Monday 28th April

This is the last entry from the land of OZ! We will finish off the blog from home so don’t all forget to see the final FINAL entry – and of course, there’ll still be the quiz to see how much notice you’ve been taking!?!

It’s been quite a relaxed day with a late start and early finish. We packed up the last lot of brochures and paper memorabilia and sent them home by post thus saving us excess baggage charges – we hope! We had the only bad experience of service we’ve had here when we went to Miss Maud’s for our usual daily break. We ordered coffee and stickies and the coffee arrived quite quickly, but the stickies just never appeared. We got fed up with waiting, finished our coffees and left – hungry! We did complain but they didn’t seem to be bothered. Pity it happened on our last day.

We then tried out one of the other free bus routes to get to the Perth Mint

and had a good visit there. There is the inevitable commemorative sculpture outside, and in an inner courtyard is a diorama of a gold camp, but there is a photo ban inside all of the buildings so we were unable to take pics inside. We watched a gold pour, which was exactly like Silvertown, and saw lots of gold nuggets and gold and silver coins. I can understand how gold fever can take hold of people – it has an attraction all of its own in all its forms. I am now the proud owner of a very special necklace thanks to my travelling companion, who has gained himself lots of brownie points!!

Having missed out on our stickies earlier, we enjoyed afternoon tea at the Mint instead – much nicer than Miss Maud’s.

We missed one bus by a matter of minutes so walked to the next stop, which just happened to be beside an Australian souvenir shop, so had a little wander round to pass the time. Tom found some very rude T-shirts, which he couldn’t resist – some of you will no doubt suffer them when he’s home!

We had a tour of West Perth on the Red Cat before alighting to visit 2 of the arcades we’d missed – we can now say we have visited ALL the shopping arcades that the centre of Perth has to offer! I’d like to add at this point that it’s not just been my choice to do this – Tom has developed a liking for the shops here. One of the last ones we went into was an Aboriginal Art and Artefacts shop where one of the salesmen was playing the didgeridoo – quite well as far as we could tell. Tom had a go too and was praised for his technique – no, we are not bringing one home!! There is a limit!

So we had our last walk through the centre and caught the Blue Cat back here. Tom is now in the bath while I write the day’s adventures up and send some last e-mails.

Having been bite-free for the last few weeks, we have BOTH been nibbled in these last few days – that’s only the second time I’ve been eaten and whatever it was is horrid! We’ve got red lumpy itchy blotches to suffer on the flights! Talking of itching, if you are thinking of travelling here, bring Antisan or the equivalent because there are no antihistamine creams sold in Australia. You can buy antihistamine pills but no creams.

We will be off-line for the next 2 days and home, hopefully on Wednesday when we will finish off this marathon blog. You can all breathe sighs of relief that your days will revert to tomandmaggie-free – until the next stage of the adventure! Byee!

AAAARGH! I’VE JUST FOUND THE MISSING HATS! I cannot believe this. We both checked the suitcases thoroughly (we thought!) but both missed the internally-zipped lid of one of them. I have just started to pack up and found the b****y things!! So now Tom’s got FOUR new hats to add to his Tilley.

Sunday 27th April

Thunderstorms were forecast for today and we planned to go to King’s Park and Botanic Garden, but as we’re now intrepid travellers not fazed by the vagaries of the weather, we went anyway! We did take our waterproofs though….. Rather than walk all the way – it’s rather a long way, like on the other side of Perth – we caught the free bus, the Blue Cat. We had a really cheerful driver, Spanish from Valencia! who greeted everyone with gusto and wished them all a good day when they got off. When Tom told him where we were going, he showed us where the steps were up to the Park and told us there were 120 steps to the top – HE LIED! There are 241 because someone who isn’t far away from me as I write this counted them! As we turned the corner to start up the steps, we saw a young man run down , then do push-ups BEFORE he started running back up. The base of the steps has the inevitable gum tree, with some of the biggest tree roots we’ve ever seen. It must be THE place to do your exercise as several people passed us going up and down as we wheezed our way up, stopping regularly to have a breather. One lady heard Tom saying how many steps there were as she was turning to go down for the second time – she had obviously never counted them. The steps are called Jacob’s Ladder and lead to the edge of the Park, which is huge – over 1000 acres all told, although much of it is bush – and 62m above sea level. It’s where the War Memorial is and where the 40,000 attended the dawn service on Anzac Day. The grounds are immaculate and everywhere is so green, a fact we’ve noticed since coming here. Compared to nearly all the other parts of Australia we’ve visited, Perth is definitely the greenest. All the parks and flowerbeds are kept watered by microbore systems – and there are loads of green areas.

