I took the bus from Geraldton to Perth. In order to take a later bus I went on the inland route bus which takes longer - seven hours to be specific. I will never understand why on a half full bus they insist on putting people next to each other and leaving entire rows empty. I was lucky enough to sit next to a guy who smoke a cigarette right before getting on the bus. He was also on the large side making the situation uncomfortable. After about a half hour I moved to a row with no one in it and stayed there the rest of the trip. The bus did get in 15 minutes early which was GREAT!
Monday Dec 22nd
Got up at 6am for a 7am pickup to go to Rottnest. I almost didn't get to go because I hadn't taken my credit card but they ended up letting me go anyway. Rottnest is so lovely. I rode a rental bike around the island. I stopped and snorkeled at Parker Point. There I ran into two difficulties - bad rental mask and my camera stopped working. I think I am camera cursed. I still had a great day riding around the island but was sad not to get more than a few photos. In a Yellowstone like fashion I saw a few other riders pulled over and I went over to check it out. There were several quokkas (small marsupials) including a mother with her young. She was kind of hugging him. I finished my ride around the island stopping at Little Parakeet Bay. I realy think Parker Point and Little Salmon and Big Salmon are the most lovely spots on the island. I took the boat and bus back and returned at 7pm. (The transit time on this trip was longer because I left from the Perth Jetty - I recommend the Fremantle one but I didn't want to haul all my stuff down there). Oh I forgot to say I took Kwells (sea sick medication) and it was well worth it because others did get sick on the way over and the way back.
Tuesday Dec 23
I got up and reorganised my gear. I am taking much more carryon in case my luggage doesn't make it to LAX when I do. I am still missing my favorite REI shirt. I think it is gone for good. However, it is always good to have an excuse to go to REI. If I am lucky there will be a sale on or something soon. I also walked to the post office to mail a couple of postcards and did a walk down the Swan River. I saw heaps of birds - herons, egrets, pelicans, ibis, and some that I didn't know what they were. Not much more time here in Perth and then I will begin my epic 23 hour + layover plane journey back to family and friends.
At the Airport
I took the 2pm shuttle to the airport thus arriving very early. There were still a few people waiting in line in front of me. We noticed that the counter personnel seemed to be experiencing issues. The line behind us grew longer and longer all the way down the terminal to the arrivals area. We waited and waited. After about an hour and a half they seemed to get the system kind of working (but slowly). So I got checked in around 2.5 hours after I arrived. I was probably the 10th person in economy to get checked in. There is no word when we will board. Although the departure sign said Go to Gate and then Boarding. Now they are saying that Boarding will be manual and slow. What a surprise.
Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/LastDaysInOz#
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