The time my travel plans went wrong

 A few years ago I took the Ghan Train trip from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia, and loved every moment of it so I made it my mission to take the Indian Pacific train from Perth to Sydney.   I would then have travelled from the top to the bottom  and from the West coast to the East coast of Australia. I always enjoy making a plan and then carrying it out.

This was the plan but in reverse ( Photo Indian Pacific Publicity)

In high anticipation I duly booked the trip and flew the seven and a half hours to Perth from Auckland.  Perth is a fresh, modern city and I liked the look of it immediately but things went wrong as soon as I arrived.  Firstly I couldn't find a taxi or get an Uber, it being a busy Saturday night, so I set out to walk to my hotel from the railway station. Unfortunately I walked back and forth along the street I thought it was on several times before finding it tucked away down a side street.  When I went to check in I was told they had no record of my booking and the hotel was full, despite the fact I had received an email confirming my booking. The only room available was right under the hotel's very noisy air conditioning unit.  No sleep at all for the next two nights!

Fortunately I was booked to go on a 3 day tour of the Margaret River region on the third day.  That tour was wonderful (I have written about it in previous posts)  Run by the McLeod family tour company it was faultless. 

The Bell tower, Perth.  Interesting architecture

We returned to Perth for a two day stopover before catching the train.  Would you believe it? Hotel reception once again told me they had no booking for me and, yes, once again I had an email confirming that they did. Fortunately I stood my ground and managed to get a better room this time.  I spent the next couple of days sightseeing and enjoying Perth.  The night before the train trip was to start I went to the hotel bar to have a drink with some traveling companions I had met on the Margaret River trip. When I arrived one of them asked me "Have you heard the news?"  I hadn't.  Turned out the train trip had been cancelled due to flooding on the tracks.  What a disappointment, that had been the whole purpose of my trip.  So new plans had to be made.  

Janine and Steve, great companions making 
a trouble shared a trouble halved

Since the train was meant to go to Sydney and I had booked my flight home to New Zealand from there I needed to book a flight to Sydney which I did early the next day. Fortunately two of my fellow travellers booked the same flight.  I also contacted my hotel in Sydney and extended my stay for three nights.

The three of us duly went to the airport for our flight and guess what?  The flight was cancelled.  Talk about a comedy of errors.  We were told our flight would be the next day so needed to book a hotel near the airport for the night which we did.  To top it all off we exited the airport to find a taxi queue about a hundred yards long but none of the drivers wanted to take us because the trip was too short and they would lose their place in the queue for a possible longer trip.  Then the taxi drivers started arguing with each other, shouting and fists were raised.  Oh my goodness, by asking for a taxi we had started a riot! Finally a taxi from a long way back in the queue came to our rescue.  As we drove away we could see the taxi drivers still shouting at each other. Phew! We all had a good laugh about it later.

Lovely view of the Swan River and Perth from an unexpected stay at the Aloft Hotel 

The hotel we spent our night in was lovely, we all enjoyed it and were quickly refunded the cost by the airline. The next day we flew to Sydney with no problems and I spent a few days sightseeing in and around Sydney before flying home. We all agreed that we would be unlikely to book the Indian Pacific again.  I don't think cancellations of it are rare but who knows, maybe one day

Cocktails in Sydney

The very last insult was that my hotel in Sydney charged me for the night I wasn't there due to my flight being cancelled.  I had contacted them immediately the flight was cancelled but apparently that wasn't soon enough.

The question is "Did I have a good trip?"  Yes I did, I had a fabulous time. I met and spent time with some lovely people, I saw spectacular places I had never seen before, the weather was beautiful and evening cocktails at the hotel bar overlooking Darling Harbour in Sydney were a special treat.  I didn't come home feeling disappointed at all.  The trip wasn't what I'd planned but I'd made the most of it.  I'm a great believer in just going with the flow.

Rottnest Island, West Australia and the Delightful Quokka

Rottnest Island (Aboriginal name Wadjemup) lies 19 kilometres off the coast of Perth. It is a sandy, low lying island so named by the Dutch explorer, De Vlamingh in 1696, who called it "Paradise on earth" but thought the adorable little quokka that inhabit the island looked like large rats. I was keen to visit the island I had heard so much about, and especially to see the quokka, so on a bright and sunny autumn day I set off with two travelling companions on the ferry from Perth.  We had all bought a package tour which included the ferry trip, admission to the island, lunch and a bus tour around the island.  The  trip down the Swan River was slow and scenic with just one stop at Fremantle to pick up more passengers and from there a high speed 30 minute trip to the island.

