Thursday 15th December 2022
Today we got the ferry from Fremantle to Rottnest Island. It was an early start to catch the train to Fremantle, and then we ended up having to wait a while for the ferry (we’d allowed excess time to get there just in case the trains were delayed etc).
The ferry was nice enough and we had a smooth crossing over to Rottnest, it’s only a 30 minute journey.
We’d booked a Trains and Tunnels tour so walked to the settlement train station, which was the meeting point for the tour. We needn’t have booked in advance, and it actually turns out to be cheaper if you just show up and buy the tickets on the spot.
The tour began with a train ride to the Oliver Hill Battery. There were only three other people on our tour, so we had the train pretty much to ourselves. It was a very pleasant journey with beautiful views over the island.
When we reached Oliver Hill Battery, we had a guided tour of the huge gun and underground tunnels. Our guide explained to us a bit about the history of the battery, and also how the gun worked. The battery was built in the 1930s and played a major role in the defence of Fremantle harbour and the coastline during the Second World War (although the gun was never called into action). It’s an impressively large and powerful gun, and was quite fascinating to see.
There’s a system of tunnels below the battery, which we were taken around.
We returned back to the settlement station on the train, then walked to the Thomson Bay Settlement. It was at this point we had our first quokka sighting. They seem to mainly hang around the settlement area.
We went to Frankie’s on Rotto for lunch, and sat at an outside table with great views of the quokkas. We shared a seafood basket and chicken pizza between us. The food and service were both excellent, although the pizza wasn’t the very best we’ve had this trip.
After lunch, we had another wander around the settlement area and observed the quokkas. They are quite curious creatures and extremely tame – one unexpectedly climbed right over me when I’d crouched down to take a photo!
Much to Pete’s delight, Simmo’s (the ice cream shop) did a banana choc chip flavour, so we enjoyed an ice cream before our ferry back to Fremantle. I had the caramel malteaser and pecan praline flavours. It was pretty good ice cream.
We then walked back to the ferry terminal. Our return ferry was smaller than the one this morning, and was extremely full. It was also a much less enjoyable ride – very bumpy with the boat moving a lot from side to side. About five minutes into the journey, the crew went around handing out sick bags to everyone, which I took as a worrying sign. Luckily the total journey is just 30 minutes, so we arrived back in Fremantle unscathed.
Tomorrow we want to visit the dessert so have hired a car from the airport. We catch the train to the airport and pick up our car, which ends up being a huge SUV (it’s very nice and comfortable though!)
We drove back to our hotel, and by this time it was evening. There’s a restaurant in the hotel, Mount Street Breakfast Bar, which mainly does breakfast and lunch but is also open for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays. We’d had a large lunch so weren’t hugely hungry and had a light supper of grilled chorizo and flatbread with hummus dip, accompanied by a bottle of Australian red wine. It was very good food, the bread especially was excellent.
Tomorrow we’ll have an early start to drive to the dessert, so had an early night.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 