Day trips and mini breaks around Perth
Fremantle is only 25 minutes from the city centre, and you could very well have been in a different time zone and many more miles away, right beside the beach, ´Freo´ is full of character and vibe, with an extra hearty dollop of easy going attitude. It has he feel of the bohemian about it, and a reputation of housing the arty and eccentric. My favourite Freo haunt became the Little Creatures brewery pub, and my memorable day trip when Hannah, Claudia, Ruth and I visited the history museum and then headed to north beach to cook our dinner on the ‘barbie’ and watch the sun set.
Margaret river was another much appreciated weekend away, and a place I was more than happy to revisit for more than the token hour or two I had witnessed previously. Hannah, Ruth and I hired a car for the occasion, and whereas the two drivers had to alternate the wine taster and the responsible one behind the wheel, I was free to do all the tasting my heart desired, and even control the music on the drive around! I’m surprised they didn’t complain more at the raw deal they were getting : )
As much as wine tasting sounds heavenly, after 5 or 6 wineries and a very low ´wine pool´ we had all contributed towards, we were fairly wined out by the end of the first day. Thankfully, after wine, there is always chocolate and cheese, and day two had more of a food savouring theme to it. We had overestimated distances too, and managed to drive further down to Augusta and revisit Cape Leeuwin lighthouse where I had briefly stopped on my southwest trip. The difference in the weather was remarkable, and I was fortunate to see it again, minus the blustering wind and gloomy skies. A fantabulous ´mini break´ – and we returned to Perth on Sunday evening with a boot full of wine, a bag or two of tasty cheeses, a slight glow in our cheeks.
My hostel saviour and new found friend, Bridie, did not just give me a room of my own to rent in her new unit, but also took me down to her neck of the woods – Bunbury.
I was excited to see what Bunbury would be like, and sadly most of all because of the novelty of going to a place which shares its name with the fictitious invalid in Oscar Wilde´s, the importance of being earnest. Bunbury is Jack Worthing´s ploy and excuse to escape to the countryside in a ´respectable´ way. Hearing from Bridie how big a step the move from Bunbury to the big city actually was, I realised that Bunbury south west Australia was not too dissimilar to Jack´s terminally ill invalid excuse, and considered just the same kind of escape from city life to Bunburians.
Once again, the south west did not disappoint, and the drive down was surprisingly refreshing as we left Perth behind. When I was given the grand tour by Bridie, I came into contact with the slightly bizarre landmarks that Bunbury has to offer, including a black and white chequered lookout tower, and a two massive silos which had been reconstructed into whitewashed apartment blocks. I can’t imagine how the kids at the high school get any work done in Bunbury either, because the school looks out almost directly onto the beach. If that’s not the place for daydreaming I don’t know what is!
The town itself was bigger than I expected it to be, and there are some picture perfect houses newly built, which reminded me of a little model village from the vantage of the lookout point they were so shiny and colourful.
We took a drive down to nearby Donnybrook as well, a peaceful meander through fields of haystacks and lolloping hills. No trip to Donnybrook would be complete without at least a little gander in the big apple kids playground – a fruit themed climbing frame childrens heaven with mini climbing walls and slides galore. We continued on to the dam which was gushing forth a considerable jet of water, and stopped off to look at the plot of land which will hold Bridie´s parents newly built house in the not too distant future.
With the combination of Bridies hospitality and her parents friendly nature, I quickly felt at home in their place and happy too to enjoy time away from the city, though I left too, with considerable homesickness at their family atmosphere, one not too dissimilar to my own.
The centre parks of Western Australia – but with incredible beaches and adorable wildlife, is Rottnest island, where I was able to spend a weekend with Ruth, Hannah, Nicola and Lee. The name of the island derives from ´rattenest´, given when Dutchman Willem de Vlamingh observed that the small creatures unique to the island called Quokkas to him resembled giant rats, hence the origin of ´rats nest´. In fact, Quokkas are almost cuddly when you see them, and incredibly tame. They resemble something between a mouse and a possum, and tend to look permanently overweight. As soon as dusk hits they are in and around your dinner table and contentedly amuse themselves as you eat.
Car´s are generally banned on the island, and the best way to get around the island is by bike. Only a short cycle ride away are the most pristine beaches, and a huge selection of choice at that, meaning you could jump from one cove to another depending on your ´people mood´ and the best snorkelling spots. The cabin we all stayed in was cosy and perfect for cooking some tasty dishes, (and I wasn’t even cooking), and even though I expected at any moment to see the quintessential ´wave pool´ I always remember from our family Centreparks getaways, Rottnest had its very own natural waves breaking on the beaches, and an array of colourful fish to entertain and amuse rather than the waterslides.
And lastly, I took a weekend trip down to a place that got the same query of ¨why are you going there?´ every time I mentioned it. My destination – Pingelly (pronounced ´pinjellee´). On a direct route it would take you 1 ½ – 2 hours to get there by car, on the transWA bus I took, it came to just over 3 hours. It is a typical outback small town, consisting of a main street (bigger than other outback locations considering it has shops on both sides of the street) and its couple of local pubs. one of which is where my friend Claudia worked and the whole reason for going to such an unusual spot. Hardly a place you would think you could get lost in, you would think, but this didn’t dissuade my uneasiness at getting off the bus at 11pm onto an eerily quiet street.
It was not pitch black, but there were none of the city illluminations around that you take for granted, and the few dimly lit street lights only seemed to highlight tiny patches in the darkness that seemed to want to swallow everything up!
I had asked directions on the bus, and a girl who also got off with me pointed me in the right direction. I almost got the fright of my life when about 5 minutes later a car pulled up next to me and the male driver inside told told me that the pub I was looking for was in the next street on the left. In all other circumstances you would think of bolting, as I wondered how on earth he knew where I was headed. He was genuinely giving me directions however, and was in fact the father of the girl on the bus.
There is not a huge amount of sightseeing to tell you about when it comes to Pingelly, and Claudia´s tour of the town took about half an hour, but we extended it as much as possible by stopping for ice cream (sold in a florist…) and fiddling around with camera´s and timers to take some shots of both of us. The pub she worked in, the exchange tavern was a very local and quiet, but lovely place, where you could not avoid chatting to those sitting next to you, seeing as there were generally only a dozen at most there – especially on an Australia day long weekend. I stayed in one of the rooms upstairs in the hotel, and after a little hickup and some straight questions, was able to pay my room and board by doing a little bit of waitressing on one of the evenings.
With not a huge amount of outdoor entertainment, Claudia and I ended up having a highly amusing time playing guitar hero on the ps2, which I had never tried before. We also gave karaoke a bit of a try, but soon realised we hardly knew any of the melody in the songs, even when we opted for Kylie´s classic, ´the locomotion´… It was probably a good thing there were not many people around to hear our wailings and laughing hysterics!
