June 27-29th, 2011
I had initially intended to stay in Perth for at least a week. Afterall, this is my first visit to Perth AND it took me 103 days to reach here. I’ve had another trip planned ahead (non-cycling) so I must stick to the schedule of returning to Melbourne on June 29th. This means I only have 2 full days in Perth, so every minute is very precious.
It was already dark the day I arrived at Perth, so I just chilled out at the apartment and planned on what I should do in the next couple of days.
The next morning I woke up early to prepare my trike for sale. I have already found a potential buyer more than a week ago. It wasn’t easy, to part with my trike that is. But it served me well and wouldn’t be ridden much if I keep it. A trike is not at all practical for urban riding, and I don’t see my next major tour happening anytime soon. That afternoon, the buyer came, inspected it, and took home the GT3 with a smiling face. Hope the new owner enjoys riding this beauty as much as I did 🙂
Weather wasn’t great, the rest of the day was spent indoors relaxing. The rainy weather continues the next day. No way I’m just going to stay at home. We went to a chocolate factory and a cafe after that. Took a drive past the city and visited the University of Western Australia. Had a cheap but awesome lunch at Chilliz, apparently very popular among uni students (duh!). In the evening, we had a spicy steamboat dinner at home. Shame I didn’t get to visit the Kings Park, one of Perth’s main attraction. Made a mental note to avoid coming to Perth during winter next time!
On my final day in Perth, I decided to take a day trip to Rottnest Island. This island is apparently famous for being one of the last remaining refuge for (wild) quokkas. I did indeed see some quokkas there but not in the context that I’d like to see them in: they were scavenging for food in the settlement area. The other attraction at Rottnest Island is the circumnavigation of the island via a push bike. The island is free from motor vehicles other than a few shuttle buses and maintenance vehicles, so it was perfect for riding. The not so perfect part was the super crappy bike I rented from the ferry operators. I wasn’t exaggerating. The bike was a barely functioning low-end mountain bike with rust on every inch of exposed metal surface. After riding a recumbent for 3 months, my butt hurts given the microscopic size of a mountain bike saddle. Thankfully there were lots to see at the island so I stopped regularly. The loop is only 24km in total, but with a decent amount of undulations. Covered the whole island in less than 4 hours and returned to Freo for a lunch of fish and chips. The so called No.1 fish and chips in WA tasted nothing more than ordinary.
Took a train back to Bayswater and Andrew drove me to the airport shortly after. My vacation at Perth was short, made even shorter by the poor weather, but that also gave me strong reasons to come back here. There’s still so much to see and so much to do in Perth, I didn’t even get to visit the CBD. The footpath along Swan River looks like a nice place for an evening stroll. Once again, thank you Andrew and Christina for taking me around and your great hospitality! Despite a short trip, I did enjoyed myself, especially your company!
