My Travel photoblog

DAY 74 – AROUND THE ISLAND BY BIKE

Having jet boated around the island and flown over it, today was time to cycle all over it before getting the ferry back to the mainland in the afternoon.

Did about 40km exploring every road and seeing every bay, and other than the odd bus each hour and 1 snake sunbathing in the middle of the road, there was bikes only.

The weather wasn’t so good today and in the afternoon it really clouded over and the winds got up making for rather a rough ferry ride back to the mainland

DAY 73 – WHAT A FLIGHT AND WHAT A BEACH!

Today 3 of us from the hostel did a scenic flight over the Island and over the sea to Freemantle and then right over Perth City Center itself, was the perfect day for flying with not a cloud in the sky and the views were absolutely stunning, heres a shot of the city centre with King’s Park, and the Swan river in the background with it extending into the ocean in the distance.

After the flight we had a little cycle round a few bays and had to make a tough decision of just which beach to goto. We eventually settled on a stunning beach called the basin near to one of the Island’s lighthouse which had been awarded with the title of Australia's best beach, and spent the afternoon there.

It was Friday night and we went to the islands bar which was very lively tonight and after several beers rode our bikes the 2.5km back to the hostel with the knowledge we had no worries about any traffic, the only obstacles were having to dodge loads of Quakkas on the road and with myself being the only one with light had to stay in front and shout out Quakka warnings!

DAY 72 - A WHALE OF A TIME ON AND AROUND ROTTNEST ISLAND!

Today I was heading to Rottnest Island for a 3 day 2 night trip, It’s is a stunning Island that’s an A Class reserve with a lot of history just 18km off the coast of Freemantle which is itself 18km from Perth. There are no cars allowed on the Island and the only way to get around is by bus or as most people do cycle.

Upon arrival I checked into my accommodation Kingstown Barracks a former army barracks now converted to a hostel then went back to the jetty to board a jetboat for a wild ride around the Island with the promise of also seeing some wildlife and possibly Whales!

Met some other people also staying at the Hostel and we had a wet and wild time saw some sea lions but was no sign of any whales until just as we were about to give up and head back to the jetty someone saw one in the distance, we turn on the power and head towards it and indeed it was not just 1 but 2 whales that regularly breached they were a stunning sight and stayed around for about 15 minuets, it was very difficult to be quick enough with the camera to get any good photos but then I got very lucky and got a great shot of one of the whales tails lined up with the skyline of Perth which is over 30km away! After this photos we got a lot closer and I got many more great Whale shots, which I will post in a separate Gallery later.

That evening I cooked myself some Pasta, and took that and some Strawberry’s and cream to a beech which was only a 5 min walk from the hostel, while eating got joined by a local – Quokka which is a rare unique animal that’s been described as a cross between a kangaroo and a rat (The Islands name Rottnest is actually Dutch for Rat’s nest) They are very friendly though especially when there’s food about! After dinner I met up with some others from the hostel at a pub on the Island about a 2.5km bike ride away for a couple of beers to complete a fantastic day.