Perth - Part 2

Catch the first part of our Perth adventure here.

The next day we awoke to be surprisingly ok after our big day at Rottnest. We made our way back to the north of Perth to Hillarys Boat Harbour to the aquarium. The cost was $29 a person & the parking was free at the harbour. When we first arrived it had only just opened & there were people & school groups going everywhere, we paid our entry & then hung back for a bit to let the crowd get ahead of us, so it was more enjoyable. Firstly you see some amazing fish & corals in smaller glass thanks, but then you make your way down to the underwater tunnel viewing area that even had a conveyor belt. We chose the walking track & went around twice it was fantastic. Big sharks, huge turtles & lots of different types of fish with some really big snapper, Mulloway & kingfish. It was great to wander around with them swimming over your heads, they also had huge stingrays. After that you wandered from tank to tank & they had some open tanks & touch pools & even 2 baby saltwater crocs. My second favourite was the jelly fish, they had a large oval tank, with hundreds of jelly fish that just floated around, it was very mesmerising. 

Once we were finished at the aquarium we explored the shops & cafe strip around the harbour & ended up at a African Grill place for lunch called Hippo Creek, Mat got a feed called the Lion Kill that consisted of a huge steak & pig ribs. A great spot overlooking the harbour. It was then time to head back to camp for the night. 

Hillarys boat harbour

The following day we went for a drive to the south of Perth & had a look at Rockingham & Mandurah. We had a fish & chip lunch again on the water at Mandurah & then went to the movies. We haven't been to the movies for ages, it was some action war thing with Brad Pitt in it, courtesy of Mat! By the time we drove back to Freo that was the end of another nice day. 

Mandurah lunch spot

The next day our last day in Perth, we went to Fremantle again with the plan to go back to the Little Creatures Brewery. We checked out the markets again & also the markets on the harbour & wandered the streets. When lunch time came we went back to the brewery. It was again busy, but we got a table.  In the end we waited 45 minutes to try to get out order taken, but they wouldn't come near our table, so we left. We went to a pub on the cafe strip the Sail & Anchor & had an excellent lunch with great beer & service, the Little Creatures Brewery could learn a lot from there, very disappointed. 

Fremantle beach 

Then we went to the movies again. My good friend Gemma gave me a Hoyts voucher when we left for our trip & we haven't seen one yet, so we found one in Freo & decided to use our voucher. Again a action movie this time wih Keanu Reeves, I think we will go to seperate movies next time!! We grabbed some fresh fruit & veggies from the market on our way back & then caught the bus back to camp to start to pack up. 

Our week in Perth was really enjoyable. We were glad to get back into the bush for a bit though afterwards.

October Round Up

October Round Up

On the 1st of October we were at Hamelin Station Stay near Denham on the 31st of October 2014 we were at Perth staying at the Woodman Point Holiday Point near Fremantle. 

Total kilometres travelled 2766km

Total diesel bought 446.96L total cost $751.61 dearest diesel $1.79 at Kalbarri, cheapest diesel $1.55 at Geraldton. 

Camping. Camped 31 days in October.  0 free camp nights, 31 paid. Total cost $819 average of $26.41 per night for paid camping. Cheapest camp $15 a night for 2 people at Francois Peron National Park & Sandy Cape & Dearest camp fees $39.28 at Woodman Point.  

Best campsite - Murchison House Station

Worst campsite - None all okay

Best experiences - Point Peron, day trip to Jurein Bay, Rottnest Island 

Worst experiences - The Wind on the coast. 

Best camp cooked meal - Cottage Pie, Chocolate Mud Cake, fresh whiting at Francois Peron. 

Best bought meal - African Grill at Hillarys Boat Harbour, lobster at Cervantes, tapas at the Sail & Anchor, A sausage roll from the French patisserie at the Freo Markets. 

Things we are missing

Our dogs Milly & Robbo, the family (happy 30th birthday Josh), no wind, clean feet, free & quiet campsites. 

Things we are not missing 

Work, cold mornings

That's it for October. We can't believe how fast time is going & how far south we have got. We thought there would be a lot more to do on the coast above Perth. So now into the SW corner, looking forward to this part should be beautiful. 

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!

Sandy Cape

We left Geraldton at 8am on the 22nd of October & headed south down the Coast road. We stopped briefly for some bread at Dongara & kept going down to a spot called Sandy Cape just north of Jurien Bay. This a shire run campsite with limited facilities & cost $15 a camp a night, this is one of the only camps like this available down this stretch of Coast, caravan parks are the only other option. So we expected it to be busy & it was, but luck was on our side for once & we managed to score campsite 1 the best site in the whole place. Right on the water & away from the other camps, whereas a lot of the others were right on top of each other. The previous occupants went out that morning & from the comments from other campers that we had scored the prime site there was some jealousy in the air, you have to get lucky occasionally!!

We set up under the trees, positioning ourselves so that if the wind did pick up we would be okay, but luckily it was pretty protected by dunes anyway. In the afternoon we went for a long walk on the beach & Mat went for a fish. We met a lovely bloke from Bundaberg who gave us all the gossip on the area & he said the fishing had gone bad & there were only toadfish around, which we found out to be true!  That night right on dark a rain shower blew in right when we wanted to cook dinner as is always the way. 

The next day the rain had cleared but it was still a little overcast. We decided to go for a drive down towards Jurien Bay. We arrived to find a lovely little coastal town, very touristy but it had everything you needed an IGA, bakery etc. We went down to the foreshore & found a fabulous jetty & playground & picnic area. We decided to have a fish off the jetty. While Mat got the gear ready I went to the nearby jetty cafe to grab a couple of excellent take away coffees. We were soon fishing & Mat got a bite straight away, he reeled in a pretty striped fish, not sure what maybe a rainbow runner? 

