ferry from Barrack Street Jetty, Perth and ditching the bikes in favour of the ‘Rottnest Bayseeker’ bus tour. This turned out to be a right result.
Firstly, the ferry up the Swan River to Freemantle was great. We had seats up on the sun deck (in the shade) and the captain gave an interesting commentary as we went along. The views changed as we left the city skyline behind then went past the houses of the rich and famous on the beautiful, lush banks of the river. When we got to Freemantle we were quite surprised to see the huge cranes and container ships…maybe it was a blessing that we’d had to cancel our stay here!
It was lovely and warm up in the sun deck but once we got out into the open see it became a little more rocky and breezy. I kept my eyes on the horizon as the lovely crew served us Icepops to keep us cool. After an hour and a half since setting off we were arriving into the pretty harbour of Rottnest Island. As we approached we had an Indigenous welcome as the island ‘Wadjemup’ is sacred in the Aboriginal history. All of a sudden it became incredibly peaceful and calm and it felt like this was a place we were going to love.
This reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to talk about. Although we haven’t really been on an Aboriginal ‘heritage’ tour or directly learned about ‘Dreamtime’ stories, we have seen hints along the way. One thing that is very noticeable is part of the ‘Reconciliation’ with the past. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, Australia’s colonial history is characterised by devastating land dispossession, violence and racism. The most obvious part of this reconciliation process that we’ve seen is known as an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’. This manifests itself in statues in the various cities and towns, signs at Airports, in verbal greetings to trips and events and on all the different websites. The podcast I’ve been listening to on the History of Australia begins every episode with an Acknowledgment of Country.
For example on arriving in Rottnest the greeting might go like this
“As we arrive here today, we’d like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Wadjemup land on which we tread. We would like to pay our respects to the Elders past, present and future of the Whadjuk Noongar people.”
It’s important because for so long the Aboriginal and Torres Island peoples have experienced a long history of exclusion from Australian history books, the Australian flag, the Australian anthem and for many years, Australian democracy.
It’s an interesting approach and I noticed that when our tour with Shelita in Broken Hill began with such an acknowledgement, a lot of the older Aussie’s in the group raised their eyebrows and tutted loudly. Hm.
Certainly Rottnest Island played its part in this terrible history and we visited the little museum which tries to educate about this. Today the island is a place for happy visitors but in the past it was used to imprison and mistreat Aboriginal peoples who were put to forced hard labour in quarrying limestone and building some of the settlement that remains today.
Anyway…enough of the bleak history. Today Rottnest Island is more famous for two things 1) Its beautiful beaches and stunning waters and 2) The 1,300 Quokkas who call Rottnest their home and who are an Instagram sensation.
Quokkas are everywhere on Rottnest Island and in fact it’s how it got its name. Although these smiling little cuties are marsupials of the wallaby family but smaller, the Dutch guy who discovered the island way back in 1696 thought it was infested with rats ….hence he called it “Rottnest Island”!
Jane was v keen to capture the iconic photo of a Quokka standing up smiling, and we tried to tempt them with tasty looking leaves. They weren’t really playing and perhaps preferred the dropped chocolate ice cream outside the bakery.
The settlement area is very busy with people trying to get to grips with their bikes or stocking up on food and water for the day. But it is also very shady so great to keep cool and we enjoyed lunch of a sausage roll and a slice of Raspberry Lamington from the Bakery and cold ice peach tea.
After this we decided we had time to go for a short walk to Pinky Beach which should only take 20 mins through the accommodation huts (v basic) and trees. However, although the beach was very lovely with white sand and sea of every possible shade of blue and green, it was ridiculously hot. I felt incredibly frazzled and Jane got her sandals wet when a wave came in further than expected. This place wasn’t for us and I could get away quick enough to find a sheltered spot. What on earth had we been thinking when we thought we could ride around here on bikes? To be fair the 40degree heat is exceptional for Perth at this time of year but still….thank goodness for Jason and his VIP bus trip!
There were only about 10 of us on the 1:45 trip and the bus was lovely and air conditioned as we drove around the whole island which is bigger than I’d thought and quite hilly in places. We learned more about the history and the flora and fauna as we drove along the quiet lanes exploring all of the gorgeous beaches and swimming spots. Unlike Hamilton Island, Rottnest is a A grade reserve and totally government owned so there is very little development allowed and the Quokkas come first.
The tour round took about an hour and a half with just two short stops but the views through the windows were great and we took 100s of photos. Once back at the harbour it was more of less time to catch the ferry back to Perth. We again sat in the sundeck and enjoyed the cruise back in the fading sunshine.