The views over the city from the Park are wonderful, even though today was quite overcast with occasional showers, although the thunderstorms didn’t materialise I’m glad to say. There are different memorials scattered around – including one to the victims of the Bali bombing, and the Jewish War memorial. Two of the Avenues – May and Lovekin – are also named Honour Avenue. They have trees planted along both sides each with the name of a casualty from Western Australia of WWI. There is a large area devoted to women and the contribution they have made to the development of Australia. The whole area has particular meaning for the indigenous peoples and there are plaques with historical details scattered throughout. There is also an Aboriginal Art Gallery, and in Aspects, the retail outlet, many local artists of different crafts have their wares on show. There is some absolutely amazing glassware but the piece I liked the most was $7,500 – so I won’t be bringing it home!

Lotterywest has helped finance a Heritage Walkway through the Park. It has a raised section with a pierced metal floor and glass sides – and I walked over it with only one brief heartstopping moment when I looked over the edge and found that, not only did the bridge I was standing on go up in an arch, but the ground beneath fell away into a ravine - so I was very high!! and the bridge bounced!! Even from that view, I hadn’t realised quite how high it was, until we saw it from below! There’s so much to see in the Park and is an obviously popular place for families to gather as well as exercise fanatics running round and others like us just out to see Perth from on high and visit the memorials. It was quite cool and the rain kept threatening but we only had a few drops every now and again. It was a lovely relaxing afternoon. The café served good coffee and we had sandwiches, NOT stickies this time. We spent several hours there, then wandered downhill into the city. Sundays are very busy with most of the shops open and certainly the cafes and restaurants. Good old Woollies was doing a roaring trade so we collected our fodder for the next 2 evenings and joined the queue. Having filled our rucksacks with hot chicken and salad stuff, we decided to get the free bus part way home as our feet and legs had had enough for the day. It still left about 800m to walk up to the motel, getting slower and slower on the last little stretch, which is the most uphill part.

We got back at about 6 o’clock, time for tea, filled in the blog so far and Tom processed the pics. While he was doing that, I was watching a programme called “60 minutes”. It’s actually only on for 30 mins (Aussie logic?) but is a very good current affairs programme. With Anzac Day only just past, part of it was interviewing a group of 12th year students who had been doing a project. They went to their local War Memorial and each chose a name from the roll of honour. They then had to research the history of this person, finding out as much as possible, interviewing family members, etc. Then they flew to Europe and went on a tour of the battlefields where these young men had lost their lives, finding the cemeteries where they are buried and locating the grave of their individual digger. You could see how affected they all were by the experience and it goes some way to explaining why the Anzac spirit is kept alive through the generations here. I wonder if we do the same sort of thing in UK?

And after that, a nice chicken salad, fresh rolls and a glass or two of wine, CSI on TV and off to bed. Last entry from here tomorrow then it’s goodbye Perth and Australia. G’night for now.

Saturday 26th April

Today we returned to Fremantle, after checking out the hats at Top Hatter in William Street! They didn’t have the same Barmah oiled leather hat, which was one of those that went missing, but they had a similar one. Sensibly, Tom didn’t dive in and buy it. Knowing it was there, he said we’d see if we could find it in Fremantle – failing which, he’d come back on Monday.

It was cheap fare day again on the train, so another £4 well spent. When we arrived, we walked up through Cappucino Strip – it’s actually part of Market Street/ South Terrace, but is known as Cappucino Strip because of the number of cafes down the length. We found a tucked away little alley with tiny shops surrounding a sensibly priced café and enjoyed 2 of the best stickies we’ve had all holiday. Then it was on to the Markets,
loads of stalls tightly packed together, brimming with goods at less than touristy prices and plenty of cheerful, helpful stallholders. Tom found his hat!! Exactly the same as the lost one and $15 cheaper than the almost correct one in Top Hatters. I had to restrain myself from buying too much although there were so many bargains that it was very difficult.

A helpful lady pointed us in the direction of High St where the charity shops are, and we spent a little time rooting through the 50c bargain books. I got 2 to see out the rest of the holiday but Tom had enough so was very good and didn’t buy any!

