We were the first ferry of the day, so it wasn’t crowded yet. When we landed, I headed straight to the bike rental place. Cars are not allowed on the island, so the only way to get around is to walk or ride a bike. Since we were so early, the bike rental place hadn’t opened yet, so I was the first person in line. I was quickly joined by the rest of the people on my ferry, so there was a line by the time they opened. The process to rent the bike went smoothly and they showed me how to switch gears. Which was good, because I don’t even remember the last time I rode a bike. It was probably about the time we moved to Pipe Creek when I was in first grade and the rocks kept poking holes in my tires. That old saying is true, you never forget how to ride a bike. Luckily it was a quick bike ride to my first stop for the day. And it was mostly downhill, so I didn’t have to struggle to peddle uphill. I was a couple of minutes early, but since I was the only person on the tour the guide decided to go ahead and start it. We first went through all the training and a mini obstacle course so I could operate the Segway, and then we got started on the Fortress Adventure Segway Tour. This tour is a little different than the usual ones I have done in that it is an off road one. Instead of staying on paved roads, we were going up and down hills on rock and dirt paths. It was different, and I really liked it. Then we continued on our journey while he told me a little bit about the island. He focused more on the significance the island played in World War II since that is the main focus of the tour. Usually he would describe more on the history of the island, but he knew I was going to be on the Settlement Tour later, so he didn’t want to repeat all of the information again.
Rottnest was of key strategic importance because it provided protection to Freemantle, which was a major military ship harbor at the time. Due to this, they were always on high alert for possible attack. In order to pass the island and eventually enter the Freemantle harbor, ship captains would have to radio in a code to the military personnel stationed at Rottnest. If they didn’t have the code, they couldn’t enter. Of course, sometimes mistakes were made. The enemy never attacked, but one ship was fired upon because the captain was not communicating with the men stationed there. It ended up being a friendly ship and the men got in trouble because they didn’t wait for orders and ammunition was expense. Due to this, when this happened again a couple of weeks later, the next ship wasn’t fired upon. That ship ended up being the enemy and they later sunk 9 Australian ships.
This time we stayed to the main road into the town. The town itself is very small as only a few people are allowed to live on the island. Most people live in Perth or Freemantle and they take the ferry to the island every day. We found out more about the history of the island. The island became separated from the mainland about 7,000 years ago. Before that, it was occupied by the Aboriginals. Artifacts have been found that date up to 30,000 years ago. When the island started to separate, the Aboriginals had to abandon it because they did not have boats that could make the journey. So for almost 7,000 years it was uninhabited until the Europeans came to colonize Australia. In the 1600s the Dutch rediscovered it. They named it Rat’s Nest Island due to the abundance of quokkas, which they thought were a species of rat. The name eventually became Rottnest Island. After the British established the Swan Valley colony in Freemantle, the land was given to William Clark and Robert Thomson. Thomson ended up moving there with his wife and 8 children. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Rottnest became a prison for Aboriginals. One of the prison officials recognized that the beauty of the island would attract tourist and closed down the prison. Instead, the island became a preserve and ever since has been a huge tourist destination.
Luckily they were okay with me taking an earlier ferry. The ferry was a lot more crowded this time than it was this morning, so I got a seat on the bottom level in the aisle instead of a window seat. On the way back, the captain announced that he had spotted whales. Everyone rushed to try to see them, but I couldn’t see anything. Once we got back to Freemantle, it was a quick train ride back to Perth.
0 Comments
I tried to find a tour this weekend, but I couldn’t find anything so I decided to travel down to Mandurah for a boat tour to see dolphins. Apparently there are a lot of dolphins in the bay there. When I was researching things to do in Mandurah, I saw that it was a big kayaking destination, which I though might be cool. I couldn’t find any kayak tours, but apparently you can rent the kayaks so I took along a towel just in case I needed it. I took the subway and a bus to get to the marina, which went very smoothly. I had to walk a little to get to the marina, but it wasn’t that far. When I got there I found where we were supposed to get on the boat. I was very early, so I decided to walk around a little before going to buy my tickets. The building was on the opposite side of the marina from where you get on the boat, so it took me a little time to find it. I spent some time outside looking at the sign and debating which tour I wanted to do. I eventually settled on the Dolphin Island Adventure Cruise which is 1.5 hours long. When I was paying the person told me that I could get 10% off anything in their gift shop and I got a coupon for buy one get one free at San Churro. I looked around the gift shop for a while, but decided not to buy anything. I did decide to go to San Churro since I had extra time
We cruised back to our starting point. I really enjoyed the whole cruise. The only thing that I didn’t like was that it was very cold. It was slightly cold to begin with, but when we left the marina we got the sea winds plus the speed of the boat. The crew had blanked they broke out, but it was still cold. Since it was cold and my towel was already wet I decided to pass on kayaking and instead took public transportation back to my apartment.