Jane found us a nice place to eat in St George’s Terrace and we had a lovely meal at Sentinel. We felt a little under-dressed in our sweaty gear from the day out whereas other diners were all dressed up and off to the theatre! But who cares….those beers tasted really good. What a fabulous day and we happily found our way home once more via Uber.
Nice HousesFreemantle PortIce Pop freebieThe SettlementSmilerCutieI am not a rat, Sir.Pinky Beach frazzledBiker StopWadjemup LighthouseGeordie BayOff the busLittle Salmon BayIndigenous Peoples Map
Finally, on Friday 28th March we were able to get our holiday back on schedule. The one thing we hadn’t had to cancel or rearrange was our stay at the Aurea Hotel in Perth City Centre. So after our last breakfast at Rosebridge we were back in an Uber and 30 mins later arriving well before check in at our final stop.
We had to wait in reception for our room to become available but it was very hot outside and we liked the Air Con. It looked like they weren’t going to relent and let us in before 3pm so we made a decision to go out. All of a sudden room 202 was ready for us to occupy. Lovely. We’d chosen this hotel because it’s relatively newly refurbished and got great reviews on Trip Advisor. It didn’t disappoint as our room was very spacious, with a restful picture of a beach as a backdrop to the beds, great Air Con and a balcony that overlooked trees and the city skyline beyond. It was so modern that we couldn’t actually work out how to turn the lights on!
We did a bit of unpacking and then headed out following the Receptionists guidance to catch the free bus to Elizabeth Quay (all buses in Perth CBD are free 😀). It was only a short bus ride and walk away and is an area that has seen massive redevelopment into a trendy waterfront attraction on the Swan River. It was named after Queen Elizabeth II in honour of her Diamond Jubilee year, following her visit to the area for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. It was opened in 2016.
Today, it was very quiet really and our first destination, The Bell Tower, which had been recommended to us by the boring chap back at the BnB was closed for a private function. Never mind, we could do that another day and meanwhile we wandered about taking photos of the skyline and modern pedestrian bridge and the Spanda Sculpture which is 29m high. There are quite a lot of restaurants etc in the area but I did notice that not all of these premises were occupied. Generally, I’d say that Perth had aspirations to be as cool and trendy as Sydney but had a way to go but all of the Uber drivers were very keen to tell us how thriving the city is and how much development is going on.
The city skyline is very impressive and over our few days here we saw it from various different angles. Lots of the buildings have company initials and names on them. I was intrigued to know who these were and what had lead to the economic development in Perth. Without doubt it’s been the focus on resource industries- mining and in particular – iron ore as well as Agricultural exporting. Many of the signs on the tower blocks are mining companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Chevron, South32 as well as the usual suspects of the world of finance EY, Deloittes and numerous banks. I also discovered that the richest person in Australia is from Perth. Gina Rhinehart is a mining magnate (Hancock Prospecting) and her net worth is Aus $ 29billion. And guess who she’s friends with in America?
Perth is diversifying and has a highly educated workforce and known for its innovation. Its location on the Indian Ocean within the Asia-Pacific region gives it access to fast growing economies. It looks like the future is bright for ‘The City of Light’. It also looks like I’m giving the boring man at the BnB a run for his money.
It was a very hot afternoon and The Island Brewery seemed like a good place to stop for a cold one. It tasted very good indeed and then we walked up Barrack Street to the ‘Best Fish and Chip Shop’ in Perth. Despite a slight mistake in ordering fish without batter (😇😆) it was indeed very good. And the mushy peas were suitably stodgy. This tatty little place is in a slightly seedy area, so we were soon back in an Uber and heading back to our haven beneath Kings Park. That makes it sound like we were sleeping on a park bench which obviously we weren’t.
Bell TowerSpandaElizabeth QuayBiker/Hiker BridgeJane and bridgeFirst ContactSwan SculptureBlack Swans, Swan RiverPerth SkylineHappy Beers at The IslandWhat’s wrong with this?
So, yes….as I mentioned the only slight snag with our BnB was that we didn’t have a car and options for eating out locally were very limited. Pete had explained that there was a good Italian Restaurant just 6 mins walk away but other than that we’d need to go into Kalamunda which was a 20 mins walk. Unfortunately, the latter was out of the question.
