I arrived back in Perth on Friday and checked into the very lovely Pan Pacific Hotel, I was really fortunate to be allocated one of the re-furbished rooms on the 22nd floor, the hotel has work on-going, however, I have no time for lie in’s on this trip so the noise of the work didn’t bother me.

I got collected at 7.30am for my Rottnest trip, I could have easily walked down to the port, however, not knowing what I do now round and round the town I went picking up others going on the same ferry similar to our Seacat at home. When I got back I just walked back to the Hotel rather than get the bus back. There are 2-3 different ferry companies so plenty of choice. You sail for quite a while on the river before going out into the sea, it’s lovely it gives you a chance to see the city of Perth, if you are lucky some Dolphin’s and the different water activities on the river.

I was on a pre-paid tour of the Island and whilst it was good I think I would have preferred just hiring a bike and maybe stopping off at a beach here and there as the sand is so fine and white and the sea a very acceptable temperature, well compared to Donegal and the Atlantic that is! You can easily go round the Island on your bike in a day and for those that don’t want to pedal too much you can hire a motorised one, however, I suggest you definitely pre-book if you want one of those.

I was with 4 Texan’s and 25 people from Finland! I was asked if I could speak Finish! Anyway, Rottnest Island is a highly recommend, it is beautiful. If you want to stay on the Island you need to book accommodation 8 months in advance or go to one of the two 5* Resorts.

There are salt lakes which often makes the water look pink and are really pretty.

You can see the Island in a day, I joined the small open train at Oliver Hill a 10 min walk from the dock and we chugged up to Oliver Hill Guns where there is also a lighthouse. This small railway was put in to transport the huge canon to protect the Island and I think the entry into Perth. The Island had a military presence from 1935 through to 1984 when the canon’s were decommissioned. They were deemed too heavy and difficult to be returned to the mainland and so this is now a heritage site where volunteers take you on tours of the site.

A coach and tour then picked us up with lunch and we went on a tour of the island, had time for a paddle and then were returned to near the Port.

The Island is famous for their Quokka’s which are marsupial’s and do look like they are smiling at you, they are harmless and just roam around the place minding their own business.

Please feel free to skip through – this blog is more of a memoir to and for me 🙂

I expected to be assaulted by the heat instead my senses were exposed to the birds settling in for the night, the noise was quite something as I exited Perth Airport. It was a short journey into the city which at around 8pm was like a ghost town and a very limited choice if you required food.

I was booked into the Ambassador Hotel, which was very under-whelming, how the mighty fall! Still it was comfortable and the advantage was that my Intrepid Tour of WA left from it the following morning.

I feel very lucky as the group turned out to be small, and a relaxed easy crew all travelling alone. Michael our tour guide (from South Carolina), living in Australia for 7-8 yrs, Geraldine – Sweden for 50 yrs originally from Melbourne, David – Sheffield, Andrew – Abergavenny & Rachel from Edinburgh.

See below Map of where our tour took us.

This was a nice, relaxed introduction to travelling for me. I 100% made the right choice to book and go on a tour straight away, I think I would have felt very isolated and a long way from home.

On Monday we made our way to Margaret river, stopping at Busselton – Busselton Jetty for lunch, I was so glad of a good walk and fresh air. Lunch was really nice just looking out at the water with a very nice glass of red. We then made our way to see the Nigilgi Cave where we were greeted by Josh, the indigenous people’s of this land like many were completely at one with nature knowing when a certain plants came into bloom or began shedding their flowers that different fish would be available for them. The caves were beautiful and a large version of what you would see in our caves in Fermanagh. Josh then played his didgeridoo in the cave – the acoustics were amazing and at this point the penny dropped that I was in Oz! We went down to the beach for a paddle before dinner just lovely and good for the sole.

Tuesday – what’s not to like, wine tour, cheese and chocolate factory! Before which we went to watch the surfers at Gracetown, note to self, should have worked on my core a lot more prior to this trip!

Fabulous to watch and just so beautiful. At this spot on 27th September 1996 at a primary school surfing competition, parents and children were sitting under the cliff watching the final heat of the day when the cliff collapsed killing 5 adults and 4 children miraculously one child was dug out after 2 hours and saved. A dreadful tragedy in such a lovely place.

Onwards to our wine tour, very timely indeed! What a beautiful place, having had wine, cheese and then a chocolate factory we skipped lunch with the option of an early tea. We chased the sunset and had some mince pies on the beach! Great idea Andrew! Then came back for a glass of wine and an early night.

Wednesday – As we left Margaret river I didn’t realise that we were broadly going off grid for the next 36 hours. We travelled down to Cape Leeuwin and the Donnelly River Village, this was a day of sightseeing with a lovely swim early in the day and an hour on the beach, The Leeuwin light-house and lovely coastal walk where we saw a statue on the beach of a lady named Layla breast feeding a fish- urgh! Each to their own ;-). The further south we go and into the forest of tall trees, it’s so beautiful as the sun twinkles down through the canopy a long way above us. 50 metres approx, that’s about half the size of the trees we will see on Thursday and the height of the structures/trellis’s that we walked on. We are cooking in tonight and on arrival at the accommodation it reminds me of a place youth groups go to with huge communal, dining and kitchen area, however, every room had an en-suite so whilst basic a step up from that!

On arrival we were warmly greeting by some very inquisitive Emu’s and oh my goodness there were about 4-5 kangaroos, so tame, so soft, 2 of which had Joey’s hanging out of their pouches, very cute, however, we all stayed to the side as opposed to go out front in case we annoyed mum and got a nasty kick.

I was reminded of Granda Morrow, as this was originally a logging community, such perilous work with many being injured or killed like Granda’s father in Canada. These men and women did not have an easy life.