Thomson Bay

I was surprised to find the main town on the island, Thomson Bay, was a hive of activity, thronged with tourists with multiple restaurants, souvenir shops, bike hireage and accommodation.  For some reason I hadn't expected the island to have a resort feel about it although having a permanent population of only 300 it has annual visitor numbers of 780,000 so I shouldn't have been surprised.  We had been hoping we would be lucky enough to see at least one quokka, we shouldn't have worried, they were everywhere.  Very, very cute and harmless.

Quokka - about the size of a cat

The bus tour was worth its weight in gold covering a large part of the 19 kilometre square island.   In an hour and a half we got to see the stunning pure white, sandy beaches and clear turquoise waters fringing the shores, seals swimming in the sea, native birds and various other wild life.  We also learnt about the island's sad and colourful history.  At various times it has been used as a harsh prison for Aborigines, a reformatory school for offending youth, a military out post and even as a quarantine station during the covid epidemic of 2020.  Nowdays it has left that sad history behind and is a very popular holiday spot especially for divers and snorkelers searching for its delicious lobsters and scallops.

Although there are various bays with settlements and accommodation most of the island is scrubby and unspoilt and our tour driver told us the island is also infested with snakes.  I was so pleased I was on the bus!  The only vehicles permitted on the island are buses and official vehicles so the roads are largely free from traffic apart from masses of cyclists.  Hiring a bike seems to be the thing to do on Rottnest.  We passed many, many cyclists, some sunburnt from the sweltering sun, some having had accidents and most looking exhausted.  Cycling the island is not as easy as visitors seem to think, there is almost no shade and nowhere, apart from the main town, to buy drinks or refreshments. If you go to Rottnest I highly recommend taking the bus tour, a much easier, more comfortable way to see the island, that is, unless you really are a keen cyclist and well prepared, I suspect many we saw were not.

We had a delicious lunch and glass of wine at Freddies in Thomson Bay. All the restaurants and shops have small gates at the entry to prevent the quokka from entering. There are signs everywhere telling people not to feed them but there are always some stupid people who do.  Eating human food is very bad for their health.  After lunch we went in search of quokka in their natural environment and stumbled across one that was obviously ill. We like to think we did our bit by ringing the island's vet who  came quickly to take it away for treatment. Eventually we found a quokka in a quiet, bushy spot and spent some time photographing and observing it, then we went to the beach and sat in a shady shelter there admiring the view and waiting for the ferry to go home.  It had been a great day, we had seen as many quokka as we could possibly wish to and had learnt a lot about this interesting island.

I Wander Around Fremantle and then go to Prison

 Fremantle is a lovely historic, maritime town located at the mouth of the Swan River and is West Australia's main port. It is a compact town, ideal for walking, where the streets are full of buildings little changed since the 19th century. It is just dripping with character and I loved the opportunity to step back in time.  I spent a couple of hours strolling around, taking photos and stopping here and there for a rest or a coffee at one of the many lovely cafes in town and then enjoying a late lunch at the Kalis Fish Market Cafe (highly recommend this) overlooking the fishing boat harbour.

Below: Some of the many heritage buildings in Fremantle

Fremantle is home to West Australia's only World Heritage listed building, Fremantle Prison.  Built in the 1850's by convict labour it was used  as a prison right up until 1991. I arrived there just in time to take a guided tour with a young and enthusiastic guide who related many gruesome stories about this terrible and forbidding place. 

It was a place where, in convict times, the discipline was harsh with floggings, leg irons, solitary confinements and a diet of bread and water common place. The ultimate punishment, of course, was execution, there were 43 men and one woman executed in the prison and there are many tales of hauntings.  Fortunately nothing haunted me on the tour apart from my contemplation of the grim conditions and treatments the prisoners endured. It was horrifying and fascinating and I couldn't help but be pleased we live in more enlightened times. 

