The bulkest of fun

OK, it’s time for the unicorns and rainbows blog post … settle in with a cuppa because I took A LOT of photos during my weekend in Perth and I’m going to show you most of them …

The fun started in the Qantas Business Lounge, as it always does when I’m on a flight with DD.

I sipped pink wine and ate everything that wasn’t nailed down. I go a bit crazy where free food is concerned. DD got the little bowl of nuts because he’s blase about such things.

During the plane flights there and back I inhaled the first series of Big Little Lies, which I found fascinating and disturbing in equal measure. The Nicole Kidman domestic violence stuff is quite confronting. But overall I really enjoyed it. I’d better go on another Qantas flight so I can watch Season Two.

DD’s work put us up at the Intercontinental in Perth, which was very flash and located in a part of the CBD that has a European feel to it, with quaint little streets and a gazillion European designer boutiques.

I toasted our arrival with a Moscow Mule Spritz in the hotel bar, which was very delicious and refreshing.

The next morning I ate yummy smashed avo with beetroot puree and feta on sourdough toast for brekkie at a cool café called La Veen before we drove to see The Pinnacles.

The woman sitting next to me on the plane tried to dissuade us from making the two-hour trip north of the city, saying the Pinnacles were disappointing. She suggested we go the Swan River wine region instead.

But we decided to soldier on regardless and I’m so glad we did, as it was an awesome experience. Less awesome was our visit to the famed Lobster Shack in Cervantes for lunch. The restaurant serves 500-600 rock lobsters to tourists every day, mainly on coach tours. Not the most intimate of experiences. The seafood platter we shared was pretty yum though, so it wasn’t a total blow out.

Afterwards I begged DD to go to Lake Thetis, one of the few places in the world containing living marine stromatolites. The guide book said we’d be awed by seeing some of the oldest living fossils on Earth, which are more ancient than dinosaurs. But we were a bit borderline in our enthusiasm. They were oh-kay … though it is kinda cool that they’re living fossils.

Then we headed for the moonscape of the Pinnacles, arriving fortuitously just before sunset. We were seriously awed by them. Four thumbs up.

The lunar-like Pinnacles were formed over millions of years, with thousands of tall limestone spires now rising eerily out of the yellow desert sands of Nambung National Park.

Apparently the natural forces of water and wind shaped the Pinnacles from seashells over millions of years. There are still little bits of coral and shell scattered all through the sand.

Some of the tallest pinnacles reach heights of up to 3.5m. There’s a bit of contention over exactly how the seashells formed the Pinnacles, so I’ll leave it to you to Google if you’re curious.

Sunset was a totally glorious time to be there. We delightedly took 50 million photos as we roamed around the desert.

The next day was equally fabulous, as we fulfilled my fifth anniversary wish to get a selfie with a quokka on Rottnest Island.

The island habitat supports the largest known quokka population – there are around 10,000-12,000 of them living on Rottnest.

Quokkas are ADORABLE and often look like they’re smiling in selfies. This is actor Lincoln Lewis’ quokka selfie:

I am very jealous. I didn’t come close to matching that, but I was still in heaven.

My favourite moment was when we came across a whole posse of the furry little things and their babies just before we caught the ferry back to the mainland. I hadn’t quite realised the bubs snuggle in their mums’ pouches like kangaroos.

They’re also really relaxed around humans and come up super close to sniff you and your camera.

We loved Rottnest and are keen to return for a few days at some point. During our quick visit we hired bicycles to check of the scenery on the east side of the island, then caught a bus around the west side because we ran out of time.

We didn’t even get a chance for lunch, just grabbed a couple of sausage rolls at the island bakery before pedalling off.

The beaches on the west side looked incredible, but I didn’t have my wetsuit, the water was very chilly and our ferry back to the mainland was waiting.

On Monday, DD and I grabbed a quick brekkie at Mount Street Breakfast Bar, which features inventive cooking and kitchen full of fresh, local ingredients whipped into delicious dishes by – according to the website – “handsome Basque chef Fernando”.

One of Fernando’s popular creations Turkish poached eggs has recently been named as one of the four finalists at the 2019 Australian Eggsellence Awards.

Unfortunately for DD I chose the butter beans, piquillo pepper, sicilian pork sausage and green ‘all i oli’ with sourdough, which tasted fabulous but create a 5 metre garlic breath exclusion zone around me for the next 36 hours.

DD reckons it’s the worst garlic breath he’s ever smelled.

Not ideal during a romantic weekend away …

Then DD headed off to a board meeting at the local hospital and I pottered around the shops until he collected me for a fancy dinner with some of the board members at a restaurant called Juniper & Bay in Como.

We had a pre-dinner drink at the bar and the waitress was very startled to hear me talking about Mount Street Breakfast Bar as that’s her second job! Spooky coincidence.

The chef is a jovial German bloke who popped behind the bar to serve DD a beer with a very impressive head on it.

The restaurant was great value at $59 for three courses. I had Bouillabaisse-Style Fish Soup with Grilled Scallops, Croutons & Rouille, Roast Duck in Port & Prune Jus with Red Cabbage and Dumpling and Crème Brulee.

DD had Crumbed Prawns with Sweet Corn Puree – Tomato Pesto – Mustard Sorbet, Beef Fillet Steak under Green Peppercorn Crust with Smoked Cauliflower, Grilled Mushrooms & Spring Onions and Beetroot Puree, and I forget what else as there was also quite a bit of wine involved.

Two of the board members are investors in a local gin company so I talked their ears off about booze. When they could get a word in the board members waxed lyrical about their African safari holidays. A post-dinner Google search revealed it’s eye-poppingly expensive to go on an African safari. I think I’ll be sticking to quokka safaris.

We spent the next morning on a Captain Cook Cruise down the Swan River with every pensioner tourist in Perth. I was about to write it off as a tiny bit boring when dolphins decided to frolic alongside the boat, which was glorious and a wonderful way to finish the trip.

And that was the end of the unicorn stuff. We headed to the airport, I tried my first-ever pink pinot grigio in the business lounge while inhaling free pepperoni pizza and then our flight was cancelled.