Time to make dinner, I volunteered to do it , everyone mucked into and making and eating dinner was really enjoyable just nice easy company. Early start tomorrow so early to bed which is definitely a pattern on these tours so if you dont like early rises this is not for you!

Thursday: Nothing could prepare you for the force of nature Gazza at Walpole is, We went on a 2 hour river cruise, it was easily the most entertaining, enlightening and educational tour I have ever been on. The wealth of his knowledge was so impressive, history, botanical, birds, animals, geographical and lots more delivered with such fun, thoroughly enjoyable topped of with a lovely cup of tea and his 84 yr old mothers lemon cake – so moist really yummy. A must do if you are down this way, it was better than going to see a comedy show. Gazza had us falling about laughing whilst educating us at the same time. I am just not sure how much of it all went in!

Pic to follow on that one 🙂

On to the Valley of the Giants, something I had been looking forward to despite my fear of heights. The Tingle Trees are so impressive, some they think 4-500 years old maybe more, the Red ones have huge buttresses often their bases are hollowed out by fire, fungal and insect attack yet miraculously they remain alive and vibrant trees. The Yellow tingles are straight up and down and these Karri trees are in the top 3 tallest trees in the world and are typically around 80 metres tall. The tree walk is worth doing, I did find it a challenge, however, glad I did it.

We finished in Albany – had an English Pub Dinner and hit the hay.

Friday: A short tour of Albany, the beautiful coastline and a Quick look at the whaling station (no longer in operation) and then 5 hours back up to Perth.

We had thought of going on this wee day cruise 😉 – some interesting company!

Christina left me off for the 8.20 Dublin Express and suddenly I was off, a very smooth journey down, no stops, perfect.

The advantage of flying business class was apparent as soon as I went over the check in. No queue! None to go through security and straight into the lounge where whilst they do call you for your flight I wouldn’t rely on it! I set alarms as a precaution lol I have missed too many flights, please not today! Good quality food and beverages available as you would expect also.

I met two lovely women in the lounge which I appreciated as it made the time pass and reduced any anxiety I might have been feeling. I am shocked how ok I have been in think even now as I type in the hotel room I think I am at work! One of these lovely ladies, Fiona, was on my flight and heading the Jeddah the other to India both really interesting women in their own right.

The first flight was a really nice airbus the air quality in it was great, something the air steward commented on since these big birds were re-furbished and the benefit of a reclining seat/bed and good leg room was a so nice, the service was excellent and nothing (not that I needed anything else) was too much trouble. Some lovely treats too. Qatar is a highly recommend my only disappointment was the inflight movies I really struggled to find anything I liked and watched one movie (not great) over the entire 17 hours!

Doha airport is pure opulence and ooze’s wealth so i kept walking ……….very quickly past Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Rolex and all the diamonds and many more for fear I would bankrupt myself and never make it to Oz. So I made may way straight to the lounge for a shower. The shower facility was every bit as good as a 5 start hotel with everything you need, beautiful soaps, shower gels, shampoo’s and moisturisers and gorgeous towels.

I was so glad I had that shower before my next flight, a highly recommend and a great top tip from Lucinda. Thank you.

There was any amount of beautiful food within the lounge in the main restaurant or lighter snack food area however I had absolutely no appetite from this point right through to Perth, I think just that this was my evening/ night time.

Doha to Perth – I was on the upper deck and I only thought I had been on large aircraft before ……….this was one bird! I didn’t appreciate the scale of it until I landed in Perth. What a treat! The same type of seats as on the first flight, however, this time – along with the cosy blanket came the White Company PJ’s & Slippers and another lovely treat bag. The ten hours passed relatively well and just being able to be horizontal made all the difference.

Whilst pretty tired when I got to Perth I was so much better than I expected to be and I guess that is the true benefit of paying the extra if you can see your way to it – See pic below C&J 😉

😎

So, how will I find my first experience with Qatar airlines? I will let you know.

It seems rather surreal that in just 4 days I will be en route to Dublin to board my flight to Doha and then on to Perth, the first leg of my 6 week journey.

I hope you will enjoy this experience with me – why not come along for the ride?

Time is disappearing rapidly and soon the packing will begin. My aim is to try to stay under 23 kg, on my main case and be sensible with my hand luggage. Whilst my “Big flights” give me lots of luggage capacity I am mindful of the 5 internal flights that have local restrictions long haul flights do not!

How do I keep under 23 kg for 6 weeks? Good question, right now I have no idea.

The plan for this weekend ie 3 weeks to go, is to lay everything out and then try to be ruthless and put the must have, no choice, NEED pile and then see what weight and space I have for luxury choices, luxury choices who am I kidding! It’s not that anyone will care especially me if they see me in something twice, however, I need enough to do me between laundry stops so to speak.

Once I have worked it out I will share my learns!

All will be well I am sure!

39 Days 17 Hours 14 Minutes – that is what my app says!

The first checklist (not that I am good at those) is complete:

• New Passport – tick
• Visa – tick
• Vaccinations – tick
• Insurance -tick
• Next of Kin – tick – What? Am I going to die? – anyhow – tick

So today I thought I would work out how to put a blog together! Name my domain ? I have to name it? So after short deliberation and check in with my No: 1 daughter – Epona it is: elaine@epona.uk “Epona Traveling to Australia”

“The Celtic Goddess or Horses, Travelers & Dreams – Epona and her white mare bring dreams to you. She helps manifest the dreams if you allow her to accompany you on your path” – Holy smokes! I just liked the name and celtic reference.

Horses hmmm, haven’t solo travelled ever and Dreams, I wish I just don’t sleep long enough to enjoy one!

This is more of a journal to and for me to remember this journey and so if you choose to read it enjoy, scan or feel free to sign out at anytime I won’t be offended.

Next update coming soon.