Carolines Birthday

Today was Carolines birthday and after we got back from Rottnest we spent a leisurely day in Freo. We did go whale watching but unfortunately we didn't see any so then took a cruise down the Swan River back to Perth

We then spent an evening at Funtastico restaurant in Subiaco

Rottnest Island

The last couple of days were spent on Rottnest Island just off the coast of Freemantle with Andrew and his mates .
The little critter in the photos is a Quokka and is only found in Rottnest. It is like a small kangaroo crossed with a rat

Whilst cycling round the island we came across many Quokka and a few snakes - I've never seen Caroline cycle so quickly!!!!

We had a fantastic BBQ in the evening washed down with several beers

Swan Valley - Wine and Beer tasting

A fantastic day was had when we went down to the Swan Valley region to taste the wines, beers and food on offer from the many wineries.

Here you can see myself and Andrew sampling the beers at the Feral Brewing Company - loved the Feral White Beer. Give the Montys Mild a miss though

Some of the wineries we visited were Houghton's, Sandalford's, Lamont's and Talijancich which was my favourite and finally we had to take a look at the Margeret River Chocolate company

Perth and Freemantle

We stayed with my mate Andrew whilst in Perth and this is a view of Perth taken from Kings Park and he works in the 196m tall Central Park tower

All around Perth and Australia were the purple Jacarinda trees

We also went to the City Beach and onto Freemantle where we sped up and down the harbour in a jet boat, visited the old prison and had a fish and chips by the waterside

Ocean Park, Hong Kong

We went to Ocean Park mainly to see the pandas and we were not dissapointed.

The park has both animals and theme park rides and it was a very busy and tiring day. The park is on the south of Hong Kong island and is split into 2 parts connected by a cable car system giving amazing views of Hong Kong - more can be seen at http://www.oceanpark.com.hk

We then caught the plane from Hong Kong to Perth for the next leg of our trip late in the evening

Hong Kong at night

 

Markets in Mong Kok

This evening we visited the markets and shops in the Mong Kok district - very busy and full of designer fake stuff like Rolex, Gucci, YSL etc.
The most bizzare market area was the Goldfish market which was a street about a mile long full of tanks and plastic bags with all sorts of fish in them

Lantau Island and Tian Tan Buddha

We took the Ngong Ping cable car ride to Lantau Island where the 85ft bronze Tian Tan Buddha sits on top of the mountain - you can see Caroline at the bottom
The whole place is a kind of Buddhism theme park