The netting between floors was to prevent prisoners throwing things at the guards below.  Unfortunately it didn't protect them from the contents of chamber pots

Despite the harsh conditions for some reason it didn't stop recidivists, some prisoners coming back multiple times. There was constant violence between prisoners and towards guards, when the prisoners were in the yards exercising the guards on duty had to remain inside a wire cage to protect themselves from attacks. There were many attempted escapes and riots - at one stage prisoners set fire to the prison causing major damage. Thankfully modern prisons have now replaced Fremantle Prison.

Left: A typical cell with a hammock bed

Right:  Security cage for the guards while watching prisoners exercise

Prisoners were not permitted to draw on their walls but this prisoner was extremely violent and the only thing that calmed him down was his art.

My guide was a fount of knowledge and told many interesting stories.  The tour was extensive and I highly recommend it as an insight into how punishment was meted out in times past.  It's strange to say that I really enjoyed the tour, but I did, it was fascinating and educational.  I would not recommend it for children though.  There were a couple of children on my tour and they were visibly upset and frightened by some of the stories. This was my first, and hopefully my last, time in prison.

West Australia Maritime Museum, Fremantle

 Ever since Australia won the America's Cup in Fremantle in 1983 I have wanted to go there. The feed back from visitors at the time was that it was a quaint, historic, maritime town and that sounded like my kind of place.  I was also keen to see the Maritime Museum and more particularly the America's Cup display.

West Australia Maritime Museum, Freemantle

A part of my job as a guide at New Zealand's National Maritime Museum in Auckland is leading America's Cup tours. I love that part of my work and am always keen to add to my knowledge.  Since Fremantle  is just a short half hour train trip from Perth, where I was staying, it was perfect for a day trip.

Australia II, America's Cup winning boat.  It is hard to get a photo of the whole boat due to the way it is displayed

The museum is a short walk from the railway station and housed in a very modern, stylish building right on the waterfront near the entrance to Fremantle Port. The interior is light, airy and open and goes up several levels with many great displays of all things maritime including leisure boats, home made boats, fishing displays, commercial boats and of course the America's Cup boat Australia II. 

Inside the museum 

The America's Cup display was my first port of call, so to speak, and it is excellent.  I like the way they have figures of the crew on deck in the act of sailing the boat and the large lego replica of the boat close by is quite spectacular.  Interestingly Australia challenged for the cup 6 times before winning it on the 7th attempt.  They lost it in the next America's Cup and have never entered again. I was so pleased I got to see the display and thoroughly enjoyed looking through the rest of the museum, it would be easy to spend a whole day there. There is a cafe overlooking the water and a gift shop in the foyer. I am proud that New Zealand is the country outside the USA which has won the cup the most times and we currently hold the cup for the fourth time.  Clearly their win was very special to Australia, the T Shirts in the gift shop were celebrating 40 years since their win in 1983. 

HMAS Ovens (Photo by West Australia Maritime Museum)

Next I  booked a tour of the museum's cold war submarine, HMAS Ovens. The decommissioned submarine sits on land beside the museum.  It is 90 metres long and 8 metres wide and carried a crew of around 70, including officers. Kept in well maintained and original condition it is now a living memorial to those from Fremantle who died while serving in World War II.

Inside HMAS Ovens

The tiny galley where all meals were cooked

Bunks stacked three high

Led by a former crew member the tour was fantastic.  It is hard to imagine what life would be like in your under sea world but our guide was able to show us and describe it well.  Not for me the cramped underwater conditions but fascinating to see all the same  and to marvel at the resilience of the men who served on her.

I highly recommend a visit to the West Australia Maritime Museum and if you go make sure you take a tour of HMAS Ovens.

Perth, West Australia -A sparkling, modern city

 I had a good feeling the moment I set foot in the large, airy, new railway station at Perth airport, it was a great first impression of the capital of West Australia.  And the good impressions continued, from the friendly, chatty locals on the train to the helpful people along the way when I couldn't find my hotel.  I had arrived mid evening on a Saturday night, the streets were thronging with good natured people out for the night and, as it turned out, my hotel was hidden down a side street.  There was a good vibe about the place and I was looking forward to exploring the city over the next couple of days.

Perth from King's Park

First off, the next morning I did as I usually do in a new city, I took the Hop On, Hop Off bus to orientate myself and see a few of the sights. Our first stop was at King's Park, reputed to be one of the largest city parks in the world at 400 hectares. It is perched high above downtown Perth with magnificent views of the city and the Swan River.  You could easily spend a day in the park with its beautiful gardens, bush areas, cafes, restaurants and shops, or you can take a walking tour with one of the volunteer guides.  I spent about an hour strolling around, enjoying the gardens and views before getting back on the bus.

