Fremantle

- Early start for our day on Rottnest Island. I was supposed to go there in the 1980s when I was on a uni camping trip but the weather was too bad and they cancelled the ferries
- Nice, cool morning walk to the dock
- Boat is packed with day trippers. Sooo many tourists but mainly backpackers seemingly from Britain and South America, but a few Asians too
- Ian warned us it can get rocky so I have barf bags with me that I'm hoping not to use, but a great habit carrying these from Bridget's travel sickness days
- Everyone's very excited, it sounds like I'm in a chicken coop
- Pretty fast boat, really carving up the sea with massive splash/ spray; fuck she's rolling a bit now. Bridget would be green.

Got off the ferry after a very quick trip – no spewing was had. We walked from the jetty over beautiful turquoise water, thinking ‘this is lovely’ only for it to get better, and better. We went straight to the Visitor Centre here where some lovely volunteers briefed us on 1) quokkas 2) places to see 3) places to swim 4) the hop on hop off bus.

So our first activity was a free guided quokka tour. I must admit I did think they would be hopping everywhere but there weren’t that many around because they are nocturnal. But they are small, cute things with sweet faces and strong, leathery tails like any macropod. We saw one little one with a baby – unusual for this time of year apparently. The guide, Linda, spends the first part of her shift scouting them out so visitors can see them. Linda gave me a quokka bookmark 😊.

We left the tour a few minutes early to start with the bus. There are about 20 stops around the island so we were confused about which ones to stop at because me = I want to see ALL!! Clutching my free map we decided to stop at the middle stop of Salmon Bay on the southside of the island. It was a small cove, already quite crowded with people settling in for the day. But we found a spot up against the limestone rocks and took ourselves into the beautiful water. The colour of the water was deceiving, because the coral sand and clear water you’d think it was more on the warm side. It wasn’t cold but still a little brisk but once you were in, oh heaven! Not Bali warm but so, so, so clean. There were a fair few people in the water and lots of snorkellers as it’s a marine sanctuary. I’d love to snorkel but maybe next time. We were just going to sit in our spot until someone helped their toddler wee about one foot from our stuff. Not happy: time to find another beach!

We hopped on the bus with a view to going to one of the island’s northern beaches when, just as we had settled into our seat, the bus swept around a few curves and there it was, one of the loveliest beaches I’ve ever seen. Bright white sand, reefs, surf breaking on outer reefs, water colour indescribable and not crowded. I said, ‘let’s get out!!!!’ and we did. Thankfully 😊.

We walked down some stairs, then along a tiny beach and through a rocky limestone outcrop to the sweep of the beach. I can’t really describe it, but the water was like my aquamarine ring. It was gin clear, and I could see all the way down to my toenails and little bits of weed and old coral. Sublime? Breathtaking? Indescribable? Phenomenal? All of the above, yes. I can’t actually think of a better beach I’ve been on. Chinaman’s Beach and Hyam’s Beach in Jervis Bay would come close, as would the Bay of Fires in Tassie and maybe Matamanoa in Fiji? So we swam and got out and dried off and swam again and again. Had a banana and some twisties and water. As we got back on the bus we did sweep past more beautiful beaches but man, we were so fortunate we chose the one we did – or did it choose us?

We were on the bus for another 30 minutes or so. Most of the island was vegetated but quite scrubby, with the occasional bracts of low growing gum trees. Colours of grey, grey-green, bright green, purples, blue-greens, yellow-greens, olive. Very beautiful.

- Back at the main settlement we had a shared dip-plate with drinks
- Ferry back to Fremantle, dozing after our beach beauty, all salty and windswept and smelling of garlic from lunch
- A refreshing alcoholic ginger beer at the amazing Gage Roads Brewery, right on the port – very groovy.
- Fremantle is a mighty port, I love all of the huge industrial buildings. It kinda reminds me of Hamburg though that's much larger. I think the neatness and 'proud grandeur' of their histories and value to their nations is the same
- Back at the unit for a quick shower
- Sunset at Bather’s Beach (went to one of the bars but it was too hot so just sat on the boardwalk)
- Home cooked panfried pork, pears and rice for dinner with vegetables
- An unforgettable day!もっと詳しく