Next stop was the Round House, the original Prison built by convicts for their incarceration, but we’d miscalculated the timing and only had 10 mins to look round as they closed at 3.30pm. After this flying visit, we walked through town again to Fremantle Prison – also built by convicts, but this one is much bigger to cope with the larger numbers of convicts brought from overseas plus prisoners sentenced for crimes carried out in the state. We hadn’t thought about the difference between the two terms before. The prison was used until 1991, undergoing several alterations and additions in the interim. Our guide was an ex-warder called John who had worked at the prison in its final years.

Each cell started off as 7’ x 4’ with a small barred window (some prisoners had no beds, only hammocks), then, with legislation, each cell was doubled in size by the removal of a dividing wall. However, when prison numbers rose, bunkbeds replaced single beds, so it was back to 2 persons per 7’ x 8’. At its most crowded, the prison had over 1,000 detainees, most convicted felons but some on remand. Internal divisions had been built to segregate the various categories of prisoner. Toilet facilities were very basic and even up to the end of use, were buckets in the cells for overnight use. The same as today, the worst offenders (in the eyes of the other prisoners), the paedophiles were kept separate at one end of the building. Ex-policemen and –prison warders were also separated for their own safety.

The worst riot the prison suffered was in January 1988 when daytime temperatures were in the high 30’s/low 40’s for days on end. At weekends, there were no classes or work, and with nothing to occupy them and baking conditions in the enclosed exercise yards, prisoners took 5 warders hostage and set fire to part of the building. Only 3 years afterwards, the prison was closed completely and all inmates moved into a new, improved facility.

We were able to see the cells, both original size and larger; the damage to the roof caused by the fire; kitchens and washrooms and exercise yards, and quite a lot more. We were even taken into the “death cell” where prisoners would spend the last 2 hours before being hanged, and into the execution chamber where the hanging paraphernalia has been set up to demonstrate what happened – gruesome and quite chilling. It was a fascinating tour but not for the faint hearted. We were a very select group – only three, us and a Frenchman. After being released (!), we caught the train back to Perth and stopped off for dinner on the way back to the motel. I fell asleep watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – I’m definitely feeling the effects of all the travelling around and all the busy days doing things. Since it looks like we have all the family coming to visit the first w/e we’re home and the following w/e is Scarlett’s first birthday celebrations, the lazy days will have to be put on hold for a little while!!

Anyway, folks, there are only a few more blog entries for you to endure before the great adventure is over – just hang on till the end! Take care and we’ll see you soon.

Friday 25th April

The Anzac Parade was timetabled to start at 9.30am so we were up and walking to town by 8.45. Another beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky boded well for something we’d never experienced or are likely to in the future. The roads were so quiet but as we approached the parade route, thousands of people were also going in the same direction. There were few police to be seen and the only barriers were on the corners of the parade route – everyone just formed up at the sides of the route. Australian flags were being handed out by the Post personnel - free.

The parade was incredible. The first to appear were the mounted Police, led by a British Inspector, who had been invited to attend from the Metropolitan Police; then group after group from all sections of the armed forces and all related support services including lots of cadets and youngsters marching with their families; in some cases they were representing family members who were unable to take part themselves or are no longer alive to do so. It took 1hr20mins for all the sections to pass and there were very few gaps between each group. The last groups were the Red Cross and St John with 90 cadets and the Scouts and Guides. The applause of the crowd never diminished and it was all incredibly moving. We couldn’t help compare it to the numbers we get in UK for Armistice Day. And this was only one venue. All major cities had the same kind of turnout, and most smaller towns had parades too.

We didn’t go to the Dawn Service, which had been held at the War Memorial in Kings’ Park at 4.30am, but over 40,000 people attended that. We’ve no idea how many people were at the parade itself. After the parade, everyone went to the Esplanade Reserve, a huge area of grassland by the Swan River for a service of remembrance. A young girl from one of the high schools gave an address on behalf of the youth in Perth. She had been one of a group taken on a tour of Gallipoli and Villiers Breton and described what effect it had had on her. Her speech was amazing – better than many public speakers I’ve heard. When we had the one minute’s silence, it was just that – no traffic noise, no movement and no speaking with thousands of people simply standing. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had.

Tom went to talk to the St John contingent – there were 35 on duty as well as the personnel who’d taken part in the parade. Free bottles of water were being handed out to anyone who wanted some, and afterwards, free tea and coffee.

While all this was happening in Australia, 10,000 people attended a ceremony in Gallipoli itself and in Villers Breton in France (where the Anzac forces freed the locals from the Germans in 1944) 5,000 attended the first service to be held there since the end of WWII. The Last Post is played in the town there every single night at sunset; all the school children are taught the words of “Waltzing Matilda” and Australian history is part of the curriculum.

