I think I mentioned in my blog about how when you are travelling, sometimes you have to get up at times you wouldn't normally imagine and that was the case this morning with my alarm ringing at 5:30am! Ensuring I would make the 7:10 pick up time in the city, I wanted to catch the first bus of the day and it certainly felt strange walking through Wembley and the city in the dark! The streets had an eerie feeling about them and I was glad to reach my pick up point at 7am. There were 2 Aussie Wanderer tours collecting passengers so I jumped onto Turbo's bus and there were two more city pick ups before we rode to Caversham Wildlife Park. Although we were on a tight schedule, we had to wait a short while for the guide who gave us a whistle stop tour of the three highlights.
Firstly, we visited the kangaroos and unusually there were several albino kangaroos as well as some very cute joeys. With a new found confidence I dived into the feed and literally had them eating greedily out of my hands. Perhaps it was the thought that this might be my last opportunity to come face to face with kangaroos that I made the most of patting them - to think I was petrified at the beginning of my trip or maybe these were just friendlier roos?!
Next stop was a very affectionate wombat who was clearly enjoying having cuddles!
Finally, we stopped at the non-native koalas, hence the red glow of the heat lamps. Koalas aren't found in Western Australia so it was a treat to see them here and of course I added to my vast collection of koala photographs!
After time to enjoy these curious natural formations we only had a short drive to Hangover Bay and our barbeque lunch.
Last stop of the day was Lancelin and the opportunity to sandboard which I'd been looking forward to all day, especially after the disappointment of missing out at the Town of 1770 during my east coast adventure. The boards we hired were slightly different to the boards I'd sandboarded on in Namibia and I didn't want to risk making a fool of myself so went for the sitting option and managed to fit in a couple of exhilarating rides down the white sand. I think the grin that spread across my face conveyed how much I enjoyed it!
Our drive back to Perth city concluded an amazing day!
Sunday 10th May 2015
A few days prior to today, a Facebook post had prompted as a reminder that one of my room mates in Melbourne was actually from Perth so we'd organised to meet up today. She picked me up at around 11am and we began our day at Kings Park, taking in the stunning views over the city and river before continuing to Fremantle.
The combination of glorious weather and mother's day meant that everyone had the same idea and so finding a parking spot was nearly impossible! We persevered and enjoyed lunch in Little Creatures, an amazing restaurant housed in a warehouse like brewery. Between us we devoured a gorgous pizza and a huge bowl of fries.
Next we meandered through the markets to the prison, one of the landmarks that Jo had recommended when I first arrived. Luckily we arrived just in time of the next Doing Time tour with a very informative guide, even if at time it was like he'd swallowed a script and was robotically churning it out - in an impressive rather than boring fashion. We made our way round the cells, which were 4 storeys high, yards, kitchen and administration blocks and ended in the execution hall which held a very eerie clunk as the prisoner dropped to their death via hanging.
Heading back to the car there was a glorious sunset and after a busy day, I had a very chilled evening.
The things that make me different are the things that make me. - A. A. Milne
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