Fremantle | Physio my way

Location: Perth City & Rottnest Island

Region: Metropolitan

Date: Sunday 3 – Wednesday 6 September 2023

Temperature:

My daughter Carly arrived from Brisbane late on Saturday night so after a leisurely start we took her to the Fremantle markets and then for a quick visit to Kings Park.

I love both of these locations, Freemantle markets are now only open Friday – Sunday but were as bustling as I remembered. We wandered the aisles and tried a few of the food stalls, amazed at the eclectic mix of cuisines and food options, everything from Vietnamese to Cronuts.

I bought Fire Cider, a potent mix of herbs and spices blended with cider vinegar, an old world remedy revisited for all things that ail us humans and Carly bought some Matcha Bau buns!

Kings Park is a long time favourite also and the great thing about it is that it changes every time you visit, depending on the season and the changing displays.

Both are an absolute must for first time visitors to Perth!

On Monday we set out early for a day trip to Rottnest Island, we had organised bikes to tour the island on and we were all looking forward to meeting the famous “Quokka’s”.

The day started out damp and with a drizzly wet walk from our car parked in Freo to the jetty and Ferry to Rottnest.

Fun fact – Rottnest is Dutch for “nest of rats“ which is what the Dutch first thought the Quokka’s were – giant rats!

Fortunately by the time we travelled over, about 45mins the weather had broken and we looked set for a nice warm day.

After disembarking at Thompson Bay we collected our hired bicycles and with helmets on set out to cycle around the island.

The island is beautifully remote in its own way and has pockets of a accommodation scattered around the coastline.

We cycle anticlockwise taking in Little Armstrong, Catherine and Stark Bays. We then head inland in search of the “Pink Lake” we’ve read about. We find the lake but it is only vaguely pink, must be the wrong time of the year.

Our plan was to cycle the whole way round – 22km but we soon realised that the Quokka’s were really only to be found around the settlement so after cycling for a couple of hours Carly and I headed back, leaving Rob to explore the far side of the island towards Fish Hook Bay.

Back at Thompson Bay we quickly find some very cute Quokka’s including a Mum and Joey and Carly and I take way to many photos.

The little Joey was very interested in Carly and spent ages checking her out and hanging with us. Mum stayed nearby and they eventually totaled off together.

Once Rob arrived back we checked the bikes back in and wandered through the village before sitting to have a snack.

One of the Quokka’s was very interested in my green backpack. We had forgotten we had stowed a banana peel in a pocket earlier and the little fella was very intent on checking it out, getting very insistent and close to both Rob and I. Even after we disposed of the peel he hung around wanting to get to know both of us.

We had a great day and we’re sorry to leave. You could sit and watch the Quokka’s all day and if you sit quietly enough, sometimes they will want to check you out too.

Once arriving back in Fremantle we headed back to Perth and finished off our special day with Carly with a trip into the city to go to Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King for a fantastic bowl of Ramen, Yum!

The next day we went to Hillary’s to catch up with family before farewelling Carly the day after as she headed off to Singapore on her first solo trip overseas!