Day 140 - Thursday 23rd May 2024

And so, to my last full day here in Australia, and my last real day on my big trip; I guess the next couple of days kind of count, but it's basically all about travelling back home. That doesn't really have the same feeling of the couple of days travel I had to start the trip! If things go to plan, I should be home before lunchtime on Saturday.

This morning I was awake well before the alarm, and found myself in breakfast at 06:45. It was a good breakfast, and I look forward to the same tomorrow. I then packed what I'll need for the day, and was at the pickup point 10 minutes early for the 08:15 pickup.

A bus then took me to Hillarys Harbour on the west coast to catch the 10:00 ferry to Rottnest Island for the Grand Island Tour; I was there nice and early which game me the time to get a jumbo coffee (I hadn't realised they come in 'Jumbo') and explore the quayside. The ferry took 45 minutes to get over to the island, which then left me 45 minutes to find the start point of the tour at Rottnest Island Settlement Railway Station.

When I booked the trip yesterday I'd been given a map with the tour start location marked, but still I managed to walk right past it. In fact, I'd walked a good 10 minutes up the road until I stopped a passing vehicle and asked, and then retraced my steps. It's just as well I like to arrive anywhere in plenty of time!   

Checked in onto the tour which consists of a train ride to start with, and then lunch followed by a coach tour of the island. The train was a single carriage diesel powered unit which was able to reach the magnificent speed of 20kph on the rickety tracks. We set off on a route that took us around the aerodrome and up to the summit of Oliver Hill, accompanied by the 'clackety clack' of non welded rail joints. It reminded me of catching the train to school each day as you just don't get that clackety clack much any more; 'Faster than faeries, faster than witches' was the verse than came to mind .... it's funny how some things never leave you!

At the summit of Oliver Hill was one of the gun emplacements built in the runup to World War Two. The island had two 9.2 inch naval guns installed in 1935 when it became clear which direction the world was headed; the gun was originally made in 1901 and had come from a British battleship .... I guess that probably meant it came from a Dreadnought. I did wonder whether it had seen action in WW1. We did a tour of the emplacement and learned a lot about the people it had taken to fire the gun; from the 11 people in the firing team to the women of the Australian Navy and Army who plotted ships coming into and out of Freemantle. 

We first explored the ground level where the crew put the shell and Cordite charges into the loading lifts. Then we learned that the guns had to be at an elevation of 5 degrees to load. Then upstairs into the turret itself where we saw the cramped conditions for the five crew up there. We learned that a normally acceptable rate of fire was 2 shells a minute, but an exceptional crew could manage three each minute. The shell could be fired 29 miles, which was pretty much state of the art for the time.

We then explored the bunker that sat below the gun. They had dug out the hill and filled it with reinforced concrete before replacing the sand on the top; we descended a flight of stairs on the outside, and the went into the bunker. At the top level were the hydraulics room for the operation of the gun, and then the two magazines; one for the shells, and another for the Cordite.

Cordite wasn't very stable and highly explosive, so many steps had to be taken to prevent sparks, from storing it in Zinc containers to removing any clothing that may cause a spark (including uniform shirts with metal buttons). On officer had a job that solely consisted of checking the Cordite each day to ensure that it wasn't deteriorating. What was also interesting is that each charge consisted of two bags of Cordite, but you couldn't mix two bags from different batches as they may react differently.

From the magazines the shells and Cordite were raised in lifts to the crew below the turret. We then went down a steeply descending tunnel and stairs to the power room in the bunker where two diesel engines would provide the power to run the bunker.

We were told that there are only three such bunkers still in existence with the guns intact; there are two here on Rottnest Island, and one on Gibraltar. The guides theory behind the survival of these guns here was that it was too far to come to scrap the guns when they'd outlived their purpose.

We finished the tour of the gun, and dinner was waiting for us; the bus driver had bought it, so we had lunch then boarded the bus to explore the island. To be honest, there's not much to say about the tour of the island; we drove the length and breadth of the island finding out a lot of useful information, but were able to get off to capture photos only a couple of times; once at the lighthouse, and another stop at one of the beaches.

One thing I did come away with was the fact that I'd made the right decision not to have a bike for the day; the island roads were constantly up and downhill and it would have been a struggle to adequately explore.

One interesting story was about a bay where there were no gaps in the reef to safely navigate a boat in; most bays were able to be sailed into, and had markers indicating where safe passage was. When Australia won the Americas Cup and decided that Freemantle would be the next venue, the moorings on the island were swiftly snapped up, and some wealthy entrepreneurs missed the proverbial boat. A few weeks later there was a mysterious explosion in the coral reef, and three days later several boats navigated in without the benefit of any guidance; the way in was quite complicated. Mysterious to say the least; apparently it's still not come to light who did the deed, but there are suspicions as suddenly a few very rich folks had prime mooring spots from which to see the Americas Cup races.

Back to the settlement an hour before my ferry was due to return to Hillarys Harbour, so I found a Quokka, a small marsupial that the island is renowned for, to get some photos and video of. Then I found a bar for a beer before making for the ferry in good time.

On the way, I found another Quokka and stopped for a photo, but no sooner had I set up than it defecated ..... I'll have to see what the photos look like, but I do wonder whether it was a critique on the photographer?

Onto the ferry, and we departed at 16:30. On arrival at Hillarys Harbour, I transferred onto a bus to take me back to the starting point, where I arrived at 18:30. It's 24 hours until my flight home, so I went to check in online. A few weeks ago I went online to select my seat, so I expected that I knew where I'd be sat. Imagine my surprise to find I'm back row, middle middle when I know I'd selected a window seat. Still, I guess it's better than being in the middle on one of the sides (the plane has a 3-3-3 setup) as I have two options if I want to get out! I'll have a chat at the desk when I get to the airport tomorrow to try to understand what's happened. 

Then into dinner; I had a shank of lamb which was exceptional and very inexpensive. Back to the room to type up todays blog entry; I'll add the photos when I can upload them.

So, that's pretty much it for the big trip. I'll blog the journey home when I'm back, but that will hopefully be all smooth sailing with nothing worthy of note occurring. I am looking forward to a couple of things that are kind of related. I'm looking forward to staying put in one place with the same bed for a bit of time (lets say months at least!). I'm also looking forward to not having to see this blinking luggage for a long time; I'll get home and unpack it, then it'll go into a cupboard where it won't see the light of day for a good while!