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Thursday 7th May - Beautiful sunny day caught the ferry to Rottnest Island from Freemantle port. Only a 30 minute crossing on calm seas. Had pre-booked bike hire for the day so as soon as we had landed we went to collect our wheels. What a beautiful island Rottnest is with lots of sandy bays and clear blue water (and no cars!) - can understand why Liz & Ray enjoyed it so much. We started cycling towards the lighthouse and onwards calling in on a couple of bays for photo shoots and then on our bikes to the next bay. Headed inland to see the Pink Lake and spotted some Black Stilts on the way. Arrived at Pink Lake - very little water - and as we were taking photos we did see a couple of Quokkas who came up very close to us. Headed back to the bays and stopped at Little Armstrong Bay - locked up our bikes and clambered down to a small deserted cove with rocks each side - perfect. No-one else there - put on our cossies, eat lunch and then had a wonderful swim in lovely warm clear water. Sat on beach to dry out,
Rottnest Island
View from the lighthouse one more swim and then back on the bikes to leisurely cycle back to the jetty to hand them back and catch the ferry. When we arrived back at ‘Freo’ sun starting to set so jumped in van and drove round to North Quay Point by the lighthouse to watch the sunset. What a great day - now dark (6.00pm) so made our way to Frank Lipino Memorial rest area for the night.
Friday 8th May - A free day - no idea what we were going to do so decided to head for Rockingham just along the coast from Freemantle. Headed towards what looked like a rocky point - surprise, surprise it wasn’t a point but the corner of an island - Penguin Island. A ferry runs across every hour so we got our ticket, packed our rucksack with cossies, sun cream and sandwiches and off we went on 11.00 ferry. Penguin Island is a bird sanctuary, part of a marine nature reserve and is the breeding centre for a colony of Little Blue Penguins and various other sea birds including Pelicans. Thousands of sea gulls and terns welcomed us. Very noisy as the gulls are sitting on
their eggs. Walked along the board walk and over the top of the island to the beach on the other side. Rocks and caves here that seals use - but not whilst we were there! Found a spot on the rocks all to ourselves . Spent leisurely lunch time/afternoon just swimming in clear blue water - another tough day! Caught 3.10pm ferry back and drove on to Mandhura. What a contrast - this is a huge marina complex beautifully laid out - had coffee overlooking the boats in the marina. Drove back to Frank Lipino rest area again for the night - wonderful sunset (best yet) with red sky lasting for ever plus a full moon shining down on the other side of the road. Great day - was this our last dip in the Indian Ocean?
Saturday 9th May - Our last full day with our campervan in Oz - we have to return it tomorrow. Its funny how quickly you become attached to a campervan - bit like a snail with its shell and we shall miss it. Equally we will miss the excitement of new roads, new routes and new horizons each morning as well as
the random encounters along the way. Travelling can get into the blood very easily!!
Still we had time to enjoy the café culture of Freemantle and watch and enjoy the street entertainment. Tried our hand at playing the Didgeridoo in a great place called Didgeridoo Breath - Lyn was much more successful! Then moved on to the market and met a great guy who had cycled from Perth to Sydney with his wife. Took 31 days with backup from his family each night but for him it was a dream come true. Swapped email addresses so guess he might turn up in Dorset! Last night in our campervan in a proper campsite next to the beach. Fantastic sunset as we stood on the jetty with loads of fisherman plus a Pelican and a seal that had caught a stingray - perfect end to a perfect day and perfect trip. We know we have got Singapore to come but the travelling through both islands of New Zealand and the coast and outback in Australia have been something really special which we will both treasure. So guess this is the last Blog from Oz as tomorrow we return the van, stay in
Quokka
A friendly one a hotel and fly out on Monday. See ya!
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