Freemantle

We finally gave the kids the promised train ride and caught the train to Freemantle (or "Freo" to the locals). It was so simple and easy, with well marked tracks and directions when we changed trains and a timer until the next train left. Just another reason to love Perth.

Freemantle has so many old buildings I was in heaven. There was so much to look at, just in the buildings alone. It looks like it would be a lovely place to spend time if you have the leisure to enjoy a coffee, lunch and a browse through many different shops. Unfortunately kids don't give you that leisure, or perhaps that is just our two.

We got to visit the Roundhouse, which is the oldest building in Freo, built in 1830. It was used as a gaol for abut 35 years and then used as a lock up by the police. Later it was used by the Water Police and then as storage. It is now a heritage site showcasing the gaol part of its life. The main reason we headed there was because they fire a cannon at 1pm every day and we thought that would be fun. Rory had both his hands and mine over his ears, as he was scared it was going to be really loud. And it was! It was an awesome boom that you felt through the ground and in your chest, as well as hearing it.

Underneath the Roudhouse is a tunnel built by a Whaling Company in 1937 to make it easier to get goods from the port to the township.

We explored the Shipwrecks Galleries Museum. What a great, free museum to explore! There are all sorts of artefacts and information on a range of different shipwrecks that have happened off the WA coast. I think one of the most interesting for us was seeing a reconstruction of part of the hull of the Batavia from timbers rescued from the sea floor. We have been seeing so much about the Batavia shipwreck all down the coast, so it was nice to be so close to some of the salvage timbers.  I found some of my favourite artefacts - beardman pottery. There is something so quirky and cool about it.

Anchor from the Batavia (it was huge)

Batavia hull

Beardman Pottery

There are 2 free CAT buses in Freo. One runs east to west and the other north to south. We hopped on the east-west one to take a look at parts of Freo we couldn't walk to, and to complete Rory's public transport experience. The buses are great, running every 10 -15 minutes, and a great way to get around. I would have liked to see the old gaol as it is a UNESCO listed heritage building but it had been a long day and we were all ready to head home. I'm sure there is lots more to Freo that we could have enjoyed but it would take a couple of days at least.

I just really liked this on the foreshore 

Rottnest Island

When I was in Year 3 we were given an assignment on an Australian animal based on a letter of the alphabet. I was given the letter Q and I remember telling my teacher, Miss Harris, that there weren't any animals that started with Q. She told me about Quokkas, so that's what I did my project on. When I was in Yr 6 my family did a 6 week trip to Perth and back and part of that was a trip to Rottnest Island to see the Quokkas. I remember really enjoying the island then and thinking the quokkas were awesome, so I was pretty keen to introduce my kids to them as well.

Rottnest Island was great! The kids fell in love with the quokkas, with Rory wanting to bring one home with him, and the whole island is very beautiful. We caught the bus, rather than taking or hiring bikes, as we would have needed a seat or trailer for Rory and it all seemed rather complicated. While I think it made it easier for us, I do think we missed out on a lot as we couldn't just pop in to the different beaches and lookouts. We were constrained by the bus stops and, while the buses went every 30 minutes, a couple of times of waiting and there goes an hour or more. I feel like we didn't have enough to time truly enjoy and explore the Island and would love to go back again and stay on the Island to truly enjoy all it offers.

We weren't sure what the quokka finding situation would be like, if we would have to go hunting for them or what the go was. There is no concern about not seeing them as there are quite a lot that hang around the small collection of shops that sit together near the wharf. There were quokkas sleeping, hopping about and eating food out of people's hands and off the ground. The grocery shop has plastic barrier doors to stop the quokkas from entering. Tilda and I had a great time imagining all of the things a quokka would get up to, and all of the tasty treats it would try, if it managed to sneak into the shop.

There are lots of beautiful, sheltered beaches and bays and many of them looked like they would be wonderful places to snorkel. Greg had looked at the weather and it was going to be 21 degrees and pretty windy so we hadn't bothered to bring our swimmers or snorkelling gear, but the water looked so beautiful I think I would have been tempted to go in, no matter how cold it was.

There are 2 lighthouses on the Island. We ran out of time to climb the one in the middle and I was disappointed about that. I think it would have been great to be able to climb up and look at the whole Island and its surrounding water. We did check out the one closer to the town, but you can't go in it and poor Rory was so disappointed as we had told him we would go to the other lighthouse.

The Wadjemup Lighthouse (the one you can climb in the middle of the Island)

There is a place where you can see New Zealand Fur Seals. As we were walking to it, I could see some rocks off shore and I wondered how hard it would be to spot them, or if they would even be on the rocks in the middle of the day. Once we got to the look out, there was no wondering any more... there were about 10 -15 just playing about in the shallows right below us, floating on their backs, sleeping and (not seriously) fighting. That was very exciting and not something I had expected to see. I could have stayed and watched them for ages but I didn't want to miss the next bus.

We had 6 hours on the Island and it really wasn't enough. Perhaps on bikes it might have been, but using the Island bus, it just wasn't enough and I am already planning to go back and stay on the Island one day.