The instructor took me and 2 other guys to a room to get ready. We watched a short video with safety instructions. Our instructor also told us about the fish we would be swimming with today. The sharks are grey nurse sharks. Their teeth aren’t straight link the great white. Instead they are curved inward so they can hook fish and drag them in. So the good news is that the worse that can happen when swimming with them is that you can lose an arm. After the video, we went into changing rooms to put on our diving suits. Those things are really hard to get on! They definitely adjust to every curve and it takes a lot of effort to get them on. They are supposed to do that so it keeps you insulated because the water is cold. We also got snorkeling gear, goggles, and flippers and then went to the tank.
I was sad when the time was up and we had to swim out of the tank. I did like the flippers in the water, but they are not comfortable to be used when standing up. When I tried to stand up to get out of the tank, one of my flippers got caught under me and I pitched forward. Luckily, one of the guys was there and caught me before I face planted. Apparently you are supposed to turnover onto your back to stand up. Who knew? The diving suit was a lot easier to get off than to get on. You just have to peel it off and it goes inside out. The guys were out quick, but I stayed behind and to talk to our instructor. She is actually from California. Apparently she was born in Australia, but moved to California when she was a baby and went to school there. And then after college, she decided to move back.
After the play I returned back to my apartment to get ready for tomorrow when I go to the aquarium and swim with sharks.
I decided to sign up for a full-day tour today to York and Wave Rock. The tour company is ADAMS Pinnacle Tours again. At 7:30am, I walked the 2 blocks over to King Hotel and waited for the bus to come pick me up along with the other people that were waiting. We once again split off into different busses.
We were only supposed to spend about 10 minutes at the cemetery before moving on, but we ended up spending over an hour there because the bus ended up breaking down. Our driver called back to headquarters, and they were going to send another bus but it would end up taking at least 3 hours to get to us. Luckily our driver grew up in the area so he was able to call a local mechanic who came out and replaced the broken part. It was still a wait, but it could have been a lot worse.
After lunch we finally got to Wave Rock, which is the major attraction of the tour. Wave Rock is so isolate that it wasn’t a tourist attraction until it was “discovered” in 1963. The local people knew about it of course, but no one else did. In 1963 a picture of the rock was entered in the New York’s World Fair photo competition and it ended up winning. It also was featured in National Geographic, where is started gaining international interest and it became a tourist attraction overnight.
Our guide was very good. Once Wave Rock got famous in the 60s, his grandfather set up a tour company to take tourists out to the rock. Eventually they merged with ADAMS Pinnacle Tours, which is how he ended up doing the tour. One person in our group is a geologist, and she was very impressed with everything she saw. Most of our guide’s explanation went over my head, but I got some good pictures.
Our guide also told us of the legend associated with this cave. There once was a woman who fell in love with a man she was forbidden to marry. She ended up having an illegitimate son with the man, and the child was born cross-eyed. He grew up big and strong, but he could not be a successful hunter because of his vision. Since he could not hunt animals, he turned to catching and eating human children. He kidnapped the children and brought them to this cave, where you can still see the bloody handprints of the children remaining. He was eventually discovered and the Aboriginals in the area hunted him down and killed him. The story serves as a warning for children not to wander off and for adults not to break the rules and have forbidden affairs. This was our last stop of the day. After looking at the cave, we got back on the bus for the long drive back to Perth. Since the area is so isolated, it is a 3 hour drive back. The driver stopped a couple of times so we could use the bathroom and buy snacks, but we eventually made it back.
I have an all day tour booked for tomorrow, but I still wanted to see a little bit of Perth so I decided to go to the Art Museum today. They are one of our clients so I have heard all about the Naked Man with a Rat painting that is valued at $10 million. I didn’t have the chance to see it while I was there because we entered the building before they opened and left after they closed. One day we walked down there early so Matt could show it to me, but he forgot where it was. There is a really good bagel stand by the Art Gallery, so I decided to go there for breakfast first and then see the gallery. After I finished with breakfast, I went in and signed up for the tour. I was a little early, so I walked around the gallery for a few minutes until it was time to meet up.
I really enjoyed this aspect of the tour because you could see how the views of Australia have shifted over time. From wonder and fear when Europeans first discovered Australia, to sadness and desperation as they worked hard to build a new life, to finally hope as they settled successfully in the area.
After I finished my tour of the Art Gallery, I decided to buy some grocery and then relax at my apartment since I have a long tour ahead of me tomorrow.
I had originally signed up for a tour to see Yanchep National Park & Crystal Cave, but since I was the only person that signed up for the tour it ended up getting cancelled. Luckily I had a backup plan, which was going to Freemantle.
