First day in Perth and we go shopping
The metal kangaroos were a surprise but the shopping for clothes was delightful.
Perth has been an unexpected delight and today was really good old fashioned fun. We shopped and walked and talked ourselves hoarse and still had energy left for late night drinking of cocktails.
We love the juxtaposition of the old buildings with the ultra modern. This one below is now part of the university but was once the Perth boys school.
Ryan, Ronald, Claire and the Canadian are all engineers who work for BHP and made a couple of ladies very welcome to their Friday night drinks after work party. All were delightful. We just wonder what our children would think of is striking up conversations with total strangers in bars. The Mojotos were just ok as the limes weren't muddled and the mint not crushed. We did discover how to make cold drip coffee so might give this a go.
Second day in Perth
Today has been all about parrot spotting. We spent almost all day in the magnificent King's park looking at native trees and plants. The park is situated in possibly the best spot in the town, right on the hillside overlying the city and the sea front.
We started the day at the waterfront. This has only just been open about a year and is still being added to. We had coffee here, making the rooky error of having coffee in the wrong spot and not under the shade of the trees. However I also tried something called a berry bliss at Dome and this was really good.
We started the day at the waterfront. This has only just been open about a year and is still being added to. We had coffee here, making the rooky error of having coffee in the wrong spot and not under the shade of the trees. However I also tried something called a berry bliss at Dome and this was really good.
Here are the first images of the botanical gardens. Enjoy
We then caught the bus (!) back to the YHA for a late swim. There's a man with mad staring eyes who we think is living on our stairs and he was there again this afternoon. It's not a big pool nor is it especially clean but it was cool after such a long day.
It just so happens that there is a festival here in Perth - one to rival the Edinburgh fringe. Well it's exactly the same except it's possible to walk on the roads and there's no drinking outside pubs. That said we had an excellent Thai meal and the street theatre was very entertaining.
Planes, trains and automobiles, or in our case - boats, trains and taxis.
For our third day we thought we would have a quiet and relaxing day but this did not happen. We walked miles and generated more blisters on my feet. However this was a brilliant day. We first caught a boat to Fremantle and on the way ogled at the mansions being built along the Swan river.
We had made a decision to try out a wonderful restaurant for brunch recommended by Jill's daughter Fiona. However Bib and Tucker was further away from where the boat docked than we thought meaning we had to find a taxi to take us there. Once we eventually found the restaurant we discovered that breakfast was over! Never daunted we then had lunch over looking a magnificent beach.
Now comes the problem of getting back. We were told there was a train that would take us back to the city but that it was a way to walk. We don't mind walking but it was 1pm by now and the heat was building. We were told to walk over this bridge to get to the small station and then walk back along the road. It was then we discovered that there was a short cut through that would have saved us 30 minutes walking! And also that the train station was literally opposite the town meaning we didn't have to take a taxi at all. We needed an iced coffee after this. I should state here that Jill is correct - it does taste better with ice cream.
We finished the day with well deserved cocktails