Touring the West Coast: First stop Perth. Arrived late Friday night at John and Anntonia’s. So great to have our own room and the bed was really comfy. Thanks guys!!
Saturday we filled our bellies with delicious brekkie down at the wharf and then headed to Kings Park for amazing views of the city. The sun was shining and the weather was fab. We took a seat at either end of the talking wall for a chat and dropped in to the ridiculously expensive store on top of the hill for a little look. Both a must see if you’re in Perth! We took a short stroll around the park down Jacobs Ladder watching all the eager exercisers puffing and panting when they ran up past us as we walked down the 300 step, 43 metre high stairs. Walking down was a workout let alone going up. Good job. That night we hit the town for a few bevies, catching up with Chloe, Murt and co. The mojitos were goooood. A late night stopover in the chipper before heading back to the house, felt like being back in Ireland again.
Let’s go Freo: Sunday we jumped on the train for Freo with John, Anntonia, Owen, Karen, Chloe and her mate Rachael. After a bit of table stalking at Little Creatures we settled in for some grub and a few afternoon drinks. Mussels were delicious. Before heading back we strolled about the markets and picked up some Irish chocolate.
‘We love Rotto’: Monday we were off to Rotto so we caught the ferry from the wharf over. First port of call bag drop at the hotel. Second port of call early lunch at Dome café. Third port of call bike rental. We were going to be brave and rent a tandem but after hearing they had no gears and Rotto has hills, it didn’t really match up so we opted for a bike each. Probably for the best. We may not have survived the two days sharing a tandem. Bike – check, helmet – check, snorkel – check and we were good to go. We set off for the south of the island and got our snorkel on at Little Salmon Bay. The water temp not so hot like Queensland. Not a fan but we did see some nice fish. Though after all the talk about great white sharks the previous weekend I was a tad over cautious trying to make sure I was within a metre of rock or coral at all times that I could swim up onto if a shark did happen to appear. It led to allot of swimming into James while I was on shark alert and not watching where I was going. Sorry Jim!
Tuesday, day two on Rotto we made for the north end of the island. The wind had picked up quite allot so many of the usual snorkeling spots were just too rough. We had a quick dip in around Geordie Bay but decided the visibility was too poor for a good snorkel. Wise choice as two other ladies who opted to give it a try saw nothing but seaweed and rocks. After a fun day cruising the island on our bikes it was time to catch our ferry back to Perth.
Limestone formations at Nambung: Wednesday = Pinnacles day. John and Anntonia were so good to lend us their car so we jumped at the offer and drove up the coast to check out the pinnacles and a few of the west coasts seaside towns to see how it maries up with the east coast. It was a bit of a trek but totally worth it. We had expected to see a few tall rocks covering a small enough area but we got there and it’s massive. Thousands of them covering fields and fields. It was pretty cool.
All in all we had a brilliant time in Perth. John and Anntonia were absolute stars. THANKS!
Sharkey and George crime busters of the sea: Thursday we waved goodbye to Perth and landed up in Exmouth for four days in Ningaloo. We were back to the sun, sea and sand like Queensland. The weather was fab and the sea temp 28 degrees. Just how we like it. After a little shock when I saw the place I had booked to stay in we settled in and headed off to explore. Not to be dramatic but there was almost a few tears and I did have a close my eyes moment – ‘there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home’ but unfortunately it still looked the same when I opened my eyes and the upgrade rooms were no better so we decided to stay put and make do. Onwards and upwards. Day two was whale shark day. Surreal experience. Biggest fish in the sea o yeah! We joined our tour group and set sail for the outer reef. An early morning snorkel to get the day going before jumping in with the big fish was fun. Then came the best part. Our spotter plane had found a whale shark. Hurray! So we split into our two groups and got ready to jump in. We formed a line either side of the whale’s path and lay in wait. The visibility was pretty poor as there had been a big swell the days before we arrived so we had to get right in and close to see the whale shark. It was almost like we were in a giant fish tank and it wasn’t really happening as we couldn’t see the shark coming due to the poor visibility but then all of the sudden he would be right there in front of us. He was a big one (7metres) and really fast too. I tried to keep up swimming after him but not a chance. So in and out we got 8 times. Each time I relaxed more and it was more exciting. By the end I was keeping up with him for allot longer after he swam by. All in all we had a great day out. Would definitely recommend to a friend. Experience of a lifetime.
Over the weekend we hopped in our rental car and headed for the high seas to snorkeled to our hearts content. Day 1 we went to Turquoise Bay for the drift snorkel. Saw an amazing array of fish, lots of colours. We watched the sunset from the lighthouse that evening. Amazing! Day 2 we headed to Coral Bay to snorkel right off the beach at Purdy Point. Again saw lots of cool fish but also made a few new friends. I saw a small grey shark, about 2.5 feet long. Unfortunately I only caught a glimpse as he swam the other direction. We also saw a few sting rays. Two small brown ones and one blue spotted one. They were cool. A nice little addition to all the fish and coral and a great way to end out our west coast travels.
