Travel nostalgia – a sentimental yearning for the where you’ve been, or where you come from.

I live where I was born and don’t have that yearning for lost memories, except when I’ve been travelling for a while. It kicks in when I’m almost home. A homecoming emotion, not a yearning.

Jeff has nostalgia for Perth and was really excited about our trip to Western Australia.

There’s something quite special about visiting your hometown, where you grew up and spent your most formative years.

Jeff grew up in Perth, leaving around the age of 12 on an epic train trip across the breadth of Australia to connect on a flight to his family’s next adventurous home – Papua New Guinea, his father taking a posting there.

I’d been to Perth once when I was 18 years old. A teenage adventure to visit a girlfriend who I thought was the coolest. She’d taken a job and moved to the other side of Australia to live in a shared house, hang out with new friends and experience all the cool things that living away from home brought to mind. How very grown up and exciting it was to dip into her world for a week.

This trip, Jeff and I had different memories drawing us west across the Nullarbor.

Perth

Perth Law Court gardens – I loved this tree, how it was so very different and not quite fitting in to the manicured surroundings.

You can’t go to Perth without a ferry ride across the Swan River.

Not one of my usual choices, but these were possibly the best sardines I’ve had.

Rottnest Island

So many childhood memories on Rottnest Island for Jeff. It’s located 18 km west of Freemantle and we arrived by ferry.

The island is a protected nature reserve with white sandy beaches and turquoise waters, the colours synomimous with Western Australian coastlines.

Jeff and his family would travel over to the island, sometimes by small plane, to spend school holidays. He regaled me so many stories as we explored the island on foot and then on push bikes.

It was about this time on our bike trek around the Island I was wishing I was wearing those strategically placed padded bike pants!

A stunning and breathtaking landscape – you have to visit to appreciate it fully, but here’s a few snaps.

Lunch with the Quokkas at Hotel Rottnest.

Road Trip

We stopped at the Gloucester Tree near Pemberton. It’s very high!

Albany was our final destination before heading back to Perth.

Thanks WA, it’s been a fabulous trip!

Catherine & Jeff xx