Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Rottnest Island WA April 29, 2015 Today was Rottnest Island day. We booked a tour which picked us up from the park and took us to the  ferry that leaves from Fremantle. The ferry ride was pretty smooth, but the noise from the hordes of playgroup children and some that looked school age to us was deafening. You could not hear the PA or the commentary, if there was one. One 6yo who along with his mates had taken over the seats on the other side of our table and who had adopted us, seemed pretty aware of things nautical and marine. He knew the names of a bunch of sharks and whales and of the aircraft carrier anchored just off the coast (USS Carl Vincen) and was going on about the Edmond Fitzgerald wrecked on Lake Superior, which I though odd for an ozzie boy, but they turned out to be Canadian, which makes more sense.   Rottnest Island ferry. Fremantle WA USS Carl Vincen. Fremantle WA Rotto, as it's called, is best explored by bicycle, of which there are thousan...

Woodman Point WA April 28 2015 Left Busselton by 9am with few regrets, happy to be on the move again and heading to Fremantle. Pretty easy sort of run, but the suburban buildup starts before Mandurah and just doesn't stop. We did follow the old road up the coast thinking it might be scenic, but all we saw was housing estates, industrial parks and scrub. The park is a bit of a surprise: it looks a bit daggy on the outside, and there are 360 mailboxes for the permanents, but our site is quite private and pleasant. After some lunch and getting the washing sorted, we took a drive into Freo itself; I had my head set on seeing the maritime museum and the cafes along the marina.  We were last here in 2002 and that was a complete surprise from 1974; everything was tarted up and obviously going gang-busters, still living on the big hit from the America’s  Cup of 1987. But today it all looks a bit seedy to tell the truth, even the boardwalk cafes look like they could do with ...