21st November on and off until Mid March 2017
Perth.....here we come.
Our city stay digs for 5 nights.
With a very nice deli-café right next door. How convenient!
So let's get going.
Yay....Mummy is here! Brekky before Kings Park.
KINGS PARK
When we arrived at the Park, there was a commemorative service to remember Australian women's involvement in warfare.
Looking up the Swan River with the old Swan Brewery in the foreground. This is now a function centre and restaurant. Beautifully maintained.
Swan River view.
Swan Brewery building.
Dezzi and Meg enjoying being together. Meg having a well earned rest!
Beautiful expanses of shady areas.
And green grass. Lots of green grass. No red dirt to be seen. So luxurious!
And lots of cute little ducks.
PERTH MINT
The Perth Mint was next on the agenda. The following excerpt from their website.
In 1940, with Australia on a war footing, an urgent telegram arrived from the Commonwealth Treasury in Canberra: "Heavy demand for Australian coin and Melbourne Mint working full capacity. Could you undertake minting copper coin?"
The stunning Perth Mint building in the heart of the City.
A bit of shopping. Sadly no gold nugget for us.
Morning tea in the lovely courtyard at the back of the Mint.
Then the "Tour". This guy was extremely informative.....and amusing! These are replicas of original gold nuggets found back in the day. The one in the wheelbarrow is a replica of the famous Welcome Stranger. The largest gold nugget ever found.
Tipping the scales at a massive one tonne of 99.99% pure gold. Measuring some 80cms wide and more than 12cms deep it is the biggest, heaviest and most valuable gold bullion coin in the world, estimated to be worth more than AUD50million.
Bit hard to put it in my handbag though!
Great to watch the process of creating gold bullion.
The Perth Mint also is the manufacturer of our Olympic Medals.
Knew I was worth my weight in gold......$3,120,390.00!!! Anyone want to buy me ha ha!
A wander around the City.
London Mall. A replica olde worlde one.
Complete with lolly shop! Right up my alley. The best homemade honeycomb. Very handy having Meg along with her trolley. We loaded her up everyday!!!
Hay Street Mall.
Supreme Court Building.
And gardens. One of many.
Government House.
COTTESLOE BEACH
One of the must do's when in Perth - a visit to the iconic Cottesloe Beach. Lovely day including fish and chips of course. And a chance for Meg to take it easy!
The original Cottesloe Club House.
Perfect day for swimming. Spent plenty of time floating about.
Most beaches in W.A. have shade shelters. Such a great idea.
Happy holiday makers.
SWAN VALLEY
Swan Valley is a wine region only about 30 minutes drive from the city. How convenient! Our besties Deb and Harry were staying there so off to their holiday accommodation for lunch. Stopping a few times on the way, of course!
Tasting at Sandalford Wines. Very approachable. Picked up some very nice Chardy.
The restaurant and grounds are lovely.
Chocolate??? Turn here Dezzi! You can taste every chocolate that they make...and we did!!!
Just some of the yummies on offer.
And best of all - lunch with Deb and Harry. We hadn't camped with them since Kununurra. Plenty of catching up.
FREMANTLE
Bibs for the boys - Dezzi always ends up with mess down his front.
The Fremantle Gaol was opened for business in 1855. This gaol housed men, women and children all in the same building.
Main Building.
One of the cell blocks.
Maximum / solitary confinement cell. Thought the doors were lovely!
No toilet in your room. Just a bucket that you have to empty every morning.
Not sure what to do. Here's your timetable.
Shower block.
Nicely appointed room....not!
One of the outside toilets in the exercise yard. A lovely upgrade!
Some of the dunny graffiti!
And for the really naughty ones.....the gallows!
The Maritime Museum was on Dezziz list. Anything to do with boats!
Most - should I say it "older" - Australians remember that exciting moment when we won the America's Cup back in 1983. Well there she is. The Australia II complete with the controversial winged keel.
And lots of beautiful timber boats and models for Dezzi to drool over.
Skipper Mikey and First Mate Dezzi.
