The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-22)

14 May 22, 2022The Sunday Times

Travel Australia

E

ven in the calm and impossibly
turquoise waters of the
Indian Ocean, fishing
is harder than it
looks. It’s trickier
still when you’re fuelled
by lychee cocktails and
prosecco on a four-hour
luxury seafood cruise
around Rottnest Island,
off Perth’s shores.
Pulling on a rope at the
back of the boat, I’m grateful
for the grip of the functional
blue rubber gloves I’ve been given
to wear — it takes all my might to yank
up a mottled crate from the sea. Inside
sits my reward: a coral-pink, furious-
looking lobster. “Big enough to eat,”
the captain says, and he’s not wrong.
A few hours later all 30 passengers
are feasting on our catches, grilled by
Rottnest Cruise’s private chef: my haul
is served with a Thai-style papaya salad,
part of a seven-course menu featuring
prawns, scallops and a mango-and-
avocado ceviche.
Compared to my childhood holidays
here, this is a very different experience.
A decade ago my family would visit
Rottnest for the promise of a no-car rustic
break in the company of quokkas, floofy
cat-sized marsupials famed for their
selfie-ready smiles. I spent my secondary

REBIRTH IN

PERTH

school years in Perth, and as an

Australian passport holder I was able

to return last year (via the 14 days

of quarantine required at the

time) to see out the UK’s

winter months in

Western Australia.

Sprawled around the

Swan River, Perth is

Australia’s often-

forgotten city. Founded

by Captain James Stirling

in 1829 — on land that had

been inhabited by indigenous

Australians for at least 45,000

years — its population of two million

makes it the fourth largest city in the

Rottnest Island

PERTH

WA

Museum

Boola

Bardip

QT

Perth

Leederville

Cottesloe

Beach

Fremantle

Harbour

Kings Park and

Botanic Garden

Swan

River

5 miles

The vineyards

and beaches

give Perth

a relaxed,

quirky vibe

As direct flights from

the UK start this

week, Poppy Damon

rediscovers the city

of her teenage years

Clockwise from left:

on the beach in Perth;

the city skyline;

a quokka on Rottnest