The Perth Bell Tower

Below: The Anzac Bell

   

 Then it was off to the Bell Tower, located close to   the river in   downtown Perth.  It is a stunning   modern tower housing mainly   ancient bells.   Unfortunately I had just missed a guided tour and   the   chance to ring the bells which would have   been fun, nevertheless I   climbed  the tower and   viewed the set of 14th century bells which came   from St Martins -in-the-fields, London.  St Martins   had had a new set   of bells installed so these   were  restored and gifted to Perth to   commemorate Australia's bicentennary.  On the 5th level of the   tower   I saw the massive 6,500kg Anzac Bell, cast in Perth as a   tribute to the   soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.  It rings every   midday for one minute. On the 6th level there is a viewing platform offering panoramic views of the city and Swan River and a coin operated 26 bell carillion.  At night, when lit up, the tower looks like an enormous jewel in the city scape.

Perth Mint 

From there the bus took a winding route through the city centre, out to the casino and stadium and back to the Perth Mint where I got off to take a tour. This was a fantastic tour, it covered the discovery of gold in Australia, countless examples of gold nuggets, some very large, and the amazing one tonne gold coin which is 99.99% pure gold and is valued at 90 million Australian dollars. Needless to say it would be impossible to move. In one room you can view, and drool over, the glorious Argyle Pink Diamonds, some of the rarest diamonds in the world, and there are plenty of jewels and jewellery for purchase  The highlight of the tour, though, was entering the smelting room to watch molten gold being turned into a gold bar in a spectacular performance. I even had the opportunity to weigh myself to see what I am worth in gold.  I highly recommend this tour.  Make sure you include it in your trip to Perth.

The One tonne gold coin - at night it sinks down into a secure vault.

In the smelting room making a gold bar

And here it is

My weight in gold - who said I wasn't precious?

So all in all I was highly satisfied with my first day in Perth and looking forward to what the next day would bring.

Margaret River, West Australia (Part 3) Food and Wine

 It was another glorious morning in this lovely part of the country and we were up and ready to go by 7.30. But first, breakfast, which we had at the White Elephant Beach Cafe overlooking the sea at Gnarabup Beach. This is a popular surf beach and we enjoyed the sublime view while eating our breakfast and then drove the length of the beach to watch the surfers tackling the breakers. With the sunshine, surf and gleaming white sand it was a fantastic sight.

View from the cafe, Gnarabup Beach

The next stop was at the Yahava Koffee Works, a coffee roasting company where we were greeted by the divine smell of roasting beans wafting through the car park. Here we were given a short talk on the production of coffee from the plant to the cup and then had a coffee tasting.  This was the first time I had been to a coffee tasting and it was an interesting experience, I was surprised by the range of flavours that come from different beans. You can buy coffee to drink at their on site cafe or all sorts of coffee products from the shop.

Our first winery for the day was Edwards Wines, named for the founder, Brian Edwards. Brian was a fascinating man who flew his 1943 Tiger Moth plane from London to Australia in 1990. He was daring and adventurous and loved a challenge. Developing the winery fitted the bill. His beautifully restored plane, Matilda, sits inside the entrance to the new and very glamorous winery building.  We had a tasting of 7 different wines there while gazing out over the vineyards. Edwards Wines is conducting a very interesting experiment by submerging wine 18 metres under the ocean in the belief that the wine will mature to perfection away from light and with constant temperature and pressure. Intriguing. Before we left we browsed  some stunning photographs of the sea and surf in the winery's adjoining gallery.

Waiting for the wine tasting at Edward's Wines

On our way to our second winery visit we drove through the pretty little town of Cowaramup.  The locals call it Cow town and have taken a cheeky twist on the indigenous name, which means place of the cowara (a bird) by displaying numerous full size, fibreglass, black and white cows at various spots around town. It is charming.

Thompson's Estate is a boutique winery founded by a cardiologist, Peter Thompson, and his wife, Jane. Our tasting was held in the barrel room and this time we had local cheeses and crackers to accompany the wines. Thompson Estate is proud of the fact that their wines are made in a traditional way and I have to say I enjoyed them the best of the three wineries we visited. Thompson's Estate has been recognised by Australia's premier wine critic, James Halliday, as a Five Red Star winery which puts it in the highest echelon of all Australia's wineries.