On our first night we decided to walk down to the Italian very slowly as it was still very hot at 5-30. We got there and the place looked shut. I popped downstairs and found their pizza takeaway place. The guy in there confirmed that the restaurant wasn’t open today and they had a problem with their pizza maker. Hopeless.
We had no choice but to get an Uber into Kalamunda and head to the Kalamunda Hotel, which Cate had recommended. This was a really local place full of families enjoying time together. It was very traditional and obviously had quite a history too. Jane and I weren’t all that hungry so we decided to share our meal and it was delicious.
When it came time to leave, Jane ordered us another Uber but it kept saying that the driver was 10 mins away and then after 7mins , they’d cancel. This happened twice and then eventually the wait time became 22 mins. Crikey, this wasn’t looking good. We were outside by now and asked the nice waitress who’d served us, whether there was a local taxi firm. There was but they came from down in the city and never gave an expected arrival time! All of this fuss for a 4 mins drive…
Enter scene left our heroes….Brad and his girlfriend Olivia, who had been chatting to the waitress and overheard our predicament. Brad piped up with ‘where do you need to get to Ladies?’ When we told him he said, with a broad smile, he could drop us off. It turned out he was a supplier to the hotel so the waitress vouched for him👍
We piled into the car with Brad and Olivia and off we went. They were absolutely lovely and turns out Brad’s family came to Australia on the 3rd boat of the colonisation of Swan River. Meanwhile, Olivia was telling Jane that her family were £10 poms who came over from Manchester, needing to evade the Mafia!! It was like a living history lesson. They dropped us off at the gate and we said our farewells, what a kind thing to do.
The next night we decided to risk walking to the Italian again. It is a lovely walk down there through an avenue of beautiful native trees. The meal and service was fabulous and on the way back we could see the most amazing sunset, over the city and down towards to the sea. We enjoyed the food so much that we went back again the following night after our big day out.
Indeed, our big day out. On our final day at Rosebridge House we decided to hire a car again and visit a couple of different parts of Perth. We picked up the car from Thrifty at the airport at about 9-30 and our first stop was Caversham Wildlife Park which is not too far away. It’s a wonderful place to see Australian wildlife and we had a great day. By 10am it was already incredibly hot and I was worried about us walking around this place. However, luckily there was plenty of shade and some places were vaguely air conditioned. They’re well organised and we particularly enjoyed the ‘Meet the Animals’ bit, photo with a Wombat (Neil), the Penguin feeding time, the Quokkas, the huge number of koalas but especially the baby one and the kangaroo walkthrough (possibly too many of one thing there….) . One of our favourites was the incredible Tasmanian Devil, who put on a little show for us once he’d woken up that is. He ran actively around his enclosure exploring every little bit as if he’d never seen it before. He climbed a tree and had a bath and his incredible ears shone bright red in the sunshine.
In between meeting all the animals we kept going back to the cafe area to cool off with more water and iced peach tea. It wasn’t until later that I saw just how red my face had got from the heat. All of the volunteers running this place were incredibly friendly and jolly and it was an excellent day out, where we stayed much longer than the 1:30 hours that coach trips are allowed.
Next we were supposed to be visiting the Swan River Valley. This is a wine growing region and I thought we’d be able to visit the vineyards and winery’s to have a look and maybe there would be some nice shops. However, it’s not really like that and because it was now so late (approaching 4pm) everything was starting to close. We popped into one winery ‘Sitella’ and the vines did look beautiful but it was too late to go into the Cellar Door. As we were still a bit frazzled and glad to be in the air conditioned car, we weren’t inclined to stop again and decided to just complete the circuit and call it a day.
We dropped the car off at the airport again and called an Uber to take us home. We had to meet him over at the airport terminal which was a bit of a pain in the heat but hey ho. He drove us nearly back to our place when I suddenly realised that I’d left my iPad in the hire car. It wasn’t in my bag and I remembered leaving it in the boot and something had gone ‘bump’ at one point. Obviously, it had fallen down the back. The Uber driver turned around and we headed back. I tried to phone Thrifty but they wanted me to email and said they’d get back to me within 7 years. I was very stressed, worried that they’d hire the car out again. We decided to try ‘Find My Device’ and sure enough my IPad came up on the map. However my worst fear was confirmed as my iPad was on the move. It appeared to be getting further away at first, oh no……now what….we pressed on and suddenly it looked as if we were following the car with my IPad in it! At this point Jane checked her back pack and guess what she found…..Oh yes, I had!!! We asked the Uber driver to turn around once more. Poor man. I felt hugely relieved that it now looked like it was only my pencil crayons that had fallen on the floor.
