Rottnest Island 2019

I fulfilled my dream of visiting Perth after almost a year of working. Perth was the first city I've been to in Australia and I remembered Perth as awesome. I hoped to visit because I also had one luggage left at a friend's house. Unfortunately, the friend moved to NSW so I just chilled and relaxed while in Perth. Joel hasn't been to Perth before and he came with me this time. He wanted to see the quokkas for himself and so we decided to go to Rottnest Island.
 

From Perth, we took the Fremantle Line towards Fremantle. Although there was an option to catch a ferry from Perth city, we chose this to spend a bit of time walking in Fremantle. We went to Perth Underground at 10am and were amazed that the station was almost empty.

 

The train ride was about 45 minutes and since we were not in a hurry, we went to eat at the Famous Fish and Chips Restaurant in Fremantle while enjoying the beautiful view.

 

We then walked towards B Shed Fremantle and bought our ticket. We chose the SeaLink Rottnest Island Ferry. Not sure if there was a promotion going on but for a return boat trip for us both, we paid a total of $96. The boat trip was at 2pm and we had a lot of time to kill so we went to the Fremantle Markets which was just the opposite building and browsed through their merchandise and had some coffee.
 

When it was time to board the ferry, we were first timers so we chose the open seats at the back of the ferry. We did not know that the seat would expose us to a lot of sea water splashing, we were almost fully wet. We transferred towards the covered seats where more people were. The kids loved and screamed through most part of the ferry trip because of the big waves but me and Joel were dizzy. Finally, we arrived in Rottnest Island after the 30 minute gruelling trip.
 

We saw thousands of bikes in the island, all most probably for rent. However, we did not hire any bikes because, embarrassingly, I do not know how to bike. I was interested to do the Hop On Hop Off Bus but we arrived a little bit late to catch the last bus. So we just decided to walk where our feet would take us.

The first quokka we saw was near the bins. We were so excited and wondered why the people were just passing by it. Joel's parents told us they had difficulty looking for one when they were visiting the island a lot of years ago so we felt super lucky to find one right away.

But, just a few meters from the first one were more quokkas. They were not afraid to be surrounded with a lot of people. They were just minding their own business and eating leaves. I was amazed at how they sleep as well, they just protect their tails and put them under their feet and bow their heads.

Quokkas are said to be the happiest animals on earth. They are the smallest members of the macropods or "big foot" family which includes the kangaroos. They are nocturnal which explains why most are asleep during our visit and they are the only land mammal on Rottnest Island. Anyone caught touching a quokka on Rottnest Island will be fined $300.

People were trying to catch that famous quokka smile. Some were lying on the ground just to get the perfect selfie. I was fortunate to have one :)

There were hundreds that we saw on our short stroll. And we saw one who has clearly hurt himself because one of the fingernail was hanging from the hand. We tried to call the ranger and he said he will come soon but we have not seen him even if we stayed a few minutes just to make sure we can identify the correct quokka. Oh well, we tried our best.

We went to one of the many beaches on the island and spent minutes enjoying the sun before we returned to the port to take another boat ride.

Fortunately, this time, the boat was bigger and there wasn't much bumps.

I loved every minute of our Perth trip. The food was good and the atmosphere was not as rushed as back home. But as with all trips, we had to say goodbye and head off. Perth will always be in my heart.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog.

Longing for Perth-adise

I studied in Perth for my Nursing Bridging Program. I chose Perth because of my high school friend though I also had friends from other Australian states. School lasted for 9 weeks and on the last day wherein we had to pass our final requirements, me and a classmate went out to sightsee parts of the city. 

First off we went to St George Cathedral which was only a few minutes walk from our campus. This church is the principal Anglican church in the city of Perth and the mother-church of the Anglican Diocese of Perth (Wikipedia). 

I've always loved visiting churches and looking at the pretty architecture inside of them. I also believe that by praying for a wish to be granted in a church newly visited will be granted. Nevertheless, what I always do is talking to God and thanking him for the blessings and hardships that come my way. 

