Rottnest Summer 2023
After another great season of exploring, it was a return to Rottnest for the summer of 23-24.
For the previous two seasons, we had returned to Rotto for a week or so, before heading to the mainland for some much-needed quality time catching up with family and friends. However, because we had recently been in Perth due to our little Geraldton mishap, we decided we would just stay put on the island, and travel back and forth on the ferry as required.
As per usual, our arrival in early November meant that Longreach Bay, our choice of anchorage, was virtually empty with the exception of a few friends we had made over the last two years. Garry, who is semi retired and works casually as a bus driver, on his catamaran ‘Sandie Rabbit’ and Wayne, another bus driver, on the good ship ‘Nimbus’. They would soon be joined by Russell and Ross on ‘Rose’ and this was the primary long termers for the Longreach summer.
Pete had work lined up with Programmed once again – the mix of luggage, rubbish and recycling collection and whatever else came along. He was also able to put his Coxswain ticket to use and did some work for the Swan River Seaplane company who run charter flights to and from Rottnest in their Cessna Caravan seaplane. This work involved driving a large rigid inflatable out to the landing point in Thompson Bay and transferring passengers.
Beaconsfield Primary School (Rottnest Campus) teacher, Kate, was quickly in touch with Nicky once we had arrived to line up some opportunities for some relief teaching at the school. Funny how the wheel turns full circle – given that this was where the spark for being a teacher had originated, plus both our girls had started school there. A few relief days in Term 4 led to a regular gig each Thursday in Term 1. Happy days with a great bunch of very lucky kids who have an amazing and dedicated teacher in Kate, and who are able to call Rottnest their home.
One day a week wasn’t quite going to cut it, so Nicky had also lined up some work at one of the retail shops – a fairly new venture called ‘Island Gypsy’ which was housed in the old Salt Store. It was the first taste of retail work for Nicky and she loved it! Bec, the owner, was very genorous and great to work for. She stocks a beautiful range of items which regularly drew many a positive comment from tourists visiting the store. A great crew of hard-working young gals (all very much younger) as well as an opportunity to interact with the interstate and overseas visitors to the island (who knew there were so many!) made going to ‘work’ fun!
After collecting our bikes from Paul’s place, Paul being one of the local coppers and a friend of ours, we set about getting into our routines. The Island was busy - particularly with day trippers. Chatting to the locals, they stated that it had been busy for quite a few months already. Seems there’s not much of an ‘off season’ these days.
We established our work routines with Pete tending to do early morning starts and Nicky having a bit more of a mix, but more afternoon shifts. This meant less diving expeditions during the season (we have a rule not to dive alone), but some more ‘me’ time which is often appreciated when you live in close quarters on a sailboat 24/7.
An upcoming surprise, organised by Kalani, had us excited at the beginning of December. Along with Ian and Jen, we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the elephants, giraffes and rhinos at Perth zoo. Kalani had been studying all year to become a zoo keeper and was rewarded with a casual contract as one of the recognised high achievers on the course. She had been allocated African Savannah, so was looking after rhinos, lions, giraffes, zebras and meerkats. A fantastic opportunity, and a great reward for all her hard work.
With a favourable forecast, and with our friends in Longreach keeping a watchful eye on our boat, we headed over to the mainland for a couple of days, with a day set aside for the zoo visit. It was a fun day and we were super grateful to get the opportunity to play cricket with the elephant, hand feed the giraffe and rhino and get a taste of what Kalani gets up to as part of her role. Great photos that tell the story - thanks Kalani!!
