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As I opened the curtains this morning to take an early peek at the weather, I was met with a pure blue sky. It immediately picks you up. As you guessed from my last blog, I have been peddling at half pace for a number of days so needed to get out and get my camera as well as my pedometer going. I put the ‘World Ain’t Slowing Down’ song on and get myself ready. A healthy breakfast and up to the Perth Train Station, curtesy of the Hyatt bus, with Ross the driver, who I have to admit was a mine of information. A little old man with an honest warmth to his welcome, even though he was only taking me a mile across the City. He was an encyclopaedia of everything ‘Perth’ and it is a shame that I am leaving as he obviously loves his City and wants me to see as much of it as possible. Well done Ross!

The tourist office gave me some quick advice for the ticket up to Fremantle which was idiot proof and inside 15 minutes I was on the Rail, a metro type service, up to Fremantle. I am learning short cuts to failure avoidance, by working out what I need to know in advance. The China Wall excepted, it is starting to work. So when I get off at the Railway Station, which way do I turn, is the River behind me or to my right? what colour is the building I need, what’s it called?????? …but it is working.

I plan to get a Ferry for Rottnest, my main destination for the day, but as I turn up the 10.30am boat has just departed, so gives me lots of time to buy a ticket and view what I have to do. All very ‘queue here’ and get on. With the next one at 11.30am I take the opportunity to go into Fremantle for a camera battery (thinking about 3 days outback for Uluru) and also to take a few more snaps of Fremantle to help me remember the place. It is bathed in sunshine today, which makes the white sandstone buildings look even more colonial. Fremantle reminds me of a cross between Leamington Spa and New Orleans. The Regency period buildings are typically British and some have first floor veranda’s with iron artistry fresco’s that line the walkways. I have plenty of time to get my supplies and to be on time for the ferry, with a few more photo’s too.

As we pull away you get a sense of the harbour and docks for what its main purpose has been for almost 200 years. This has been about shipping raw materials out and human traffic in. The Sheds that we alight from are the same that all of the migrant would have seen coming to Fremantle on the ships over the last 100 year and some sheds as huge barns used to store lambs wool ready to be shipped to the mills. Fremantle got its name on the world map when it hosted the America’s Cup yachting race in 1987 the first time it had not been in America. You can see that this is a boating place with the large Marina and the huge boats that dock. A bit of history helps I think.

The fast ferry takes about 35 minutes to get to Rottnest Island. Rottnest named by the Dutch who thought that the Island was infested by large Rats. These Rats are actually Quokka’s, a large marsupial like a small Kangaroo, but with all the features of a large Rat that stand on its hind legs with a big tail. There are lots of them here, but I only saw 2 and by the time my camera was out and I said ‘smile’ they had either turned around or hid.

As you approach the Island, which is free of traffic, you get a feeling of holiday village. The Island is quite beautiful and I now realise that I should have found a way to do a whole day here. Maybe next time. As I walk down the pier, a Pelican was sitting on a lamp post above my head. It was huge. On an Island like this there isn’t much to threaten it, so it just sat there and preened while tourists clicked away. I hired a bike for a couple of hours which was ample in the heat, humidity and the direct sunlight. The bike hire man was handing out safety helmets to everyone, but not to me. I guess he though that if I fell off it would be a case of low speed and I would probably bash one of my shoulders instead. The roads were fairly flat and I just went across to a couple of local bays to get views of the sea. I’m holding off my snorkelling unto the Cook Islands, so not in a rush to jump into the sea. It was very hot and you could feel your water reserves being drained.

After my bike ride, I had to replenish the liquids and then laze around watching the water, boats, birds and people doing similar. I rolled out my jacket on the sand, used my bag for a pillow and tilted my cowboy hat over my face. It was delightful and after my backbone had sunk a little into the hard sand, fairly comfortable. I watche the Pelican cross from side to side, occasionally stopping by boat owners fishing off the backs of their boats and the gulls and sea birds squeaking and squawking at each other. My mind just drifted.

It was soon time to get back onboard the Ferry to head back to Fremantle. A lovely journey shared with the delightful company of Gemma from Sydney who is an Art Director with a medical magazine. Gemma had visited a lot of the places that I have just left in Asia, so we compared notes on everything from the lack of English, to litter and the crazy driving. These are the times that make my journey so rewarding when you can have a good old natter with lovely people, thanks Gemma!

As the ferry was making its way back, I could see the reflection in a glass window over Gemma’s shoulder that the sun was again starting to drop and giving the same shimmer that I had seen a few days ago with Beverley when we stopped off at Cottisloe. My camera wasn’t at hand again so another opportunity missed.

Just to digress a second, I received an email yesterday that was meant for another Dave Dugdale, but was sent to my btinternet.com address. The girl also name Gemma was trying to get something from her father back in the UK. The next coincidence was where Gemma Dugdale lived…she lives in Subiaco which is just outside Perth here in Australia. Strange how these things happen.

Back up to the hotel and a relaxing evening in the Hyatt with some Antipasto and a Gin and Tonic and to write up the blog while its fresh in my mind. Out the corner of my eye there is a Prom assembling for the event rooms to my right, with seventeen year olds dressed to the nines for their special night. Proud Mum’s and Dads hanging around a bit longer than they should to witness the special evening. You felt excited for them.

So that is about it. I’m heading out to Alice Springs tomorrow and expecting to be out of wifi range for 4 days, so will post you towards the end of the week if I am lucky. Catch you soon.