A Solo Travellers Mind

A shortish flight to Perth from Sydney on Sunday night felt like it lasted a life time. Having the middle seat and no place to rest my head as i attempted to sleep was not ideal and I most certainly pissed off my neighbours on the plane by constantly moving or simply being passed out on them. After a then relatively long journey to my hostel in Fremantle, it was a quick sink wash before I headed to my bed.

My hostel was remarkable quiet the next day, with my room mates either having left or still asleep, however I wanted to seize the day so I was up early, porridge eaten and took myself on what turned out to be a 30km walk. First through the town of Fremantle seeing the sights, and having a snoop in all the shops (some very cool and quirky shops I must say, and very much giving Melbourne cliché vibes). Then I headed along the coast, walking from Bathers beach to Omen wreck in Coogee, passing the Fremantle harbour, South Fremantle beach, South beach and CYO Connor beach before reaching my destination. A picnic on the rocks occurred with the view of the most blue ocean I have ever seen, before taking my snorkel for a dip and checking out the boat wreck off the coast, spotting many fishes along the way. The day ended on Woodman point pier, jumping off the top and front flipping off the lower level into the ocean (they say to do one thing a day that scares you). Buying some bits for lunch and dinner for the next few day before making said dinner before i starved after my 30km coastal walk day. The evening was spent acquainting with my bunk mate before we headed to a local cookie place to have the greatest cookie of all time, my hostel is very quiet and unfortunately my bunk mate was leaving the next day to go back to work. Which meant the following days activities were another solo adventure. Which I don’t mind all to much as I get to do everything as quickly or as slowly as I wish. Although I must say I’ve never stayed in a hostel this quiet in such a touristy destination lol.

The next day I hired a bike and headed off on my adventure. First up I followed an online map to scope out the local street art, with some pretty impressive sights on show. Before heading for a 12km ride to Cottesloe beach, a place I’d read was great for snorkelling. Cottesloe was along the north coast, so the opposite direction of the beaches I saw yesterday, and the ride did not disappoint. The beaches were far less busy and just as beautiful with sand stretching for miles. I passed Leighton beach on my way through, stopping to admire some of the beauty present. I spent some time on the phone to a friend back home before heading for a snorkel, spotting lots of very small white fish, some large white fish and a school of easily over 100 silvery blue fish. It was definitely a good spot, however the wind was MEGA so I quickly decided I was getting cold once out the water and headed back to Fremantle. The ride there was very easy (and not because it was down hill because Perth is incredibly flat), however I must have missed that the wind was pushing me the whole way there, as the ride home had some challenging moments as I battled the winds. Luckily my lungs could hack the exercise and I made it back to base unharmed, with an evening nap needed before dinner and heading to watch the sunset. The sunsets in the west so I was highly anticipating the views on offer, and it did not disappoint. A very pretty end to my day.

The following day was an admin/chill day for me, starting with a morning of in person training for work (which I had to do while away because my training will expire before my return home). The afternoon was spent at the beach and local park reading my book and catching some rays before returning to the hostel, and luckily meeting another human who was sociable (a rare find in this hostel). The evening concluded with girly chitchat and some plans made for the next few days together.

Next up was Rottness Island, an island off the coast of Perth, famous for its quokkas. Unfortunately my room mates couldn’t join as the ferry was sold out, however on the boat across I met a girl, Larissa, and we proceeded to bike the 22km route around the island together. We spotted at a selection of snorkel spots along the way including Henrietta rocks, Porpoise Bay, and Salmon point, where many fishes were spotted and a sting ray! We continued the cycle across to the most western point being met with magnificent views and having some lunch, before head around to the north for some more snorkelling spots, including little Armstrong, Parakeet point and the basin. Parakeet point was very cool and had a huge reef along it, which was definitely a highlight of my snorkel there. After the boat ride back to Fremantle I collected my things and headed into the city where I would be spending my next few nights. Finding hostels in Perth was quite a challenge, with not enough beds for everyone, so my stay here would involve a few jumps around.