Return trip to Perth: Penguin Island, Fremantle & Perth Beaches

We want to get straight to the point: we could have skipped the stop in Rockingham and the visit to Penguin Island: no sign of free-living penguins anywhere, which may be due to their molting season, but also a relatively dirty island due to the approximately 478 million seagulls and herons that live there. The penguins we saw were kept - similar to in a zoo - in the Discovery Centre (a rescue center for animals) and presented to visitors during feeding. That was not what we had imagined, but now we have seen it and do not recommend it.

We then spent the next two nights in Fremantle, where we enjoyed the time together and the last two nights with Rainer: we had delicious mojitos in the center of this beautiful little port city. On the first evening, we actually made ourselves look a bit fancy.. so Nadia put on makeup and did her hair after a long time, Flo did not wear boardshorts and did his hair.. a completely crazy evening! 😉 At this point, let's just mention: Life is better in boardshorts! (quote from Flo)

The second day in Fremantle continued to be crazy, because we did some culture!! The tour of the Fremantle Prison, which was in operation until 1991, was incredibly exciting, informative and interesting. The two tours about the prison itself (origin, life (and also death) inside, stories, buildings, cell blocks, cells, etc.) and about escape attempts (successful and unsuccessful) were both very captivating.

On Thursday, December 21st, until noon, we visited and enjoyed the beaches around Perth, had coffee, grilled right on City Beach in Perth (thus checking off another point on Nadia's to-do list;) and then came the big sad moment: saying goodbye to Rainer. It went by quickly and easily, and only a few tissues were soaked with tears. Thank you, Rainer, at this point, for this amazing time and for accompanying and guiding us so faithfully! We love you!

Kath and Dave, Nadia's friends, welcomed us warmly again. We spent the evening together before the next highlight in Western Australia awaited us on the following Friday..