Hi guys,
we spent our last two weeks swimming in the ocean and staying at the beach. First, we got a coffee and after that, we went swimming. That’s why we had the opportunity to try a lot of different cafés with very good coffee. One of my personal favourites was “Felix & Co.”, where you can choose between different espresso blends – a very common opportunity in Australia.
Furthermore, Fiana got a surf lesson as a Christmas present, so we went surfing one Sunday morning. We booked our lesson for 9 am because at Perth’s beaches the conditions become worse after 11 am. Even if we only booked for one hour, we were surfing for nearly two hours and we had a lot of fun. But it’s Fiana’s present, so you should hear her experience on the board:
Before we came to Perth, we went surfing at Manly Beach and Palm Beach. Although the first time surfing was pretty fun, the second time the waves we’re to big and they hit me so hard I didn’t have much fun and I were afraid to go surfing again.
Fiana
Luckly, I gave it another try – we booked a surflesson with a private coach and he explained me that he has never seen a shark while surfing. That’s why I felt way saver. Furthermore, the waves weren’t that big as they were in Palm Beach.
After I could even stand on the board I felt as lucky as a little girl. And I thing it wasn’t the last time we went surfing.
Surfing became our favourite sport in Australia and we’ll definitely be on the board again.
Besides that, we had to sell our van. But that turns out to be very hard without a Roadworthy Certificate. That’s why we went to the mechanic to get to know what must be done to register the car. With all the prices and all the information, we tried again to sell the van.
The advantage of the difficulties with selling the van was our flexibility. With our van, we were able to go wherever we wanted to – the northern beaches in Cottesloe and Scarborough. We went again to the cosy French wine bar and drank coffee in our favourite cafés, as well as we saw the famous sunset in Cottesloe. The last one was especially impressive because the majority of people watching the sunset there are Australians who just come there in the evening for an after-work cocktail and fish & chips at the green terraces at the beach.
After that, we visited Rottnest Island – a little island in the Indian Ocean 20 kilometres offshore from Fremantle. We were very excited to see the little Quokkas (a bit like kangaroos) who gave the island the name. The explorers thought the Quokkas were rats, that’s why they called it “Rat’s nest island”. But the truth is, that Rottnest Island is full of these little animals who are always smiling – the happiest animals in the world. We rented two bicycles, offered by the ferry company, to explore the island, because Rottnest Island is car-free. But it was incredibly hard to ride the 25 kilometres all around the hilly island with the old and rusty bikes which had only three gears.
But it’s worth it – we saw little smiling Quokkas in the shadow under the trees right beside the road. We saw perfect bays with turquoise blue water where you can spot schools of fishes even without snorkel gear because they are swimming all-around your legs in the water. And we saw our first venomous snake during our whole time in Australia – a long brown snake who disappeared quickly when we came nearer.
Although we did a lot of things in our last week in Australia, we finally sold our van – two days before the take-off to Singapore. We sold it to two German backpackers who want to drive around Australia as well.
So, we had to say goodbye to our loved baby, to our home for the last 5 months – a home that was a reliable travel partner. We are really happy that we made the decision to buy this van back then in October. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to drive through Australia’s nature without a 4WD, but it was the best decision we could have made to buy a van instead of a 4WD because nothing can replace the feeling of a real home with a bed, a kitchen, and a living room all in one. We could live in our cosy van without worrying about the weather – a priceless advantage.
That’s why it was very hard to say goodbye, even if we were so happy about the fact that we finally sold the van to someone who will enjoy it. We spend the last two nights in a little Bed & Breakfast and the second night in a beautiful Beach Hotel in Cottesloe because we wanted to see the wonderful sunset again – our last evening in Australia.
And then, we had to say goodbye again after breakfast the next morning – goodbye Australia. We spend 5 wonderful months in Australia with countless new experiences which we will take with us – with us back home.
When we arrived in Cairns in October, it seemed to be a never-ending time. Nonetheless, the time went so fast and now – with a serious culture shock – we are in Asia to continue our journey around the world.
But Singapore is a topic for the next blog post.
See y´a,
Felix
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