Off to Rottnest | Perth Day 3
Big adventure day! Heading to Rottnest Island for the day. Took the Rottnest Express ferry at 9:30am for the 1.5 hour ride there. I purchased the direct route rather than going through Fremantle. I didn’t realize it but this ride included beverages (a latte and OJ for me) and a spread of breakfast stuff. It was perfect because I didn’t eat before I left.
Arrived at Rottnest at 11am. I had arranged for a bike rental and picked up my bike, helmet and lock immediately upon disembarking. Thankfully it was a woman’s bike and thankfully I planned somewhat ahead with bike shorts under my dress and hiking shoes on my feet. I was a little stressed because I desperately needed a backpack so I could ride with all my stuff. I did some research and saw one of the gift shops sold backpacks. The brand is Aloha (local to HI) ironically. Unfortunately they were out of the black ones so I had to settle for the last remaining bag – Fluorescent pink! Will I ever use this thing again??? For AUD $88 I hope so! It was totally worth it though because I could safely bike and carry all my stuff.
I had also looked into the water situation. Apparently the only place to get drinking water was by the ferry terminal. I had my Yeti and bought 2 more bottles. Very good call! I wound up drinking all the water just as I finished my ride!
The ride itself was fantastic! In total I rode about 6.5 miles. I was expecting the roads to be flatter though so there was a lot of stopping and sometimes walking the bike. I also stopped along the way to see the beautiful sights! The water was blue like the Caribbean and the sand looked like sugar. It was in the high 70’s but not warm enough to go into the water. On one of my many breaks, these two older women started talking to me – Glenda and Elizabeth. They live in Australia. We started talking about our heritages and I found out they were ashkenazi too! Or at least they had it in their DNA. We had an interesting conversation about being Jewish – mostly about where their ancestors came from (Germany, Russia like me). It almost seemed like you had to be Jewish on the down-low?? I told them about my grandfather escaping from the holocaust and they were really interested in that. Super sweet and nice ladies! We parted ways when they got to their bus stop.
I kept cycling, trying to get back to the terminal area. It was a tough ride! And I was parched! The sun was strong – hardly any shade along the way. But I wore spf 50 so I didn’t get burnt. I really needed to stop and rest so I found a restaurant that seemed decent. I was about 100 feet from the restaurant when I fell. While there are no cars on the island, there are maintenance trucks and the tour buses. Well a maintenance truck was coming in the opposite direction as well as some other bikers. I was properly riding on the left side of the road when one of the bikers, this kid, tried to avoid the truck and came straight at me! There was a freaking lake right next to the road that thankfully had a wire mesh fence a few feet high. I careened into the fence and went down! I wasn’t hurt thank god but I awkwardly had the bike fall on me and needed help getting it off me and getting up! The truck driver stopped and came over as did the kid that ran me off the road. The truck driver told the kid, very nicely, that he needed to stay to the left! Argh. Once I got back up and dusted myself off, I resumed my ride to the restaurant. Parking the bike was a big relief! My legs were rubber! I could barely walk up the few steps to the restaurant! But the timing was perfect. And the restaurant was part of a hotel/lodge. Bonus – there was a COLD water filling station in the lobby!
I wasn’t too hungry-I mostly wanted to sit and drink water-but I felt obligated to order food. I had an amazing cheeseburger and the fries were the perfect crispness! I ate about half the food and just chilled until I had to make my way back to the boat. While at the restaurant I changed my departure time from 5pm to 4:15pm. Super glad I did. I was spent!
I went back into the “town” and perused some shops. The general store was very impressive! They sold EVERYTHING! Which makes sense if you are staying overnight at the hotels or campgrounds. But I did see they had Rottnest branded backpacks for 1/2 the price I paid earlier. Damn. When I had looked online they weren’t listed.
Saw a few Quakas too. I was surprised I hadn’t seen them along my route. They could care less about all the people but we were warned not to touch or feed them.
After chilling for a few, I made my way back to the boat. The ferry ride went quickly-I’m pretty sure I fell asleep! I was so exhausted. And apparently there was a humpback whale sighting but I missed it.
Got back to Perth at 5:30 and caught an uber back to my Airbnb. Time for shower, leftovers and relaxing before bed! oh! I thought Perth was being bombed but it was just fireworks! Pretty cool show from my lanai!
A Day of Rest in Perth | Day 4
Woke up around 8 after a great night of sleep. The air conditioner in this place is perfect! It was FREEZING in here but the bedding keeps me warm. Just like home!
I didn’t have anything planned for today. The weather was supposed to be iffy with some rain forecasted. I considered going downtown to a museum and to explore however after chilling out for a bit I apparently fell asleep on the couch for several hours. I was super tired from going nonstop since I left Hawaii on Thursday. I woke up around 3 and decided to just chill and plan the rest of my Perth trip until dinner time.
Went to dinner at a sports bar called The Royal by the Waterfront down by the Swan River. It was kinda in a lagoon. Cool vibes. Big place. It had seating inside and out. The weather was still pretty warm and the rain had temporarily stopped so I sat outside under these umbrellas facing the water. The waitress was super nice and cool. She’s from England and has a friend who just moved to Hawaii. We were talking about my plans in Australia and she had great advice about snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and where to go snorkeling from. Apparently the reefs right by Cairns (town where I’m staying) are more damaged than those by towns further north. I’ll have a car so that’s perfect!
Anyway dinner was yummy! The place had only a 4.1 rating on Google Maps so I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked my meal. I ordered the chicken schnitzel with a red wine reduction sauce on the side. It came with fries and an arugula salad with a light vinaigrette dressing. Plus a maybe-too-sweet cocktail called the Pornstar Martini. It had passion fruit liqueur in it plus vanilla infused vodka. Like I said it was a bit too sweet and I like sweet drinks. The whole thing hit the spot.
Finished up around 8 and walked over to the grocery store for water and TP. I thought I bought TP on Saturday but it was paper towels 🤦🏼♀️
Back to the Airbnb by 8:30 to chill and go to bed. It’s pouring out now plus there is thunder and lightning. Perfect timing!
Site Title 