It had been a rather expensive day at the park but over a glass of wine at our now favourite Italian Restaurant, Jane and I agreed that the Tasmanian Devil’s ears alone were worth it.
Kalamunda HotelGalahLittle Blue PenguinsHand fedMeet the WombatHello PossumQuokka cutieBaby RooMeet the WallabyToo many Roos! Koala activitySleepy BabyThe DaddyTasmanian DevilSitella Vineyard, Swan Valley
Now that Jane was making good progress and after a couple of days relaxing out of hospital, it was time to move on. We had been due to go to Melbourne next and pick up a campervan to drive the Great Ocean Road. However, we’d already cancelled flights and campervans and decided to skip Melbourne altogether and just get ourselves to Perth where we could take it easy before our flight home.
To get to Perth we had to go via Brisbane on a late afternoon flight (1hr +).We had arranged wheelchair support with Qantas and their service was excellent. They looked after Jane and I superbly and not only did Jane get pushed around the airports in the electronic wheelchairs and help carrying all our bags but we also got to board the planes in Category 1 ie first which meant no stress whatsoever. Just to be clear, we didn’t get upgrade to First Class but what they did do was perfect. On the plane from Brisbane to Perth (5hours +) the aircrew even arranged to move the chap who was supposed to sit next to us to another seat so that we could have all the space to ourselves. 🙏
We arrived very late into Perth and got a taxi upto our accommodation in the Perth Hills. Rosebridge House Bed and Breakfast in Gooseberry Hill. Jane had found this place when looking for alternatives as we’d had to cancel in Freemantle. It was described as an ‘adult only retreat’ and we had 4 nights here which were absolute bliss. We had our own little garden apartment right next to the lovely pool. The owners Pete and Julia have been running the place for 18 years and had thought of everything you could possibly need. They were super accommodating and even helped me do a load of washing (much needed after 13 days at the Ibis!).
Every morning we had breakfast in the old fashioned but gorgeous dining room over looking the tropical gardens. Here Julia fed the ‘pets’ including the Bandicoots (very small cute marsupials and not rats despite their similar appearance), Rainbow Lorikeets and Australian Ring Neck parrots. We even had a brief visit from a Kookaburra one morning.
We spent two days just relaxing by the pool but we mostly had to stay in the shade because the temperatures were just too hot at 38 degrees. We’d also retreated into the Air Con to avoid the midday sun. I made the most of the pool and did lots of sketching whilst we were here. Jane meanwhile enjoyed reading her book and relaxing.
This lovely retreat attracted some interesting people who we chatted to over breakfast, all attracted by the peaceful nature of the place.
Cate, a scouser, living in Tasmania after a career as aircrew with Qantas. She was there with her partner Anthony and her son, as well as her Mum (aged 91) who had been visiting from the UK .
The couple from Hertfordshire who were very keen to tell us all the things we needed to do in Perth. The Bell Tower, the car Museum and as Jane described it…’several more very boring suggestions’!!!
Another Kate who was there visiting family members who were all elderly and ill.
Paul, the German chap probably in his 90s who could hardly walk but liked his sausage for breakfast and was on the phone looking for a bridge partner.
Emily, (well, let’s call her that) the very young backpacker from the UK who was on her own but feeling very over-whelmed by Perth. She’d had a great time in the hostels in Melbourne but come to Perth for the sunshine. However, she found the hostels here to be less friendly. She’d obviously been quite upset and her Mum had booked her into this lovely place for a couple of nights. She was going back into Perth looking more cheery and hoping to get work.
The house itself is v historic. It once belonged to a magistrate, and has classic Australian style architecture of a single storey, made of wood, with verandahs and a picket fence all around. The garden had been built from scratch by Pete and Julia and had lots of ‘secret’ shady places to sit. The trees are stunning and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to identify them with the help of Photos on my phone but I’m not sure how reliable it has been. But there were Eucalyptus, Hibiscus, Moreton Bay Ash, Honey Mesquite, Orange Jasmine, Magnolia, Tree Ferns, roses, geraniums and bourganvillea. Beautiful.
The only slight issue with staying up here in the Perth Hills without a car turned out to be eating out…but I’ll save that for the next post!
Picket FenceParrot BathBy the poolThe Summer HouseBreakfast treatsRinged ParrotsRainbow LorikeetKookaburraBandicootMum and Baby cheese eatersCommon Bronze Wing aka Fancy pigeon
Where shall we go to next? 