A cardiologist's wine label

Olio Bello is an olive farm and it was here that we had lunch but firstly we had the opportunity to taste a wide variety of olives, oils, sauces and condiments.  I bought a couple of things there and would have loved to buy more but, luggage constraints! We sat at a long table looking out over the olive trees to eat lunch, it felt like being in Italy. I felt very lucky to have had such a great group of travel companions, we had become friends in the three days we had been together so chatted amiably. 

Olio Bello

Sadly, lunch was our last activity of the tour and then we travelled the 3-4 hours back to Perth and said our farewells.  Many of us were going to continue on to take the Indian Pacific train across the Nullabor Desert but that's another story to tell.

A big shoutout to McLeods Tours, a small, family run, travel company. The tour was well organised, the activities were superb and our guides, Rusty and Jason, were well informed, friendly and helpful. I loved this trip and couldn't have asked for more so thank you, McLeods.

Disclaimer:  I paid full price for this tour and was not asked to promote McLeods Tours in any way.  These views are simply my own.

Margaret River (Part 2) Caves, Forests, a Lighthouse and Wine

 The second day of our Margaret River trip focused on Nature giving us a look at some of the spectacular natural attractions of the area.  After a very enjoyable breakfast at a local cafe we headed into the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, driving through lush bush and large trees to visit the Mammoth Cave. Here we would  see the remains of megafauna, some as much as 50,000 years old.  The spacious limestone cave has easy access and boasts impressive stalagmites and stalagtites.  I love the cool and silent ambiance of limestone caves so really enjoyed my visit there.

This is just a small corner of Mammoth. Note the person on the walk way which gives an indication of the size of the cave.

The remains of a pre historic animal in the cave

Next we drove through the majestic and  beautiful Boranup Karri Forest feeling so insignificant in the scale of things; some of the trees there are 65 metres tall. At certain times of the year the forest is carpeted with wild flowers and orchids but unfortunately this wasn't the right time of year, nevertheless, our guide stopped in a clearing and gave us a very interesting talk about the native trees of the area and described how the eucalypts  and other trees cope with the wild fires prevalent in Australia.

A bit further south we called into Hamelin Bay, a very pretty white sand beach.  The idea was to see stingrays swimming backwards and forwards along the beach.  Apparently this is a great attraction but for me it was nothing unusual, I see them often in New Zealand. Still it was lovely to stop at the beach and see the excitement on the faces of visitors who were thrilled at spotting stingrays for the first time.

Those dark shadows at the water's edge are stingrays, Hamelin Bay

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is at the bottom tip of the Margaret River region, the tallest lighthouse on the mainland of Australia, this was our next stop. Built in 1895 from limestone it is now fully automated and still vital for passing ships. We were invited by the guide there to climb to the top, all 176 stairs. Initially daunted by the open stairs I was quite proud of myself as I climbed it easily.  The views from the top are spectacular with a clear view of where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. We had to cling to the railing at the top due to the fierce wind but it was well worth the climb. 

For a detailed look at its history we visited the small museum occupying one of the former lighthouse keepers cottages close by. 

Looking down from the top to the former lighthouses keepers cottages

Where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean

What a fantastic morning we had had, so much variety and more to come.  It was time to go to a really lovely cafe for lunch and The Colour Patch overlooking the Blackwood River truly fitted the bill.  While we dined and sipped wine dolphins were cavorting right outside in the river.

Time then for a wine tasting.  The Margaret River region boasts around 200 wineries, most quite small producers, and we were going to Brown Hill Winery. There we had a very interesting talk about wine making and the history of this winery by Chiara, one of the owners, while we happily tasted 8 of their wines.

We had all been looking forward to visiting the township of Margaret River which was our final activity for the day.  I think it is fair to say that most of us were expecting a cute, historic country town and that we were rather disappointed to find it was just a suburban shopping strip like thousands of others.  We didn't mind that time constraints meant we had a very short visit there.

Back at our accommodation a few of us gathered in the bar for happy hour drinks, such a lovely group of people.  We were all more than delighted with our day and went off to our rooms contented, looking forward to tomorrow.