Perth

Saturday 10 Th Oct we arrived in Perth. Sometimes over the last few months I wondered if we would ever get here but here we are, at Karrinyup Waters Resort. The waters bit is a little deceiving as the waters bit refers to a swampy lake and not the sea which is a couple of K's away. The swampy lake is quite beautiful a bit of a cross between Disneyland and a Zoo because of the great playgrounds in an idyllic setting and the wildlife consists of Swans with signet's, duck's with ducklings, water hens with babies and a black and white rabbit which has lived in the park for a couple of years. Throw in a nesting wagtail and a wild bee's nest and we have a wild life center. In reality this is one of the best parks we have stayed at, the facilities are great and the staff friendly and helpful.

It is about 12 K's into the city, the best way to travel is to catch a bus to the train station, train to the city. If you purchase a "dayrider" ticket for $3.60, you can travel all day and this includes ferry's to South Perth. We made good use of this cheap travel, traveling into the city 3 times.

Sunday we had a sleep in and then went shopping, we are surrounded by shopping centers and wasted no time in restocking our supplies. We also visited "Hillarys Harbour" and were blown away with the shops, cafes and the most impressive Children's play center we have seen, this is apart from the fact that the surroundings are beautifully laid out and maintained. On top of all this we found a "crocs" (shoes) speciality outlet (I have come to love crocs, so comfortable). So Robbie scored a new pair of thongs and a pair of croc's with the original croc's sole and leather uppers (if my feet are happy then so am I) Judy scored a stylish set as well and promptly got a blister.

Monday we went for a drive to Freemantle down the coast highway, we wandered around the city center the highlight being a visit to a Japanese grocery outlet, we have grown to like browsing in Asian supermarkets. On the drive home we visited all the beaches along the way, very impressed.

First visit to Perth City on Tuesday, we found our way with no help and when we arrived we Paid for two days travel on the Tourist Tram which travels the city and provides live commentary on the city. This proved to be worth the cost in that we learnt our way around with minimum fuss. The highlight was a visit to "Kings Park" which is an absolute must see in Perth, this park is huge and has many features, our two hour visit was no where near long enough, even a full day would not be long enough to appreciate this beautiful place. We will return,,,one day! We also visited the city bell tower down near the water ferry terminal, a very impressive building.

Next day we returned to the city and visited the Royal Mint and watched a gold ingot being poured, we also visited "Harbour Town" shopping and we were disappointed, all these super discount centers sell the same old same old.

We visited Ikea the next day, because we do not get to visit their stores very often and enjoyed wandering around. We have been through the drama of registering our car this week and thanks to help from Col and Jude and Perry we are legal again all we have to do now is wait for our label to arrive, We are so grateful for the help we receive from home, makes us feel very humble to have such good friends.

Off to the city one more time with a ferry ride to south Perth then lunch at an interesting restaurant and train ride to Mandurah and back and then next day we revisited "Hillary Harbour" and while there had a call from the Sunshine Coast Police who told us that thanks to the information we supplied they had caught the people who stole my wallet and they are due in court on Monday 25Th October. Great news and I hope that they get punished for the stress they caused.

Last night in Perth and Greg and Sophy Pinner arrived in the Park so a great get together ensued and this was a fitting end to our visit. In summary We had a great time in Perth and were once again sad to be leaving, but that's what caravans are designed for....to travel and so next stop Busseltown.