The Crew. Never too early for a Savvy!
Heading out of the marina. The amount of marinas and luxury boats in Perth and Fremantle is gobsmacking. There would be thousands. Far more than any other city that we have seen.
Looking back to Little Creatures Brewery.
Heading across to Rottnest.
The shipping port.
Tucked in a beaut mooring for lunch.
Oysters, oysters, and more oysters.
We had another great day on the boat with Mike's daughters and families cruising the Swan. Never tire of being on a beautiful boat with great friends.
Yep...pretty happy.
Cheers to great friends.
Dezzi and Harry.
The best Skipper ever...Mr Mikey!
And even a swim with the swans in the Swan River!
It was birthday time with Meg, so off to Hillary's Marina for lunch. Poor Dezzi had come down with a dreadful Man Cold. Oh dear. He was confined to bed and fumigated on a regular basis with the Glen 20. We didn't want Meg catching it with a flight home looming.
Poor Dezzi. We did bring him back some Codrals, fresh pineapple juice for his cough, and an extra large box of tissues. Spoilt or what!
Meanwhile, Meg and I had a very special girl's lunch. Coffee at one café, main at another, and intentions of desert at another, but our bellies were too full!
Hillary's Marina is a huge complex with all sorts of shops and eateries, on a lagoon. Great!
THE COWS
Friday night knock offs and dinner at the Lucky Shag down at the Barrack Street Jetty / Elizabeth Quay precinct. The most perfect night. Catch up time with Deb and Harry!
Sunset drinks.
Then over the pedestrian bridge to Elizabeth Quay to the Embargo Container Bar. Live music and great atmosphere.
Look at us out in the City in the nigh time!
Saturday night and off to Jaimie Oliver's Italian. Sooo yummy. Martini Espressos and perfect pasta.
Chinese New Year parade and festival just around the corner. Rainy day, but still lots of fun.
The Emperor and Empress. Much excitement among the locals.
City night sky from the balcony at the Northbridge apartment.
We loved Perth. So many beautiful parks and green areas. Clean and tidy pretty much everywhere you go. A fabulous relaxed atmosphere. Fantastic beaches, cafes, restaurants and points of interest.
Being based at Moore River, only an hour drive north, was perfect for exploring all Perth has to offer. Sometimes just for the day, other times for a few days at a time.
First up was very exciting to have mummy Meg over from Maroochydore for 10 days. The first 5 in the city, and then 3 at Karrinyup. There is nothing quite like mummy hugs after being on the road for so long!
Meg was very comfortably ensconced "downtown", and us very nicely accommodated at our Worldmark Holiday Club, next to Kings Park. So ready for a bit of luxury!
It was go go go from day one. We well and truly wore Meg out sightseeing!
Perth.....here we come.
Our city stay digs for 5 nights.
With a very nice deli-café right next door. How convenient!
So let's get going.
Yay....Mummy is here! Brekky before Kings Park.
KINGS PARK
When we arrived at the Park, there was a commemorative service to remember Australian women's involvement in warfare.
Looking up the Swan River with the old Swan Brewery in the foreground. This is now a function centre and restaurant. Beautifully maintained.
Swan River view.
Swan Brewery building.
Dezzi and Meg enjoying being together. Meg having a well earned rest!
Kings Park is beautiful . A 4.06-square-kilometre (1,003-acre) park located on the western edge of the central business district in Perth, Western Australia. And we walked all of it! The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with two-thirds of the grounds conserved as native bushland. With panoramic views of the Swan River and Darling Range, it is home to over 324 native plant varieties, 215 known indigenous fungi species and 80 bird species. It overlooks the city as well as Perth Water and Melville Water on the Swan River.
Beautiful expanses of shady areas.
And green grass. Lots of green grass. No red dirt to be seen. So luxurious!
And lots of cute little ducks.
PERTH MINT
The Perth Mint opened in 1899 in response to the discovery of rich gold deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. It was Australia's third branch of Britain's Royal Mint - the others being the Sydney Mint and the Melbourne Mint (both closed).
