Posted by kuotsung | Posted in After-thoughts, Fotographi, Travel | Posted on 18-07-2009
If food prices had prepared us for the coming expenditure, the taxi trip from the airport to our hostel would be the ultimate adrenaline rush of reminder to our wallets’ sizings. Heading to the exit of the airport was already a 50-cent increment. After that the meter was jumping like a taxi in Singapore driven to the speed of F1. Should not have wasted my money on “Mother” or Nescafe, this lightning speed regularities was enough to drive me awake for the heart irregularities it caused. Total spending in the taxi was a hefty AD$37! But considering the amount of time saved from taking the airport-city shuttle, the mere AD$2 difference turned out to be well worth as we can recuperate inside the warm beds for the coming Rottnest Island trip.
Just less than a minute stepping out of our hostel, the mini bus to Rottnest Island arrived at 7am SHARP, picking us up as promised. Weather reports had been unfavourable for the day, with dark clouds reported to be looming with occasional showers. Despite snorkeling being part of the package we booked, the decision to go into the water had been in contemplation even before we boarded the plane. Our shivering in the early morning streets was against the idea. Yet the lovely sunshine peeking past the delightful clouds gave us as much hope of turning against the weather forecast as to the idea of dipping into the water. It was a unanimous vote of leaving to the afternoon weather should snorkeling be continued, since the scraping of the snorkeling would not make the fees any lesser.
Another 45 minutes were used to catch 40 winks in the ferry before we shiver again. Beating the wind, we cycled to the appointed cafe to use our breakfast voucher that came in the package. Sweet food. Very sweet for a breakfast. Topped with a scoop of ice cream as well. Dumbfounded. The warm coffee was a welcome treat though.
Rottnest Island was not a Sentosa afterall. Apologies for any comparison, but that was my initial impression before I set foot on the island. Man-made features were less seen the more we cycled in. Even with the appearance of lighthouse and wind farm in our frames, it was more of a case of harmonising with the nature in utilisation than creation of any aesthetic via human architectural constructions.
The weather was terrific! Probably the earlier forecast missed this island entirely. The coastlines were awesome. The view from atop was splendid. The cliffs and hills were breathtaking. These adjectives would be repeated in the coming days. Pictures will say the thousand words for now.
Taken with my repaired, 6-year-old, trustworthy Sony W1 digicompact, it lasted as long as it could for that day. My DSLR was left in hostel for the chance we could be snorkeling.
By lunchtime, we almost covered the whole of the island on 2 wheels. Going back to where we started was another hunger torture. Not only were the roads hilly, the chilly wind resistance cut our efficiencies as well as dehydrating us. The included lunch in our package was worthwhile though. AD$15-AD$18+ course of meals to choose from for each of us. Chips would always be inside the course, so heatiness was already building up inside me.
It was really cold after our meals. We were too sleazy to complete the last fraction of the cycling routes. So the afternoon was spent walking around the visitors regions with markets, souvenirs shops, museums etc being our destinations. Pardon us for that since the night before was practically sleepless. 4.30pm was when our ferry departed for Perth.
When the cold wind blows, we missed our homeland food. Piping hot kuay teow soup was the sheer delight for my evening. Never mind the AD$10 price tag. A thorough-bred Asian, just a day eating westernised food had me crying out for rice and noodles. I seek your understanding.
Day 2 was a day of Own Time Own Target (OTOT) self exploration at Perth region. Of course destinations had been plotted in advance. It was also a day of meeting Keyuan’s friend, Lester, as well as my friend, Baoqi. Both of them are currently studying there in University of Western Australia in Architecture. With such coincidence, a meet up was imminent!
Lester and Baoqi were our tour guides to Harbour Town for some shopping. Scheduled only at 2pm, we set off early in the morning touring Perth CBD in CAT bus, as a result. It was a free service shuttling around Perth City. How nice! Swan River and King’s Park were our original destinations, the morning rain just ruined that. Going ahead with plan, we followed the direction printed on its brochure to Aquarium Western Australia, AQWA.
Taking the train for the first time in Perth was an amazing experience, with some embarrassment. They do have a kind of system similar to our Ez-Link. So as tourists, we instead will buy those day trip tickets. At AD$8.80, that ticket allows one, or more depends on types selected, to travel around and within Perth in unlimited trips for that day. That privilege extends to the bus services operated under the same company as the train, which really became the only transportation fee you could be paying for the broad networks they operate.
The train waiting time might be long, but the system of their stopping patterns would not result you in running late actually. They got a few train trips, that only stopped at major busy stations, slotted in between regular train trips, which I thought that was an efficient and productive move. For the embarrassment, we waited for the train door to open which it did not. In Perth, train doors are to be manually pre-pressed for them to open. Well, taking things for granted in Singapore probably.
AQWA was quite near to the place we departed for Rottnest Island the day before, close to Hillary Harbour. Sky had turned great prior to our arrival. That made the mood cheerier for AQWA was one anticipated stop for this trip. At a concession price of AD$19.50, it promised to allow you to view through the aquatic animals within the Australian Coastline in a day. As I have not been to Underwater World in Sentosa, so to me the trip there was fine ultimately. My D80 was a poor contender in noise control, so upping the ISO to capture the surrealistic beauty presented in the aquarium was not in favour for the results would be grainy. Some examples shown are courtesy of Keyuan’s Finepix F200 EXR.
Lunch was fantastic. Because Lester brought us to a Chinese restaurant for dim sum! With a Cantonese flavour, I felt so much closer to home, especially meeting up with local friends abroad.
What would be a holiday without some shopping spree?! We went Harbour Town near City West Station where we shopped around shops of sports and casual brandings with wholesale prices. So you would expect to see “factory outlets” being the common shop names. I did not take many pictures as well. How could I when I am busy shopping? Anyway, it was just window shopping in the end.
Our dinner was Hungry Jacks. Make no mistakes, it was no much different from Burger King. Even the logo. Day 2 seemed short, for we gonna have a long day ahead the next day. Evening was spent at our friends’ apartment, as it would be a night of home stay scheduled in the coming days.
More photos for Day 1 & 2 are here in my Facebook album.