We chucked him back. I cast out on a smaller hook with a prawn & the next thing I know I had hooked something & it was taking drag, it got the blood pumping & as I got the fish close to the jetty we saw a big flash of silver, what the hell was it? As I got it in closer we realised it was a huge, huge toadfish/blowfish, we didn't know they grew that big. Great this was going to be fun to get it off the line, as we tried to pull him up to cut it off the line snapped, luckily as these things are very poisonous to touch or eat. 

As we were getting him off his mate came up to see what was going on & my next cast out I had caught his mate as well & this time 2 others followed him in as I reeled him in, not much point fishing here then! We chucked our lines in a couple more times & we could feel the bait getting picked away, if you dragged your bait in really slow there were thousands of little toadfish attacking the bait! One of the other guys fishing caught one of the big ones as well, they didn't seem to believe us that it was a toadfish, it broke off, but god knows how many people could potentially take one home, as the fish species knowledge just doesn't seem to be there for a lot of people. May be it's just us QLDers calling them the wrong name but they were definitely a not to be kept fish. 

After giving up on the fishing we made our way further south to a little town called Cervantes. Famous for its lobster industry. Touristy again but not as nice as Jurien Bay. We did find an awesome place called the Lobster Shack that has a cafe attached to a lobster processing plant so we splurged on lobster & chips for lunch. 

It wasn't cheap but was tasty. We can't believe the cost of seafood over here. They want $70 a kilo for lobster, prawns aren't to bad at $25-35 a kilo but there fish is ridiculous. $70 for red emperor, coral trout, dhufish etc. just crazy they even wanted $60 a kilo for squid in Geraldton. We complain when we have to pay more than $30 for red emperor at home in Rocky. Considering WA has the biggest coastline & less people the prices are ridiculous. Luckily we have managed to catch a decent amount of fish ourselves & still have some in the freezer. In the afternoon we were sitting in camp & Mat was talking to his parents on the phone when a 1.5m snake slithered under the trailer & then through our chairs, we only saw it as it came out & luckily it kept going. Well that was just the  start of our snake sightings, we think it was a Dugite. 

The next day we stayed at camp & did the walk up to the top of the lookout. It was a hard slog up the soft sand but worth it for the amazing views. The sand is extremely white at a Sandy Cape & there is a lime sand quarry on the way in. As usual on the WA Coast the water was beautiful blues & greens, this area is rocky & seaweed rather than coral like the ningaloo Coast. Just beautiful. 

In the afternoon again the snakes came out. One right near our camp that a girl almost stood on & another 2 up near the toilets, the place was teaming with them. Mat had to help move on a couple near campers with dogs & kids that didn't know what to do. Luckily they are not aggressive but are poisonous. Would be a bit of a worry if you had little kids with you camping. 

Sandy Cape was a great find, minus the snakes! We got extremely lucky with the best campsite. We stayed for 3 nights at $15 a night, there are good pit toilets at both ends of the campgrounds. There are about 30-40 camp sites. On our last night there (Friday) it was full & they put a sign out on the road. Guessing it is always busy on weekends. There is a caretaker on site. 

Geraldton

After Horrocks Beach we headed to Geraldton, we desperately needed to resupply as we we haven't seen a decent shop since Carnarvon. As soon as we hit the edges of Geraldton you could tell we were back in a bigger town. The traffic was hectic & the drivers terrible. I had this sinking feeling of just getting out of there fast, could we get all we needed done in just an overnighter?? I soon calmed down when we found a carvan park out near the port, that was huge, but in a quiet area & looked nice. We got given a large grassy site, the first time we have camped on lush green grass for the whole trip. It was really nice, we were near the amenities but not on top of them & the park was only about half full if that.

Geraldton harbour 

Green grass

We set up quickly as it was about to rain & it started to mist just as we were finishing. We decided to head down the street & grab a few things as they don't have Sunday trading & we arrived on a Saturday lunch time. We even managed to find a pub with awesome $12 lunch specials & the town seemed ok. We initially booked in for 2 nights at the Belair Gardens Caravan park at $34 a night. As it was Mats birthday on the Monday we didn't really want to pack up & move on that day, so we ended up staying for 4 nights. 

We used Geraldton as a base & went for a drive down to Greenough, Port Denison & Dongara, cut back inland to Mingenew & called into the Coalseam National Park that had amazing views & some cool old relics of the mining era including mine shafts you can look at. We then continued to Mullewa & back to Geraldton, a good day out & a nice drive. 

Flat Rocks

Port Denison

Coalseam national park

Old mine shaft

The next day was Mats birthday, so we decided to head back towards Northhampton way via the Chapman Valley & some wineries, but as it was a Monday everything was closed, we wanted to go to the pub in Northhampton for lunch, but the good one was closed & the other 2 were very dodgy! So we ended up back in Geraldton after all that. To make up for it I took him out to a fancy place in town for dinner called Skeetas, the food was pretty good & we ate too much, but had a nice night. 

What did you wish for, for your birthday????

The next day we did all of our resupply shopping, washed everything as it was the first time we have had decent washing machines since Katherine, so all of the linen & sleeping bags got a freshen up. And of course we had to have fish & chips on the beach before we left, yum. All in all Geraldton was a good spot to resupply it had all the shops we needed, there was a bit to see around town & a trip down to Dongara/Port Denison is well worth it. 

Geraldton local