Christmas was approaching which meant that tranquil days in Longreach were a thing of the past as the wolfpack moved in to get their positions for the Xmas/New Year festivities. As usual, this resulted in people putting boats into all sorts of spaces, some successfully, some not so successfully. We had some new neighbours, Pete and Di on board their Riviera 45 who managed to squeeze in front of us by using three anchors to avoid swinging in any direction! They were great neighbours, keeping an eye on our boat as well as alerting us when we had someone try and squeeze in that bit too close. There was all the usual chaos with boats bumping, all night parties and entitled teenagers strutting around on their parents’ half million dollar ribs. All part of what makes the Rotto vibe so special…
It was during this period that Pete got chatting to our neighbours on Rose, whom we had come to know over the past two seasons. The boat is jointly owned by Russell and Ross and they are a couple of older guys who take turns staying on the boat, often with their wives and sometimes just on their own. And, so it was on a sunny afternoon, whilst Nicky was in Perth spending time with her dad, that Pete found himself sitting up on the foredeck of Rose having a chat with Russell. One conversation led to the realisation that Russell was actually Russell Pitcher, Pete’s first swim coach back when we was about seven years old. Pete couldn’t believe it and had to say it a few times…’You’re Russell Pitcher!!’ before it actually sunk in. A good old reminisce was had about originally swimming at Pitchers, Selby Street pool before moving to Bold Park, where Russell had the first swim squad. Funnily enough, in that squad where a few crew whom we still call friends today, including Jason Shaw and Charlie Liggins. Russell was chuffed to learn this, so I sent him a pic of Jason and I at City Beach a few weeks later. On one of trips to the mainland, Pete dug out his Dad’s scrapbooks and was able to send Russell some old newspaper clippings of the time. To cap it off, when Pete left that afternoon Russell said his old mantra, which was something along the lines of ‘long reach, glide, pull through’ in reference to freestyle swimming. Pete swore that, if he had closed his eyes, he would have been transported back to the pool where the memories of Russell’s softly spoken, but articulate words came clearly flooding back. Great to re-connect after all of these years.
Jemma had returned to Perth from her stint up in Indonesia, working as crew on a 65foot catamaran in the Eastern Tengarra province. Her days were spent surfing, exploring, meeting locals and generally having an amazing time on board ‘Bamboo Free’. We had been having some great Facetime chats over the past few months and, with Indo on our minds, were trying to extract as much info as we could about sailing in that region. Now she was back in Perth and we were happy to finally catch up, have a big hug and plenty of time to chat.
Alas, time flew and before we knew it, she was off again. This time, heading to the Pilbara to do some program work with the Aboriginal corportaion, Julyardi.
Mid December saw us host the first of our family from interstate. It was great to again have Bron stay with us on Singularity. We managed to get in some snorkelling, some games of Scrabble, walks and rides around the island, and the odd glass of red wine or two, all whilst juggling different work schedules (which meant zoom conferences to PNG for Bron). Her visit finished off with a lovely dinner at Geordie Bay cafe.
This year, we were able to persuade Drew and Gosia to come down and celebrate Christmas in Perth. With Nic’s Dad, Ian, showing the effects of his dementia, we thought it important to try and get everyone together to celebrate. Unfortunately, Jem was still in the Pilbara, but for the rest of us, it was great to play some Pool, throw some Finska and, of course, eat great food and have a few drinks. Always the sweeter getting everyone together these days, as we are all apart most of the time!
We did our usual Christmas run, this year leaving the boat behind for a few days, as we gathered at Jeff and Jane’s place on Xmas eve. Again, great to have everyone together, this time minus Cam, Fi and the kids who would be making the most of the reduced airfares for a visit in January. Our family celebrations were followed up with the traditional Xmas morning swim at City Beach, where we got to catch up with a host of old mates from all over the place. Boxing Day saw Pete return to the Island for work with Nicky following a couple of days later. A few more coffee catchups had to be squeezed in before that could happen :)
No visitors for New Years eve this year – the forecast wasn’t great and we were both working New Years day – with Pete starting at 5am. So, no late night for us, which we didn’t mind at all (geez, we’re getting old!). From our vantage point on the boat, we caught a glimpse of the fireworks display, which was happening across the dunes in Thompson Bay. Seems the days of celebrating the beginning of the New Year with a count-down and simultaneous fireworks is a thing of the past. Lucky for us, as they were done and dusted nice and early so we could be tucked up in bed, ready for the day of work ahead. One of our neighbours very considerately turned the music off just after 4:30am! We can pinpoint the time, as this is when Nicky was taxiing Pete into shore for the start of his shift. Always interesting waking up on Rottnest on New Year’s day to assess the carnage. Great to have a clear head (albeit, a somewhat sleepy one) for a change.
2024, so much to look forward to… what new adventures would it bring?