Flashback... Rottnest Island

Still one of the most stunningly beautiful places I've ever been to.

All photos copyright Robert May

Written 13th March 2011

Absolutely amazing day out today on Rottnest Island, about 30 minutes from Fremantle on the coast.  It is possible to stay on the island, but just a day trip for us since we had so many other things to see!

Looking out towards Perth
(can you spot it in the distance?)

 There are so many beaches and bays on the island, and hardly any people on them all, despite the boat having been pretty full.  We bought a bayseeker bus pass from the visitor centre for later on and set off walking (plenty of other people had hired bikes).  We did a few km before realising we should get out of the sun for a while. There wasn’t much in the way of food and drink stops outside the main ferry stop/village centre, so we caught the bus a little further while we cooled off under their air conditioning and took in some more gorgeous beaches.

Beautiful clear waters

We decided to get off and have a walk a little further on, in fact when we got down to the beach we managed to get down to the clearest sea I’ve ever seen and it was beautifully cooling on the feet which were rather hot at that point and glad to be out of their sandals.  We walked on the beach in the water for an hour or so and it was so amazing and perfect.

Empty long sandy beaches

After that, we hopped back on the bus, back to the main centre again and saw some of the native little furry Quokkas just hanging around. We had a bite to eat and a mojito each in the bar, while we looked out onto the gorgeous greeny blue water and waited for the ferry to take us back to Fremantle.

Refreshments after a long day in the sunshine

A perfectly relaxing and beautiful day, couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Caversham Wildlife Park

All photos copyright Robert May

First posted 12th March 2011

We were going a little way out of town today and so managed to get up early. We caught a train to Bassendean, changed onto a bus at Whiteman park and then got the cutest little old courtesy bus into the main part of the park and to Caversham Wildlife Park.

Barking Owl
(one of my favourite ever owl photos)

Once inside we pottered around for what felt like ages, Rob snapping away on the camera. We both find the animals and birds very entertaining, particularly funny was the Barking Owl (we think the Barking might be Barking Mad). Too many other animals to mention them all, but we made a special point of stroking the kangaroos and the koala, lovely and soft they were too.  

Ignore the knobbly knees
(mine, not his)

Afterwards, we walked over to the main bit of the park and had a wander around. The park was brilliant in that it had lots of covered picnic areas where large family/friends groups were meeting up, great idea - I'd love to see this kind of thing in the parks in London - easier to take shelter from the usual rain or occasional sunshine!  It didn’t take us the whole day to get round which we were quite grateful for, so we headed back into Perth and stopped for a much needed afternoon coffee and berry cheesecake.

It's a very relaxed way of life...
being stroked endlessly while sunbathing

After a swift change back at the hotel, we headed out into restauranty area Northbridge again, as Rob had got his heart set on Mexican food. Zapatas was good with the portion sizes and incredibly tasty and we both enjoyed it very much, especially washed down with some cocktails.

We fancied coffee on the way back, but strangely the bar we ended up in only had alcohol (what a shame!) Some drunken Aussies got into a conversation with us before handing Rob a honeymoon pint to drink… oh dear. Then they got thrown out for their clothing choice, so it was just like being in the UK, hahahaha!

Flashback...Perth Walkabout...

The weather in London is utterly miserable and I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about Australia since we've been there twice in March.  I thought it might be nice over the next couple of weeks to go back over some of my older blog posts from when we were there and to post some photos up here to cheer things up a bit.  All photos copyright Robert May.

Perth Walkabout - Written 11th March 2011

Perth from Kings Park

We spent the day in Kings Park – had someone told me that it was up the steepest hill I’ve seen for ages, we might not have skipped breakfast and gone straight for lunch.  However, we did feel like a bit of a lie in would be a good idea to try and get into the right timezone.  Of course, after that, the more important consideration was to get one of the devices online so that we could make everyone jealous at check-ins along the trip as we go.

So, we set off up the big hill and reached the park, trailed round for an age looking for the restaurant and ended up back where we started, realising that it was closed for refurbishment, and so we ate in the Botanical Cafe instead. Rob had some mammoth Bruschetta, and I tried a delicious goats cheese and fig salad – to be honest it was way too hot for anything more substantial.  The thing I noticed most was how delicious and fresh all the salads are here.

Fresh & delicious for the hot weather!