Gold refining continually took place at our original Hay Street premises until April 1990, when the operation was moved to a modern facility in Perth’s eastern suburbs. Between 1899 and 1931, we struck more than 106 million gold sovereigns and nearly 735,000 half-sovereigns for use as currency.
In 1940, with Australia on a war footing, an urgent telegram arrived from the Commonwealth Treasury in Canberra: "Heavy demand for Australian coin and Melbourne Mint working full capacity. Could you undertake minting copper coin?"
We produced hundreds of millions of Australian pennies and half pennies between 1940 and 1964. We also fulfilled an order for 1.3 million shillings in 1946. Our considerable output was boosted further when Australia introduced decimal currency in 1966 for which we produced a staggering 829 million 2 cent coins and 26 million 1 cent coins by 1973.
Meanwhile, we achieved "arguably the purest of all gold" in 1957. Refinery Officer Leo Hickey and Senior Craftsman Alexander Osborne produced a proof 'plate' of almost six nines - 999.999 parts of gold per thousand - as measured by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London. The Royal Mint was so impressed that it ordered some of the gold as the benchmark for its own standards.
We remained under Britain's jurisdiction until 1 July 1970, when ownership transferred to the Government of Western Australia.
In 2003, we officially opened an 8,400 square metre state-of-the-art manufacturing and commercial facility next door to our original limestone building. Dominating the Mint's heritage precinct, these two important buildings are powerful symbols of more than 100 years of minting excellence in Western Australia.
A bit of shopping. Sadly no gold nugget for us.
Morning tea in the lovely courtyard at the back of the Mint.
Then the "Tour". This guy was extremely informative.....and amusing! These are replicas of original gold nuggets found back in the day. The one in the wheelbarrow is a replica of the famous Welcome Stranger. The largest gold nugget ever found.
Tipping the scales at a massive one tonne of 99.99% pure gold. Measuring some 80cms wide and more than 12cms deep it is the biggest, heaviest and most valuable gold bullion coin in the world, estimated to be worth more than AUD50million.
Bit hard to put it in my handbag though!
Great to watch the process of creating gold bullion.
The Perth Mint also is the manufacturer of our Olympic Medals.
Knew I was worth my weight in gold......$3,120,390.00!!! Anyone want to buy me ha ha!
A wander around the City.
London Mall. A replica olde worlde one.
Complete with lolly shop! Right up my alley. The best homemade honeycomb. Very handy having Meg along with her trolley. We loaded her up everyday!!!
Hay Street Mall.
Supreme Court Building.
And gardens. One of many.
Government House.
COTTESLOE BEACH
One of the must do's when in Perth - a visit to the iconic Cottesloe Beach. Lovely day including fish and chips of course. And a chance for Meg to take it easy!
The original Cottesloe Club House.
Perfect day for swimming. Spent plenty of time floating about.
Most beaches in W.A. have shade shelters. Such a great idea.
Happy holiday makers.
SWAN VALLEY
Swan Valley is a wine region only about 30 minutes drive from the city. How convenient! Our besties Deb and Harry were staying there so off to their holiday accommodation for lunch. Stopping a few times on the way, of course!
Tasting at Sandalford Wines. Very approachable. Picked up some very nice Chardy.
The restaurant and grounds are lovely.
Chocolate??? Turn here Dezzi! You can taste every chocolate that they make...and we did!!!
Just some of the yummies on offer.
And best of all - lunch with Deb and Harry. We hadn't camped with them since Kununurra. Plenty of catching up.
FREMANTLE
Fremantle has such a great atmosphere. Bustling with cafes, restaurants, shops, breweries, pubs, amazing bakeries and so much history.
Mike and Margo once lived here so they know all the best spots. Our first day in Freo we went to Portasrosa for their chilli mussels. WOW...so yummy.
Bibs for the boys - Dezzi always ends up with mess down his front.
So another visit with Meg. And we went back yet again with Mike and Margo. It became our Freo "local".
And it is not a visit to Fremantle without checking out the markets.
