Perth

PERTH 18^TH -20^TH APRIL

We had the great pleasure of staying at the home of Tracey, Andy, Ben, Zach and Emily's for three nights to do a bit of sightseeing around Perth. We met them at Coalmine Beach near Walpole and hit it off really well with them and they were kind enough to offer their floor for us to sleep on when we came to Perth. They live only 7km from the CBD in a lovely area. We had arrived with a damp camper because a few showers had gone through in the morning when we were packing up from Woodman Point,but within 15 minutes of arriving at Tracey and Andy’s  it poured raining again, so nice to be in a house!!!!




Our wonderful hosts.




This was the best one of Tracey & Andy
and that is Zach pulling the face.



This was our first time of being in a house (not a ‘man cave’) since we left home and yes it was lovelyJ.Andy and Tracey have done a wonderful job renovating their home. It was built in the 1930’s and they have kept it all original with the decorative ceilings, original doors and trims and polished Jarrah floor boards. Then it all changes into an architect designed living area with a high ceiling and interesting angles everywhere, it looks striking.




The back of their house with all the angles.



From their home we did a 30km bike ride into Kings Park and along the Swan River to have a look at the Bell Tower. Tracey had given us a map which shows the bike routes around Perth, they have many dedicated paths for cyclists, walkers and joggers; it is a great incentive and easier than driving. Kings Park is such a huge area with different features; large green open areas with playgrounds, botanical gardens, ponds, bush lands, look outs and memorials. The most famous would be the view it gives you over Perth City and the Swan River, a huge jungle of concrete, vehicles and water.



Perth from Kings Park lookout.






The beautiful war memorial is another stunning feature.

 The memorial has the flame in the centre burning constantly with red petunia's planted all around. The path leads down to another memorial (the below photo) which over looks The Swan River and Perth.



Underneath this memorial is the names of many men who lost there lives at war.



The botanical gardens are breathtaking with all the varieties of plants and different types of gardens. They now have their own tree top walk which they call the ‘Walkaway’, a great addition to the park.

                                         The "walkaway" tree top walk in the botanical gardens.

The Synergy Playground was a lovely picnic ground. It was very busy because we are still in W.A’s holidays, the boys didn’t like all the other kids around,it was too busy for them!

 The Synergy playground. It had lots of wooden animals for the kids to climb over, you can see the head of large crocodile. The lake had a playground in the middle of it with board walks to and from it.

                     
           

The DNA tower, yes we climbed it, the view from the top was
 a bit blocked from he trees.

We eventually found our way out of Kings Park, across one of the many HWY’s and onto the esplanade to ride along the Swan River to the Bell Tower.




The Bell Tower.


 We decided not to spend the $14 per adult to go up into the Bell Tower and just enjoyed it from the outside, it is still impressive enough.
Inside are 12 bells from England and they are called the St Martin-in-the -Fields set. These are bells that have been cast from 14th century bells and only a few sets were done, the last cast being from 1770 when the Prince of Wales ordered them to be done.They are only rung once a day and if you are lucky you can help ring them,I think you would have to book in advance to do this.
     We had a good rest and made our way back to Tracey and Andy's, again struggling to find the right route to take to get out of the city area.

Our last day at Tracey and Andy's was spent catching up and cleaning up a few things while Tracey very kindly took Tom and Charlie with her and her kids to a park for a play.  After lunch we all jumped on the bikes and rode to a lake nearby so Tracey could try out her Geo cashing App she had. Geo cashing is a worldwide phenomenon where people hide objects in small plastic containers then put the coordinates on the web site for other people to find. Some have hints on the web site like “don't get your feet wet”, which was the clue for the one we were looking for because it was hidden in trees right beside the lakes edge. When you find the item there is usually a pad and pen to write in your name and date. Some have little trinkets in them; peoples name cards; if you take something from the box you must replace it with something else.

That night Tracey cooked us a lovely curry and we had chocolate for sweets, a wonderful day.

We are very grateful to Tracey, Andy, Ben, Zach and Emily for their warm hospitality. It is these acts of kindness which add huge highlights to our trip around this big country.

New friends made. Thanks.