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Published: April 29th 2011
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Hi again,
Well, the weather improved so we are able to complete things in Perth. But the first thing to say is that of course we watched the Royal Wedding as did most of Australia - they go nuts for it over here (C: one TV station has shown 40 hours of footage, starting at 9am UK time - and it's stil going on. If I've seen Wills plight his troth once, I've seen it a dozen times. And loved it every time). It's always a little odd watching pixs from somewhere you know well when you are miles away. All seemed to go well, and we went out to celebrate with burger and some live music last night - a 12 piece swing band and lots of locals jiving - excellent.
On Thursday we were able to spend the bulk of the day in Kings Park which is the City's pride and joy. It sits atop a reasonably high scarp slope so has great views out over the city. It also includes a lovely botoanical garden complete with rare plants of all sorts, loads of bird life and a tree top walk. We were there for hours just
enjoying the very relaxed vibe and taking in the autumn sunshine. We walked down a long flight of steps - Jacob's ladder - Cathy hips were screaming, as were my knees - ooh er!! Then it was off to shops ... Cathy bought stuff but somehow it is Steve that is now overweight with luggage !! (C: He's such a sweetie).
Yesterday we visited the Perth Mint. You get to see the 23rd largest Gold nugget ever found, which does not sound that great until you realise that the other 22 have all been melted down. Also we saw a Gold bar being poured.... apparently you can't see that anywhere else, so that was different. In the PM we relaxed by the river and made sure we were back in front of the TV for you know what.
C: I exercised great control in Perth. I spotted these two absolutely lovely wood carvings - not very big, probably quite light weight. Indonesian dragons, I'd guess. But the exchange rate is so fierce right now that they were just too expensive to bring home. A great pity. They would have made lovely lamp bases ... yeah, yeah, "so many
lamps, so few rooms".
Reflections on Perth:
We loved:
- the relaxed vibe (in both Perth and Fremantle), and all the clubs and restaurants in Northbridge where we were staying;
- the Central Area Transit system - CATS - Free buses that took us all over;
- the city scape, especially when viewed from the river - lots of green and some lovely parks. Lots of little green oases in the city centre too;
- the wild life, especailly the birds. Yesterday we watched black swans and brightly coloured birds (parakeets?) as we sunbathed.
We were less keen on:
- the exchange rate - the Aus $ is at an all time hime which made everything seem very expensive: A bottle of beer for GBP 5.00 and CDs at over GBP 20 !! Not for me at that price;
- early dining - restaurants closed up by 9.00pm;
- irritating add-on charges in resturants and cafes - e.g .an extra 15%!b(MISSING)ecasue it was a public holiday...
- some of the locals.... the odd drunk on a bus, and some pretty rowdy nightlife.
Nmow were off to Sydney - this update comes to you from the
Qantas lounge in Perth Domestic terminal... bye for now.
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