BLOTTO AT ROTTO

Day 364

Rottnest Island, Perth WA

We packed up one rucksack and our dilley bag and drove to the Claremont Train Station in Mum's car while Greg gallantly road his bike, dropped that off and then drove the car back home and road back to the station. He had a major workout and it was only 7.30am!

It was a great way to get to C Shed to catch the Rottnest Express though. If we drove we would have had to leave the car in the car park and paid $6 a day for the six days we were away which seemed a waste. It was also not a great place to leave the car for a week either.

The train came straight to C Shed. So all we had to do was walk our bikes and luggage down to the loading area and get our tickets ($58 per adult and $51 conc and a 10% discount on the Show Your Card and Save RAC card) to jump on the ferry. Mum had previously booked them in her name so all we had to do was pay for them. It was weird how they issued the tickets. Mum paid her concession and was only given a Visa Card print out. I paid for mine and was given a ticket with two adults and a concession on it but it only stated payment for two adults.

When Annie came down later and bought her tickets she got a ticket stating 3 adults and one concession. It seemed a bit silly because it meant Mum had to get on the ferry and home on the ferry with one of us and we were thinking of going home at different times. Annette was going on the Wed and Greg and i wanted to leave early Friday morning instead of the 4pm Mum had booked to leave. Silly system.

We met John!!! After all the discussions and emails we've had about him from Annie..we finally met him down at the C Shed! He seemed a nice guy - just as we had expected. As we were sitting on the bus we were told to go on at C Shed to Rous Head I saw John sitting on the bench just outside one of the boats. He looked like he was refecting....

The bus took off and he looked over but Annie was engrossed in conversation with Mum and didn't see him. To me, it seemed he was a bit sad about her departure.

It was only a few hours later, after we'd arrived at the island..that i saw Annie on the balcony of our villa looking out to sea, with the same reflective look that i wondered if these two people really just wanted to be together for the long weekend.

This week away at Rottnest had been planned for a year. Jo had originally organised the villa but decided to take another week at a later date and since it was booked in Mum's name she asked if Mum wanted it. She jumped at the chance, asking Greg and I if we wanted to go (yes!!!) and Annie to make up the fourth person. Each villa has two beds in two rooms, making it a four bed villa.

Then of course, she met John. And there wasn't room for him there as well. Annie and John had arranged to see each other over the weekend but she was not sure when. He said he may come over to Rottnest in his boat.

Rottnest is an island 19km's off the coast of Fremantle. It's a holiday spot primarily for the Perth population with 80% of the tourists being from Perth itself. The beauty of the Island lies in it's casual lifestle, beautiful beaches, no car policy and it has a wonderful wildlife.

Greg's daughter Alena works at Rottnest as an Environmental Officer. We were looking forward to seeing her there once the Labour Long Weekend was over.

Our luggage came off the boat and was delivered to the spot (Geordie Bay) that our tags stated. All we had to do was to ride to our villa.

Just as we were settling in, wondering what to have for dinner John messaged Annie and said he was HERE! In Geordie Bay!

Annie looked overwhelmed to say the least. And surprised. But VERY happy!

She took off to meet him and soon Greg went down there to help secure a suitable anchorage for the night. They hooked up a piece of limestone rock to hold the anchor!

And the day turned from great..to superb! John rolled his esky to the shore...and we saw it was filled with Champagne, Burbon and Cola, cold water and goodies to go with it. So there we sat.....with his mother's champagne flutes filled with champagne overlooking Rottnests pristine waters.

BLISS.

He then impressed us all by producing meat and extra's to have a BBQ back at our villa. WHat a man. If he was trying to impress the family. He did!

We all got suitably BLOTTO at ROTTO!

By the end of the night..we snuggled into our beds...with Annie sleeping on John's boat (or sleeplessly staying on the boat as she said later she couldn't sleep!) and awoke the next morning to a beautiful Rotto Sunrise.

Oh, how i love it at Rotto!