Perth - Part 1

Perth Part 1

As we made our way down the coast from Sandy Cape the views were amazing again but we were pretty uninspired by the camping options. They pretty much consisted of caravan parks on or near the beach for at least $40 a night. 

More white beaches & blue water down the coast 

So we kept on trucking further south. Before we knew it we had to make the decision if we should continue on into Perth. It was a Saturday at about lunch time. I had started a topic on the MySwag forum asking about caravan park recommendations in the area that we could set up for a week & had decent public transport so we could leave Ruby plugged into power at the park & catch a bus or train into the city. Less stressful & much cheaper than parking. We were recommended Woodman Point just below Fremantle so we gave them a ring to see if they had any sites, with luck they did, so we put the directions in the iPad & hit the road. 

We followed the coast South & it was a pretty good run. Traffic was busy but not hectic, but it was with a sigh of relief that we reached the caravan park, as towing a trailer in traffic is not fun. We were allocated a large site & we set up & also but up the big awning as we had booked for 7 nights & there were lots of clouds in the sky. The site is a good size although it is next to the bins, toilet block & kids playground, awesome....... The playground was going off that afternoon, all afternoon & into the night, we hoped it would settle down, but when there is a fenced playground that doesn't seem to require parental supervision we doubted it. So our first night in Perth it was cold, rainy & noisy kids, welcome to the big smoke!

The next day we awoke again to cloudy skies, but didn't let it deter us & we headed off in Ruby to Fremantle (Freo to the locals) found a park at $2.50 an hour & went to the markets. Wow pretty good markets, tonnes of fresh produce & goodies, fantastic coffee & cool bits & pieces. It is smaller than we expected but it is all undercover, luckily as the heavens soon opened up & it was pouring, oh well let's do one more lap & see what other tasty morsels we can indulge in. The rain finally sort of stopped so we made a run for it & checked out some of the streets of Freo, we have never seen so many cafes & restaurants. We then had to move the car to another spot, this time $1.80 an hour & we went to the WA museum on shipwrecks. Free entry & fantastic. The remains of Batavia are there & the salvage & preservation work is amazing. If you have read any WA history or the book Batavia, you will really enjoy this museum. There are also the salvaged items from lots of other ships as well. A great way to spend a few hours. 

Well the time had come for the most anticipated part of the day. Lunch at the Little Creatures Beer Brewery, we had been looking forward to this one. It is right on the Freo harbour & huge from the outside. We ventured inside & oh my god, it was so busy, there were no free tables, we wandered around looking & it was chaos, people everywhere, waiters running back & forth the open kitchen churning out hundreds of burgers & pizzas & the noise was extreme. Now I am not going to deny I had a bit of a panic attack, we have been in the bush for 7 months now, lunches out have been at sleepy pubs, this was overwhelming. We ended up leaving. No seats anyway unless you wanted to sit outside in the rain & it was all just to much, we decided to come back during the week when it is hopefully less busy. Mat was disappointed, but I just couldn't do it. Not to worry there are heaps of other dining options & we actually ends up next door in the "Creatures Next Door" restaurant that is actually part of Little Creatures anyway & had all their beers on tap. So we had beer & tapas overlooking the water in a relaxed & way less busy place, the food was great, so we didn't do to badly for the day really. We will try little creatures again later in the week. 

Freo harbour

The next day we decided to hit the city. We caught the bus into Freo & then the train into the city. Very easy & organised. We wandered around for the morning & took advantage of the free buses they run around the city to see a bit more of town. In the end we ended up at the Barrack St Jetty for lunch over the water. A little more sight seeing in the afternoon & we felt like we had done enough city walking & decided to head home. We didn't buy one thing all day other than food & drinks. I was hoping for some souvenirs but sadly nothing. We did have a really nice day & enjoyed our time in the city. 

Perth City

The next day it was off to Rottnest Island. We had found a cheap Tuesday's deal on the ferry ride over giving us half price tickets, score. We had to leave camp at 5.50am to get the bus to the harbour, so we were early & grabbed a coffee & breakfast while we waited for the ferry to depart. The ride over was pretty uneventful & only took about 25 minutes. When we arrived on the island we purchased a $20 all day bus ticket, that would let us hop on & off around the island. We jumped on the bus & our first stops were 5-7, we got off at 5 & walked between the bay's up to bus stop 7. Typical WA blue water & white sand, just beautiful. 

First stop on Rottnest above & below

We jumped back on the bus & went out to the end of the island called West End. Beautiful views again, but sadly part of it was closed due to construction of a foot path, so we had to wait for the bus for a while.

West end above & 2 below

 It was getting close to lunch time so we decided to get the bus all the way back to the settlement for some lunch, so we did a whole circuit on the bus & got to see a lot of the island. There are quiet a few options for lunch, but we decided to try the pub with its great views over the bay. 

The weather wasn't really playing nice for the day & it was getting overcast & looking rainy. We ordered some lunch & got to see the gorgeous native marsupials the Quokka. They are so cute & these ones were very tame & annoying the tourists to try & get some of their lunch, they were nearly crawling into our laps, it was cool to see them up close. 

Quokka

Well the weather didn't improve, so we stayed in the pub drinking way to many beers until it was time to get the ferry. 

West End of Rottnest

The ferry ride back again was good, a bit bumpier as the wind had picked up a bit. It was about 5pm as we got back to Freo & decided to hit another pub for a few more beers & dinner before heading home. A great night was had, although one of us wanted to kick on, but the other wasn't as keen, so we got the bus home. Some memories of the night are a little sketchy. Great day. 

Catch the rest of our Perth adventure in Perth Part 2 coming soon!