Next up, we visited the City of Perth Library. Now another place that I love visiting are libraries. There is such a whole new world for me when I am surrounded by books and magazines. I would have loved to read but we don't have much time so we just looked around every floor. I used to remember when I was a child that our library was only one floor and most of the books were torn because some children were not careful enough or because the books were always borrowed. 

This particular library has many floors and a lot of tables, chairs and couches were people can comfortably read. I liked that they have a separate floor for teens to have their kind of books (though I am way beyond my teenager years lol).

We chose to go up the floors via the elevator and go back down through the lovely spiralling staircase. 

We then a few minutes across the street where Stirling Gardens is. It is just a small public park with sculptures, lovely flower gardens and benches. It was noon time when we came and we saw people enjoying the sun while sitting on the grasses or benches. 

Just a few minute walk was Elizabeth Quay. It is the perfect place to do people watching, dining or relaxing. As it was so hot that day, we decided to buy some gelato to cool ourselves while taking in all the view.

My classmate and good friend, Clarisse,who was with me during this entire time :)

Another place that I miss in Perth is King's Park. It is such a cool place to hang out with friends, see the city and sunset and have a picnic.

I really had a wonderful time in Perth. Wherever life takes me, Perth would always be the first city I fell in love with in Australia. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

Short Geraldton Holiday

A month ago, 29 April 2017, my friend whisked me away for a quick visit to Geraldton, Western Australia. It's a coastal city located north of Perth. We started the drive early because it was an estimated 5-6 hours trip. On the way, we did a couple of breaks, saw some dead animals on the road which probably were run over by big cars and trucks and also saw this Leaning Tree.

Before this, I saw a lot of trees that are leaning. My friends said that this is because Geraldton is a very windy city. But this tree stands out of all the leaning ones. 

I stayed in the city for about 3 days. It was a small town  which I liked very much. I stayed in a friend's couch which was not that bad because I had Netflix all to myself. He also had a cat who kept me company while he was working. Most of all, there was good dinner every night at his friend's houses.

I never really went out to the foreshore nor visited other places in Geraldton. The morning when I was about to go back to Perth City, he took me to the HMAS Memorial which is located at the Summit of Mount Scott. This represents the loss of the light cruiser in November 1941 with none of its crews surviving. It was a nice place to be in the early morning where sunlight is not that harsh and you can see people and their cars beginning to start the work day. 

This is the dome of souls. It is made up of 645 stainless steel seagulls and represents the souls of the lost sailors. 

We only stayed for 15 minutes in the area as I had to catch the bus back. The bus ticket was 66 AUD which was expensive but for the 6 hour drive it was reasonable. I long to be back to Geraldton to explore more of its beauty and possibly work if there are opportunities. 

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog :)

My First Sunday Market Experience in Aus

My German housemates asked me if I will be happy to come with them to a Sunday market that they have heard of in Canning vale, Western Australia. It sounded good so I went with them after having breakfast. I miss going to open weekend markets in Thailand wherein I can get good finds. I was excited to see one here in Australia. 

GPS helped us find our way and we had to pay 2 AUD for entrance fee. As it was a Sunday, there were a lot of people coming in as well. The market was open around 8am until 2pm. 

The stalls were lined up in a big area and the first things I saw were of cheap priced vegetables and fruits. I was tempted to buy some but I still had stocks at home. Finally I bought bananas and grapes. I saw that there were a lot of plants for sale. Mostly were garden plants but there were also interesting ones.

Much like in Thailand, I saw second hand toys for sale.

Common merchandise such as shirts and phone casings are here as well.

What made me happy to see was this Filipino food stall displaying Filipino food! 

I wasn't planning to eat as I was walking alone (me and my German friends separated ways). While looking at some used clothes and jackets, I spotted a familiar friend - Ate Vicky. She was also in the market with her friends. 

Ate Vicky was the kindhearted woman who helped me transfer my things from one house to another. As it was already lunch time, she offered to treat me for lunch. We went back to where the Filipino mobile stall was and ordered some of their meals. It was so good!

I'm so glad to have been to the market that day. I planned to return and bring enough money to buy myself some thick winter jacket but I haven't had time. Now that I am in another state, hopefully I can visit another one soon.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! ;)