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the park, we did the law trail loop, which was half down a sandy path and we got very dirty. The park was beautiful and we wandered in the botanic gardens before enjoying an ice cream. Then we walked back down the hill to the hotel, laughing at all the sporty types who were doing crazy running up and down a steep set of steps to the top and back.

Running up here...in that heat!
... crazy people!

In the evening we had a walk into Northbridge, which seemed to be where the majority of nightlife close to the city is, quite a studenty/backpackery area, lots of young, fun types! We found a lovely Italian restaurant called Valentino’s, I enjoyed some delicious veal on mashed potato in a yummy mushroom sauce and Rob had fettucine pasta with chicken and bacon in a creamy sauce.  Sitting outside to eat was just the nicest thing.

We were going to go back to the hotel at that point but could hear the sound of live music close by. We thought we should check it out. it was coming from an American bar called the Mustang Bar, quite hard to describe, there was quite an array of different funky shirts going on and patrons of all ages. We saw 3 bands, with the first being the best, 4 young lads who sounded like a cross between the Beatles, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys. 

I had some crazy drink called Mother, which I tried to order in a pint, thank goodness it only came in a half pint as it seemed to be a nicer tasting vodka/Red Bull that was going to probably keep me awake all night. Thankfully though we realised the mistake and switched back to beer so we could fall into a peaceful, deep sleep.

Moonlit Waters February update

I wanted to post my updates a little more often so that I can keep a better record of how I'm getting on, so here's where I'm at with Moonlit Waters at the moment.  I've had a couple of solid stitching days recently and I'm glad to get back onto the moon colours.  It's quite hard to take photos which show the detail in the left hand side, but I think this one came out ok!

I am very much hoping to get this page finished by the end of March.

Moonlit Waters cross stitch - page 4 of 36

Thanks for looking!

ricketyjo-in-london

Hello everyone,

I've decided to start a new blog specifically about my adventures in London and to talk about good things to do here if you are visiting, as I get asked for ideas quite often.  Please feel free to come and join and follow, I'd love to see you there.  Just getting started for the moment, but I have lots of posts being planned out and want to include plenty of photos :)

http://ricketyjo-in-london.blogspot.com

Thanks very much!
ricketyjo

Weekend in Filey

This weekend, the hubby and I decided to get away from it all for a long weekend out of London.  We headed up to the North Yorkshire Coast, to Filey.  As you'll see from the photos, we were so very lucky with the weather!

Sunrise at Filey

Growing up, Scarborough was always the seaside that I would visit with my parents, but in more recent years, we've visited Filey more.  The beaches are vast, perfect when the tide is out, with many dog walkers and families during the daytimes, but so quiet and peaceful late afternoon and into the evening. Filey itself has a small town, with many cafes and fish and chip restaurants, a few pubs and a mixture of small shops.

Cliffs near Filey Brigg in the afternoon sun

The thing that I noticed most of all was that through the weekend it felt like the days before the internet came and took over.  Families were outside splashing in the sea, walking in their wellies, eating ice creams (yes, in February!) or fish and chips on the beach, popping into the arcades to play on the 2p slots.  It was a really lovely and refreshing break.  We walked about 30 miles over the weekend and I can see my stomach muscles starting to return, so it was a very good and healthy break!

Panorama of cliffs, beach, sea and Filey Brigg

On Saturday we popped into Scarborough, just under 15 minutes by train.  This is much, much busier, especially on bright and sunny days, the arcades were full, town was busy and there were plenty of people walking round the North and South bay.  I was particularly impressed by the addition of a skate park where the old mini golf course used to be on the North Bay.  It was absolutely packed with kids on their bikes and skateboards with a gorgeous sea view... fantastic to give them somewhere to be at the weekends.

South Bay at Scarborough

Scarborough for me is still the seaside which has everything - walks, arcades, fish and chip shops, sea life centre, Peasholm Park, a little fun train, a high street... we even saw a few donkeys giving rides to the children.

Lighthouse and Fishing Boats, Scarborough

But if you are at all able to get to this bit of the UK coast, I highly recommend it for a lovely long weekend getaway.

Happy Valentine's Day

To all my fabulous followers,

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.  And if you don't have someone to buy you a box of chocolates, then buy a box for yourself.  Or flowers.  Or something that makes you happy.

Love to you all,
Jo