One of the first things our guide showed us was the emergency escape chute. He wanted to make sure we knew that there were 2 ways out of the tunnel in case our entrance chute got blocked somehow. He then took us to the room to get geared up. First we had to take a Breathalyzer test, to prove that we were all sober. Apparently the government requires it. Then he got us all water boots that came up almost to my knees because the tunnels flood with water. That was why the tunnels were originally built, to get freshwater for the prison and the town. Unfortunately we are not allowed to bring anything down there, so I had to leave my camera behind. Once we were all down at the bottom our guide took us into the tunnels. All of the tunnels were dug by hand by the convicts. I was able to walk mostly upright, and I only had to crouch a little to make it through them. I felt bad for the tall guys though because they had to remain crouched over when we were walking. Our guide led us through several of the branches of the tunnels, telling us about how they were constructed and why the prisoners were forced to work down here. At one point there was an oil spill, which made the water undrinkable. The government was working on cleaning it up when they realized that a white mold was growing on the rocks by the water. This mold is slowly cleaning the water of the oil contaminants. It will take about 40 more years, but eventually the water will be oil free, which I thought was amazing. After we had walked through the tunnels, we got into little boats and paddled through the waterlogged tunnels. When the convicts were here, they had to wade through the water; they didn’t have boats to stay dry. While we were paddling we actually paddled under the walls of the prison. We could faintly hear the sounds of cars overhead. It must have sucked for the convicts to be able to escape the walls of the prison but yet not truly be free. The walls are sandstone, so it was easy to paddle along or push myself off the walls.
I had about 45 minutes until my next tour so I sat in the café and had lunch. The food was actually really good. I also walked through the gift shop, but I didn’t end up buying anything.
My last stop of the day was to the Western Australia Maritime Museum. I wanted to do the submarine tour, but the guy at the front said I wouldn’t have time to see the museum and do the tour, so I only walked around the museum. By this time my feed were killing me so I mostly sat on the benches and enjoy the exhibits.
I was done for the day so I walked back to the train station and bought a ticket to Perth. After I got to Perth I walked back to my apartment to enjoy the rest of my evening before work tomorrow.
It is supposed to rain this afternoon, so I planned morning activities in Perth. Only a couple of blocks from my apartment in the Perth Mint, which is the first thing on my list of things to do today. I showed up early with a coupon to sign up for the tour. They have one that runs every hour. I probably should have tried coming later, because we had at least 30 people in our tour group.
The governor wrote back to England telling them that there was a lot of gold here and asking for either the military to escort the ships back to England so they could mint the gold, or for the machines necessary for Australia to mint their own gold. England decided to send the machines and a building was built to house the mint. The person in charge of the mint ended up living there with his family. It meant he could keep an eye on everything, but this was a problem for his wife as none of her friends wanted to come over because of the rough factory workers everywhere. She nagged her husband because she wanted to entertain and eventually he came up with a compromise. Once a week he would take all of the factory workers to the local pub at noon so she could have her friends over. At 5 when it was time to clock out, whoever made it back to the factory to clock out got paid for a full day’s work. If they were too drunk to make it back, they only got paid for half a day’s work. I think that is a good compromise, and I wish my company would do that.
We really didn’t do much on the tour. At the meeting place there was a bell on a stand. Our guide told us the history of that bell. It was a bell for a small church in England that was made in the 1500s. It developed a crack, so they had a new bell made and put the bell outside. A couple of years later, one of the board members for the Swan Bell Tower who is very interested in bells, found out about it. He went to the church and asked if he could have it for the Bell Tower. They were happy to get rid of it since it was rusting away. However, the Historical Society of England wouldn’t allow it. They also told the church that they couldn’t store it outside since it is a part of England’s history. They went back and forth for a while, and then the guy from Perth asked if he could lease it for 20 years for $1. Since the church still owns the bell, the Historical Society was satisfied and the Swan Bell Tower got a new bell. It can never be rung because of the crack, but it is the oldest bell here. Our guide also told us the history of the Bell Tower. The Swan Bell Tower was built to house the 12 bells that used to hang in St. Martin in the Field church in England. They were gifted to Perth by Queen Elizabeth II, and the Swan Bell Tower was built to showcase them when she visited Perth. The bells are noteworthy in that they were rung to celebrate many historic events in England’s history, such as England’s victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588, the World War II victory in 1942, and celebrating the coronation of every British monarch since King George II in 1727. They also rand to celebrate the homecoming of Captain James Cook after his voyage of discovery in 1771, where he discovered Australia. The bells were originally cast in the early 14thcentury, and recast in the 16thcentury by Queen Elizabeth I, and were finally recast in 1725-1779. The bells are cast, but as the years pass they might develop a crack or they become old so the iron is melted down and a new bell is recast with the material from the old bell. That was the original plan for these bells, but instead Perth offered to pay for new bells for the church if they could have these. They are one of the few sets of royal bells and are the only ones known to have left England.
Afterward, I decided to grab some groceries on the way back to my apartment. Once I got to my apartment I relaxed for the rest of the day so I could prepare for my adventure tomorrow.
|
Categories
All
Archives
June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |