My travel itinerary has been jam packed and almost totally wifi free for the last week or so so I'm just posting a short(ish) but pic heavy post today. When Nick and I were looking into flights from Bali to Australia we realised that we would be able to fly into Perth and then from Perth to Melbourne for far less than it would have cost to fly straight to Melbourne. It made sense to have a little Western Australia adventure! We stayed in Fremantle and the way that our cheap flights worked out meant that we were there during the week, unfortunately all of the vegan spots there are closed during the week! If you want a foodie adventure then try to visit from Friday to Monday when most of the cafes and the markets are open. We went into Perth to visit museums (I loved the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts), drink bubble tea, explore the Asian food stores, eat at Lord of the Fries, and to watch The Big Sick at the cinema on Cheap Tuesday. Have you seen The Big Sick yet? I loved it! I'm a huge rom com fan but as a feminist they definitely push my rage buttons. I don't think there were any moments that made me angry in The Big Sick though! There was even a decent joke about mansplaining and the whole movie was laugh out loud funny as well as cute.
Another of my very favourite thing about the Perth / Fremantle area was 100% vegan gelato spot Gelato 101.
This epic ice cream spot is located in Cottesloe which is right between Fremantle and Perth on the main train line and we were blown away by their ice creams.
They were so creamy and there were some interesting flavours to choose from. It was smaller than Veganista in Vienna but the quality was just as good. I rate that place super highly so this is definitely a solid compliment. On our first visit I had a cone with scoops of Chestnut and Chocolate Hazelnut and they were both so good that I had to get them the next day when we squeezed in another visit. Pistachio is my favourite ice cream flavour of all time but I think that chestnut is now a close second, the nutty creaminess is just so damn good. On our second visit I tried them with the waffles which I enjoyed but I think that I prefer my ice cream straight up in a cone or cup when it's this good. I don't need any distractions y'know!
Gelato 101 is right by the station so it's well worth the trip even in the pouring rain. The weather was pretty terrible the whole time we were in Perth and Fremantle (hence managing to justify a cinema trip!) so we put off our Rottnest Island day trip until the very last day - there was no way that I was getting on a boat when there were 6 metre swells. Hell no! The 2 metre swells on the day we went were quite enough, we took anti sickness meds which stopped us throwing up everywhere but they had a terrible side effect. They made us so sleepy! I'm very susceptible to drowsiness, I can't even take most non drowsy allergy medications because they just make me fall asleep but Nick's normally okay. Not this time though! We'd been walking for about an hour when we both started to feel really, really tired. Our limbs felt heavy and we had to keep stopping, it was so weird. At first I was like "Oh no, are we getting horribly sick" but then I remembered the tablets! In the end we stopped on a picnic bench for a nap (Yes. Really.) and we totally dozed for a full hour! It was ridiculous. So many people must have walked past us and wondered what on earth we were doing sleeping on a bench before lunch. When we woke up there was a quokka under the table which was incredibly surreal but oh so cute. Look at her!!! TOO MUCH!
Rottnest island is a great spot for a day trip, there are plenty of great walks to do and there really are quokkas everywhere but there is some truly terrible colonialist history hiding behind the cute furry animals that draw people to the island. Rottnest was a prison for aboriginal people. I'm no history expert so I won't try to explain what went down there save to say that it was awful. Check out this link to learn more whether you're considering visiting or not.
I'm going to leave you with these little cuties and I'll be back soon with a review of a great vegan friendly resort in Lombok and more of my Australia travels. I've been working with YHA Australia so I'm excited to bring you some hostel reviews and tips along with some more awesome vegan food finds.
