Don't Forget Heirrison Island

Or Rottnest Island for that matter.

The holiday in Perth is going well. Yesterday, Lana and I took a walk through King's Park next to central Perth. The park is very large and includes war memorials, bush trails, botanical gardens, and many fountains. We walked around the botanical gardens a bit, threw some frisbee, took some pictures, then walked around some more. The bush trails were not as exciting as I thought they would be. Just hot and sandy.

We got back to the hostel early and decided to go to the Museum of Western Australia, a free museum 4-5 blocks from the hostel. Museums aren't really my thing, but some exhibits were good and others weren't so good. The taxidermy animals exhibit included many animals that don't live in Western Australia. They also had Aboringial history exhibits and one about the creation of the universe centering around minerals, rocks, gemstones, etc. It's not the greatest museum ever, but you can't beat the price.

Were an hour late to go meet Trent, who I thought would get in around 2. We ate at a kabob place and headed through downtown via Queen's Park (a much smaller, quieter version of King's Park) and WACA stadium, to Heirrison Island. I thought it was closed at first, because I couldn't see anybody there. Heirrison Island is an island in the Swan River and has park areas and a fence-enclosed area where wild kangaroos live. Are there any domesticated kangaroos? Well, we walked through a double gate (think of a toned down version of security at Jurassic Park), past a sign warning of the dangers of kangaroos, and into the enclosed area. We didn't see any kangaroos for a long time, walking in a counterclockwise fashion around the island. Then, when we were nearly all the way back to the start, we spotted some in an area of tall grass. We were quiet most of the time, but apparently, they are curious about noise and perk their heads up to look and listen. They weren't too shy and came out of the grass and we got some great pictures.

Headed back to the hostel, ate at a Vietnamese style noodle restaraunt and went to bed.

Today, we spent some time at Rottnest island, 20km off Perth. We purchased a package that included a ferry ride, bike hire, and snorkle rental. The island does not allow cars, so everybody walks, takes the bus tour, or walks. At 30km in circumference, it's a long walk. We only had five hours, so we only covered about half the island on bicycle. Saw lighthouses, gravestones, a gun placed on the island to protect Freemantle that can shoot 16 pound shot over 25km, and some quokkas. Quokkas are marsupials that live only on Rottnest Island. In fact, the island's name used to be "rat's nest island" by the original Dutch landers in the 1700s, because the Dutch sailors believed the quokkas were simply large rats. They would be giant rats because some of them were larger than fat racoons. Like the kangaroos, they were used to human interaction and were not afraid of small proximities.

On the ferry ride back, the ocean was much more choppier and Lana almost got seasick. I thought it was funny because she didn't have a great time on the island and then she almost puked on top of that.

I almost forgot the snorkeling part. That was fun and I kind of wish right now that I had done more, but it was hard work. First, the water was very cold and when I was done the first time I was almost shivering uncontrollably, even though it was hot out. Lana said she saw a guy taken onto the ferry that was shivering badly and who's lips were deep blue or something. I wouldn't be surprised, I thought the water was very cold and I never really acclimatized to it. Trent thought it was just fine. Another thing I couldn't do was figure out how to use the flippers correctly. Trent was using his fine, but I felt like I was fighting the water a lot. Then, I kept sucking in ocean water, once to the point of almost vomiting. It was still fun, though. There was an assortment of fish swimming through the water, some very good size, and an assortment of plant life.

Ate dinner back at the harbour, standard fish and chips plus beer. Very tasty. Probably going to bed soon and the plan tomorrow is to be at the Pinnacles shortly after sunrise tomorrow, but that's a two hour drive from here. Then, we'll spend the night in Freemantle before travelling SW for three days, arriving back in Perth on Saturday night.

Hmm...writing this felt too much like a book report or something. I hope it was exciting for you to read.