May 31, 2018
I did not want to get up at 6:15am this morning, but we were being picked up at 8:15am so I wanted to make it up to the Crystal Club for breakfast. I had a nice strong cup of coffee and some seafood shui mai.
We took a ferry over to Rottnest Island for the day. Weather forecast was terrible, showers and thunderstorms all day. Rottnest is a great vacation escape for those living in Perth, it’s own island getaway. It has a casual atmosphere, lots of families riding bicycles, gorgeous scenery, beautiful beaches and bays and Quokkas.
Reminds me of Fire Island in New York mixed with Nantucket, MA.
We opted to do a bus tour on the island to see if the rain would stop. The island is beautiful, I can only imagine how pretty it is in the sunlight. It is almost fully surrounded by a Reef so lots of colors in the water. We had showers and thunderstorms all day, some great thunder and lightning too!
This is how it looks in sunny weather.
Most exciting thing about Rottnest are the super cute Quokkas all over the island. They are small marsupials that are indigenous to the island and found all over.
Tourists must take a selfie with Quokkas, and it’s not easy!! You aren’t allowed to touch or feed them but can be close to them. I got a few good ones and loved the experience!
After lunch of fresh local seafood, weather still wasn’t great so we didn’t bicycle around the island or snorkel. Just played with more Quokkas!
On the ferry back to Fremantle the sky started clearing! We walked around a bit and admired the cute streets and architecture. Some of the buildings reminded me of New Orleans with the second floor balconies the length of the building.
We had some Cappuccino and Espresso and relaxed a bit before our big evening tonight.
As our last night at the Crown Towers we had a very nice evening planned for us. An evening in the Chairman’s Villa (Presidential Suite) with dinner. We walked in and there were waiters holding trays of Champagne glasses filled with Veuve Cliquot and music playing lightly in the background. I graciously accepted a glass and walked into the manse. First thing you notice in the center is a curving glass staircase to the second floor with a colorful floral centerpiece. The living room had ceilings up to the second floor with a full bar. There were doors that led to an outside terrace that was as long as two sides of the villa with breathtaking views. Plus the weather was mild so we sipped Champagne out of a perpetually full glass and nibbled on tray passed hors d’oeuvres.
We enjoyed speaking with the two managers who hosted us. Lots of talk about Western Australia, Perth, how they got here, traveling, and the gorgeous hotel.
We explored the three bedroom, two floor villa with its sumptuous bathrooms, spectacular views, stunning design, plus many extras like a small gym, a massage room, pool table and a piano.
Dinner was served around a large round table, which I love. We had a gourmet menu made just for us from all local ingredients and local wines. There was great conversation and food-perfect!
After dinner we moved our conversations to different areas of the villa, played piano, that Paul McCartney played when he stayed in this villa, and a fun game of pool.
Unfortunately we had to make it an early night because we had a 3am wake up call! We had a 5am flight to Exmouth the next day….