Perth

 

Perth and the Swan River from King's Park

Last month we felt the need to get away for a quiet break and decided to take a city holiday in Perth. We decided on a city stay, no car rental, just a leisurely time walking or going to nearby places by bus and train. So, a few days later we had made our exit from the Domestic Arrivals hall at the Perth airport where we saw with surprise that the airport seemed almost deserted and small, reminding me of the Cairns airport of 20 years ago. It was easy to locate the hotel shuttle by the taxi rank right at the door - $15 per person.

Living on the East coast, we hear a lot about Perth and West Australia, mainly about the mining and petroleum industries, job opportunities in WA, high salaries and the wealth of the owners of these industries.Travelling through rather dingy and dull streets to the CBD did not look like the Wealth State! No gold paving!

The silver sand in the front yards of the brick houses along the streets to the CBD was also a surprise. Later that night I read in the news paper that Western Australia has some of the most nutrient deficient soil on the planet and its citizens were being encouraged to compost and breed worms. In contrast with Brisbane on the East coast, the environment at first look was very harsh with scrubby vegetation and sharper colours. We were in for an interesting time!

Former Government Printing Office

Another striking contrast to Queensland were the brick houses and buildings. Even the small, closely built houses in the city area were constructed of brick. 

Old fire station. Goderich street, Perth

As the shuttle bus wove its way around the various hotels we got several glimpses of the city Mall. Another surprise! On a Saturday afternoon it seemed empty of people! We began to realise that our 5 hour flight had taken us to a place that was quite different to what we expected. We would really have to get out to discover what this far away city really was like!

Perth proved to be a very easy city to find our way about and also a cheap one. We were startled to find that the hop on hop off buses that looped around the city were free! 

Perth CAT routes - a free service

List of CAT stops in Perth

 We made good use of this excellent service every day! The train service was equally as efficient.

London Court,  Hay Street Mall side, Perth

 On our walk around the CBD we came across this beautiful, but surprising building. I just did not expect to find an Elizabethean style building in Perth! A crowd was standing, gazing upwards and after a minute There was a murmur of appreciation as the clock sounded its unique chime, calling the 3/4 hour. Later I learned that this building, which goes right through to St George's Terrace was built in 1937 for a wealthy gold miner and financier, Claude de Bernales. The clock face is blue and is a replica of the Great clock found in Rouen, France. There are four knights above it. The other side of the building has another clock this one being a replica of Big Ben, London. Above its face is a statue of St George fighting a dragon. I don't think that old Claude could have known the pleasure his building would give beyond his lifetime!

Bell Tower of St George's Cathedral, Perth

City Memorial building

                       

 The above plaque was on the building pictured above it.

The Tree of Life, outside Wesley Church, Hay Street

 This sculpture by Rod Laws was commissioned as part of the Children's Peace Project for CHOGM 2011.

 On one day we took the  Blue CAT and did almost a complete loop before getting down at stop 19. Our intended destination was Kings Gardens on the hill above us but getting up there proved to be a bit of a challenge. After a walk along the road we eventually found what is known as "Jacob's Ladder" a set of 99 steep steps to the top. We took these slowly, moving aside for the never ending stream of lycra clad fitness intent people who raced both upwards and downwards, some looking anxiously at stopwatches clutched in their hands. Although this was a route demanding some energy, in the end I was pleased we got there this way as we were able to see the whole of these beautiful gardens. The focus was on native species from various parts of Australia and the highlighting of Aboriginal pre European knowledge and use of many of those presented.

Bali Memorial

 The park and Botanic Gargens cover 400 hectares and is set out in mini parks with various themes. I particularly enjoyed the banksias, gravilleas peppermint and boab trees as well as the garden dedicated to Pioneer Women.

Boab tree

There are free tours available several times daily but we preferred to do or own thing. I noticed that although the day was somewhat wild, quite a few people did take advantage of this service. There is an information booth beside the cafe and the map they provided was really helpful.

Peppermint Tree

information about Aboriginal culture

Federation Walk

The day was alternately wet and windy and fine and sunny so we spent the wildest part of it in the cafe having lunch. Our desire to get out of the cold led to a limited and expensive menu and, had the weather been more comfortable, we could have had a bigger choice, eaten under umbrellas outside. By the time we were ready to move again the weather had improved so we went in search of the well known Federation walk. Here we walked at treetop level where the birds took advantage of the drop in wind to give us a song or two. We also had some lovely views of the Swan River and the city.

Down town Perth from the Federation Walk

Old Swan Brewery

This former brewery is now high end apartments, shops and restuarants. Looks great ! Again, brick!

We spent four hours in this lovely park before returning to the city by bus. Again, Free! 

Post script: After posting this I saw that Perth had been hit by a tornado today. What a shock for the people who were hit. I'm hoping that no one was hurt and the damage it did put right ASAP.