Perth, Australia October 20-28, 2006

On October 19, 2006 Pat, his brother, Peter from Fort McMurray, Alberta and I left for the night in Kuala Lumpur before flying to Perth in Western Australia the next morning. Because of the Hindu Deepavali celebration, the usually busy international airport (KLIA) was a madhouse, with huge queues stretching to the entrance! Since our flight was slightly delayed due to technical problems, we had little problem checking in, once we found the correct line! The flight to Perth took about six hours with no time change. After passing immigration, we stood in another long queue at the Quarantine Desk, where we received a thorough going over of our passports, tickets, etc. followed by X-rays of our luggage. It’s not that easy entering the Land of Oz!



Peter having brunch at Connie’s, near our Hyatt Hotel, on our first morning in Perth.



A long walk under warm sunny skies through the CBD took us up the hill to beautiful Kings Park overlooking the Swan River and the city centre. There were many local residents enjoying the breezy spring weather, walking in the lovely Botanic Gardens (boasting over 2,500 WA plant species) and reflecting at a unique memorial to victims of the October Bali bombing in 2002.

After two nights in Perth, we rented an SUV and drove to Fremantle on the coast for a wonderful seafood pub lunch in the courtyard of the well-known Norfolk Hotel. It was a busy day in town with the annual Blessing of the Fleet so parking was at a premium and streets were crowded! After lunch we took the ferry across to Rottsnest Island, spending the night in the Quokka Arms Lodge, formerly the governor’s official summer residence (although in reality it was not as elegant as it sounds!). We had a delicious “grill your own” BBQ dinner at the hotel’s restaurant which featured an extensive salad bar and whatever cut of meat or fish to grill to your liking! The lamb chops were so tender and cost only about $12.00! The island is full of little marsupials called quokkas, found only in this one location. They are a little like miniature kangaroos with a pouch for their “joey” and are very docile, wandering in and out of buildings at their leisure! There are over 10,000 on the island as they are protected! (see picture in the “Flora and Fauna” blog)





As the weather on the island wasn’t conducive to biking or staying very long, we left on the morning ferry to head south, spending the night in a two-bedroom chalet in Busselton, near the coast. It was sunny and warm but with a stiff breeze. Our picnic lunch on the beach near Mandurah met with these views. Note the beautiful colour of the ocean! Surf's up!










We headed further south, ending up at the Margaret River Resort in Prevelly Beach for three nights. From there we explored the wine country, enjoying tastings at Wise, Gralyn (great ports!), Vasse Felix, Xanadu (where we had a delightful lunch) and Voyager, with its Afrikaans roots, reminding us of Stellenbosch near Cape Town in South Africa! The proud Australian flag is flying from the entrance to this winery.


At the intersection of the warm Indian Ocean and the cold Southern Ocean is the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin. Note the angry seas and the high waves! The wind here was incredible, turning our jackets inside out before we could don them for protection! At this point, the lighthouse keeper informed us that we were 4,500 km from Antarctica and 8,500 km from Africa! We watched the sun set over the Indian Ocean and headed back to our condo, ever watchful of kangaroos jumping out in front of the car at dusk! For that reason, the locals have heavy steel “roo bumpers” mounted on the front of their cars!


On our last day in the area, we headed south to the karri forest in Pemberton, home of some huge trees, some 1 ½ hours away. We tasted wine at Gloucester Ridge, amused to see roos grazing between the rows of grapes (see flora and fauna blog) then enjoyed our picnic lunch at a nearby campground. We visited the Calgardup Cave on a self-guided tour before heading north to Busselton and Perth again.



This house and man-made lake complete with arching statue in the fountain made an impression on us!



Weather approaching…an Australian tornado, perhaps? We didn’t hang around to see!

We had a picnic lunch in the park by the Swan River just before leaving Perth and were amused at a flock of bright green parrots squawking in the trees and dive-bombing a young man catching 40 winks on the grass below!

There were some interesting moments upon our arrival at Sentral Station in KL on the KLIA express from the airport around midnight! I was the last one off the train, following Pat and Peter with our collection of bags, when all of a sudden the train doors closed and we started to move. Somewhat startled, I waved to Pat and Peter waiting for me on the platform, then went to find someone to bail me out! There were cleaners on the train but no one spoke any English! Finally, the driver came by, realized there was a problem, stopped and reversed the engine, returning me back to the main platform! Note to self: don’t be so slow in disembarking next time!