After being in remote areas for so long, such delicious, fresh food is overwhelming!
Yet another visit to Freo to visit the old Gaol and Maritime Museum.
Yet another visit to Freo to visit the old Gaol and Maritime Museum.
The Fremantle Gaol was opened for business in 1855. This gaol housed men, women and children all in the same building.
In January 1988, prisoners rebelled and rioted, setting fire to 3 Division and taking some officers hostage. Extensive damage was done to part of the Main Cell Block by fire and water. The gaol was decommissioned and the new correctional centre opened in 1993. Turns out because the gaol was built and designed for entry by horse and cart, the fire trucks couldn't get in to put out the fire!
Main Building.
One of the cell blocks.
Maximum / solitary confinement cell. Thought the doors were lovely!
No toilet in your room. Just a bucket that you have to empty every morning.
Shower block.
Nicely appointed room....not!
One of the outside toilets in the exercise yard. A lovely upgrade!
Some of the dunny graffiti!
The Maritime Museum was on Dezziz list. Anything to do with boats!
Most - should I say it "older" - Australians remember that exciting moment when we won the America's Cup back in 1983. Well there she is. The Australia II complete with the controversial winged keel.
And lots of beautiful timber boats and models for Dezzi to drool over.
ROTTNEST ISLAND & THE SWAN RIVER
Mike and Margo invited us out three times on their fabulous launch Siren. Incredibly spoilt, cruising over to Rottnest. We couldn't moor but we got a great look. And the water - amazingly clear and blue. Had to have a dip of course!
Skipper Mikey and First Mate Dezzi.
The Crew. Never too early for a Savvy!
The water was amazing!
We had intended to take Meg over to Rottnest, but the weather was not in our favour, and the sea was quite rough once we got out of the Swan River mouth. So we headed up the Swan River for a cruise and moored for lunch. Hard to take!
Heading out of the marina. The amount of marinas and luxury boats in Perth and Fremantle is gobsmacking. There would be thousands. Far more than any other city that we have seen.
Looking back to Little Creatures Brewery.
Heading across to Rottnest.
The shipping port.
Tucked in a beaut mooring for lunch.
We had another great day on the boat with Mike's daughters and families cruising the Swan. Never tire of being on a beautiful boat with great friends.
Yep...pretty happy.
Cheers to great friends.
Dezzi and Harry.
The best Skipper ever...Mr Mikey!
And even a swim with the swans in the Swan River!
It was birthday time with Meg, so off to Hillary's Marina for lunch. Poor Dezzi had come down with a dreadful Man Cold. Oh dear. He was confined to bed and fumigated on a regular basis with the Glen 20. We didn't want Meg catching it with a flight home looming.
Poor Dezzi. We did bring him back some Codrals, fresh pineapple juice for his cough, and an extra large box of tissues. Spoilt or what!
Meanwhile, Meg and I had a very special girl's lunch. Coffee at one café, main at another, and intentions of desert at another, but our bellies were too full!
Hillary's Marina is a huge complex with all sorts of shops and eateries, on a lagoon. Great!
THE COWS
Bizarre art festival of cows going on during December all around Perth. Statues of cows everywhere decorated in all crazy manner. Very odd.
This was just some of them...
NORTHBRIDGE & CITY
Thanks to the generosity of Maggie from Moore River, we had a fun city stay at her apartment in Northbridge. As it turns out it was Chinese New Year. Plenty of eating and drinking to be done!
Friday night knock offs and dinner at the Lucky Shag down at the Barrack Street Jetty / Elizabeth Quay precinct. The most perfect night. Catch up time with Deb and Harry!
Sunset drinks.
Then over the pedestrian bridge to Elizabeth Quay to the Embargo Container Bar. Live music and great atmosphere.
Look at us out in the City in the nigh time!
Saturday night and off to Jaimie Oliver's Italian. Sooo yummy. Martini Espressos and perfect pasta.
Chinese New Year parade and festival just around the corner. Rainy day, but still lots of fun.
City night sky from the balcony at the Northbridge apartment.
Comments
Post a Comment