We were taken to a mental asylum. But let me tell you the story from the very beginning.
Steph and James, friends from the good old times in Cambridge, came to Perth (James‘ hometown) for Christmas. I guess we underestimated the distances of this huge continent initially when we said ‚we are in Australia too, so let’s meet‘. It took a 3.5 hour domestic flight and crossing two time zones to get to Perth, which made us realize how big this country really is. But we are glad we came, since we had an amazing time ‚out West‘.
After James‘ tour through his hometown, we went out to Rottnest Island together – half an hour ferry ride from Perth.The island is not only lined with stunning beaches, but is also home to thousands of quokkas. These are really cute looking marsupials, but when the Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh first saw them, he thought they look like rats and hence called the island Rattenest – ‚rat’s nest‘.
We hired bikes and cycled 30km all around the island, with one bay being more beautiful than the other. In some there were even underwater snorkeling trails!
While I found the quokkas really cute, there were huge king skinks that tried (and sometimes succeeded) to get a bite of our lunch. Sneaky bastards. They look like snakes with legs, and I wasn’t entirely comfortable as they fearlessly approached from all directions as soon as they could smell some food.
Food. That brings me to the crazy part of the story. For our wedding, Steph and James had given us a voucher for a fancy dinner in a city of our choice during our travels. We had kept this present up our sleeves so far, saving it for a special occasion. So now, that we all met at the other end of the world eight months after the wedding, it seemed like the perfect occasion, and they took us out to a memorable evening at an old mental asylum that had been turned into an upscale restaurant. The food was superb, the sunset views over Perth picture-perfect, and we loved that we got to enjoy our wedding present together with them. Thanks so much for this decadent evening, we absolutely loved it!!
The only problem with evenings like these is that I always feel I have nothing to wear. While this might be a typical woman thing to say, I really think it is a challenge if you only travel with a 15kg backpack that contains your luggage for a whole year. The clothes we are carrying are certainly more suitable for roaming around rainforests than strolling into a fancy restaurant. But increasing our luggage by buying stuff we don’t need 99 out of 100 days seems stupid. Luckily, Steph borrowed me a pair of sparkly sandals for the evening.
During our whole time in Perth, we had the luxury to stay in our own apartment. Mario’s dad had put us in contact with an old friend of his from highschool days, Connie. She and her husband Andy generously opened their doors for us, and let us stay at an apartment they own that just became vacant. It was great getting to know them, and as serious campers they even lend us a whole lot of useful equipment before we set off on our loop through the Southwest. It included a camping guide to find free camp sites, maps to navigate when there are no roads anymore and a spare fuel canister for driving into the outback, when the next gas station can be far far away.
We also met my former colleague Charlotte in Perth. Even though she is a busy doctor now, she was a walking encyclopedia for travel tips in Western Australia and beyond. So when we left Perth eventually, we felt well equipped, with the secret top spots marked on our travel map and the extra fuel to get there.