Perth Part 2: Kings Park, Perth Hills and Ikea

Kings Park is a very beautiful green space in the middle of Perth. It covers over 4km2 and incorporates a treetop walkway and glass bridge, Botanic Gardens and 3 pretty cool playgrounds. There were wild flowers galore blooming in the Botanic Gardens and they were so stunning. Unfortunately I only had my phone to use as a camera. I intended to go back with our digital SLR but never got the opportunity. The views from the tree top walk over south Perth and the old Swan Brewery were lovely. And, of course, we spent quite a bit of time at one of the playgrounds for the kids. We went to the nature playground, which included a stream and pond where you could build dams and catch tadpoles, climbing ropes in trees and towers. The kids loved it and were very sad to leave, which is kind of funny as they have had lots of opportunities for nature based play (except rope climbs in trees) throughout this whole trip.

This is a gum nut just starting to blossom

 We drove up into the Perth Hills one afternoon and found Mundaring Weir. This is pretty amazing because it is the water supply for Kalgoolie and Coolgardie, 530kms away! It is located in a really pretty valley and was a very pretty place to explore. It was a little bit of a lucky find.

 

We also drove along the coastline from North Freemantle to Scarborough Beach, taking in the famous Cottesloe Beach, and while it was all very pretty it was too windy and cold to truly enjoy. It seems like it has been very windy on the coast ever since we left Exmouth about 6 weeks ago! I have to say, the WA coastline is beautiful but we haven't been able to really enjoy it because of the wind.

The caravan park we stayed in was about 5kms from Ikea. That was rather exciting for me, as a trip to Ikea is a good 2 – 2.5 hours from home normally. So, we found ourselves having dinner there twice during our stay – a dinner of meatballs, of course! The second night we went, we arrived at the restaurant just in time for Toy Story 4 to be starting in the kids area, so we all had dinner while the kids watched the movie. Part of me can't believe we sat in the Ikea restaurant long enough for the kids to watch a full movie! (I kinda want to hang my head in shame)

Perth Part 1: A trip into the City

I really like Perth. If I had to live in a capital city (other than Sydney, as I grew up in Sydney and still have a very fond connection to it), I would happily live in Perth. We were only there for 9 days, and could have spent many more days exploring and enjoying the area, but even from that glimpse I am pretty sure I could happily live there. The main north-south train line runs along the centre of the highway and has been very well laid out with bus and train interchanges. Parking is only $2 for the entire day at the station car parks on week days, and free on weekends, there is free parking within the city on weekends and transport is so much cheaper than Sydney. We loved Kings Park – what an amazing green space within the heart of a capital city – and I had nowhere near enough time to explore all of the city, or do other interesting things like visit the museum, the Tutankhamen exhibition and the art gallery. I could happily go back some day and spend a lot more time there. We didn't even have great weather, experiencing our first rain in about 9 weeks, and it was too cold to enjoy the beautiful beaches, but despite this, I still really enjoyed Perth.

We spent one day exploring the City. We had promised the kids a train trip into the city but on the morning we planned to head in, when we got to the train station it was pouring. We tried to get organised, getting the pram out of the car and Rory in a jumper and both Greg and I were soaked before we'd even managed any of that, so we gave up, jumped into the car and drove into the city. We found free parking with about 600m to walk to get right into the main shopping part of the city... how good is that? I am used to Sydney with its $50+ per day for parking.

We walked through a mall, checking out the shops. Our poor “deprived” kids were fascinated by the window display of Myers. There were some summer kids swimwear displays and some Christmas ones and our kids were so excited. I guess that's what happens when they never go to “the big smoke” and have only seen small towns and roadhouses for over a thousand kilometres!

We walked through a small mall and found the Roc Candy Shop, a hard candy shop. The two people working there were just beginning to make lollies that read 'ho, ho, ho' in the centre and the shop is set up so you can watch the lollies being made, so of course we stopped. We've seen hard lollies being made on a couple of occasions now, starting in Sovereign Hill, but Greg and I had been wondering how they make the words and other more complicated patterns and pictures inside and we finally had a chance to see. It was the first time they had made ho ho ho lollies so they had to work through the process of making them and we got a good look at the thought process. It was very cool! And we got to try some of the candy while it was still warm. It was delicious! Lime flavoured and very yummy. We bought a big bag of their product ends and off cuts, which was good value. It was full of all sorts of things, including names for weddings, initials and love hearts, watermelon looking ones, minions, Freo promotion lollies and lots more.

We went looking for a games shop so I could look at some more board games or card games. It was in the basement of London Tower... how cool is that? Or am I just a geek? The London Tower mall is pretty cool. It was built in the 1930s and is designed to look like an old English streetscape. I love this sort of stuff.

We also ventured past the old fire station, which is a beautiful old building. I really need to go and visit London or Europe and soak in their heritage and historic buildings. Old architecture is so much more interesting and beautiful than today's.

We found some hanging bird cages in a tree outside the hospital. I'm not sure why they are there but the kids had a great time playing in them.