Perth: Day Fourteen (2 November)

Our last day in Perth. Today we caught the train to Fremantle which is a famous port that yachts and tall ships call into when racing round the world. It is also famous for its fantastic fish restaurants so we had fish and chips for lunch!

We found a whalers' tunnel and saw one of the first jails in Western Australia called The Round House. They fire a cannon every day at 1o'clock and we were there to watch it. It was very loud!

Then we looked round St Patrick's Basilica before catching the train back to Perth via Claremont Station.

Barnaby

Perth: Day Thirteen (1 November)

Today we went on a trip to Rottnest Island. It's called Rottnest because the first settlers thought the little animal found there was a rat but it's actually a kind of marsupial (like a small kangaroo) called a quokka.

First we took a ferry down the Swan River to Fremantle. Then we got on a catamaran (a boat with two hulls instead of one) for the last part of the journey. As soon as we arrived we took a bus ride around the island which gave us the chance to see the many lovely beaches and bays. During lunch we were lucky enough to glimpse a shy little quokka.

After lunch we went on a walking tour. The island used to be a prison so we saw that as well as other original buildings. I had an ice-cream :-) before we caught the catamaran back to Fremantle - it was quite a bumpy ride!

Barnaby