We found a café to have a belated snack then made our way back to the motel. On the way, we were passed by a number of sailors who were all going to a bar/restaurant for lunch – this was not the place for anyone else to be around at this time! It was already quite raucous when we passed.

The afternoon was so beautiful I decided to go for a swim and, boy, was the water cold!! But I persevered and after the initial numbness had worn off, it was quite enjoyable, especially once I got out into the sunshine! There were several people enjoying the sun round the pool but weren’t tempted to join me – I don’t understand why?! I got into conversation with one couple from Geelong for an hour or so while Tom watched the Anzac Day traditional football match.
I’d put the washing in before my dip and got it all dried before we went out to eat. We found Lake Street, about 15 mins walk away, where there are more restaurants – lots of Anzac participants had obviously had a good afternoon including some more navy lads who stopped to chat to us while we were waiting for our food – they were almost coherent!! The police were much in view tonight, patrolling in pairs or groups so we haven’t hung around and are enjoying another evening’s TV. Tomorrow is back to Fremantle we think – we’ll let you know – night, night.

Thursday 24th April

We both had a good night’s sleep after our exertions of yesterday and woke to another glorious day. We set off at 11.00am to go to Fremantle on the train. When we reached the station, we couldn’t find a ticket office so Tom asked one of the station staff how we went about getting tickets. We’re very glad we asked – as it’s kids school holidays, there’s a special offer in action. 2 adults and up to 5 children can travel anywhere within the Perth public transport area in a 24 hour period for $8.10 (£4.00). No matter that we didn’t have any children travelling with us. So we had return travel to Fremantle, 15 stops down the line, about 35 mins, for the 2 of us for £4.00. We couldn’t even travel into Bedford and back for that – well, we could with our bus passes, but not otherwise. The Australian public transport system in all the cities is great but Perth seems to have the widest cover with 3 free buses covering most of the greater city area and these special holiday offers. Despite the otherwise clean and tidy station, I have to say that I was not impressed with their idea of hygiene. Thus armed with our value tickets we boarded the train and enjoyed the sights on the way to Fremantle. Arriving there, we met a volunteer guide lady stationed at the exit and she gave us the necessary maps and info to explore the city. There’s a free bus there too so that was our first foray, travelling to the Capuccino Strip for the usual provisions, sitting in the brilliant sunshine at a pavement café. We had decided that we would visit the Maritime Museum and on the way to it, we went into the Shipwreck museum. They have some of the original timbers from the Batavia, sunk in the late 1800’s and discovered in the 1980’s. The timbers have been treated and inset into a metal frame as the original ship would have been constructed – it must have been a huge ship. There are lots of retrieved “treasures” with plenty of stories in the museum, as the coast of W Australia is littered with wrecks.

After over an hour in there, we went to the Maritime Museum where, among other exhibits, they have the real Australia II, which won the Americas Cup in 1987. There are good videos on the whaling and pearling industries, as well as a history of the Royal Australian Navy. Did you know that Fremantle had the largest submarine base of the Allied Forces, second only to Pearl Harbour? It’s amazing how much we’ve learnt about all sorts of things since we embarked on this grand adventure.

At the moment, there is a photographic exhibition in the second hall of the museum. Two photographers are exhibited. One whose pics are of industrial scenes and these are huge enlargements of the gold mining areas in Western Australia – impossible to describe adequately, but fantastic to see. I had no idea the mines were so enormous. The other exhibits are war related but not just of soldiers or the hardware of war. These are of the people involved in armed conflicts or as the casualties – it does bring home the horrors war is responsible for.
Coming out into the sunshine blew away the slight depression of the pics we’d just seen so we walked back into the town, only to find, that despite it being advertised as late night opening, most of the shops were closing at normal time! As we didn’t want to eat this early, we decided to return to Perth, which we did, picking up some necessities on the way (beer and wine) before walking back to the motel. We went out again later to eat and so definitely did our 10,000 paces – probably more to make up for the days in between when we haven’t walked enough. Suitably fatigued, we had a reasonably early night to be ready for Friday’s Anzac Day ceremonies.

Wednesday 23rd April

Today has made up for all the c**p of the last few days - despite having to get up at some ungodly hour (6.00am)! We had to be outside the Witch’s Hat, a few doors down from here at 5 past 7 to catch the bus that would take us to the ferry terminal where we would catch the ferry to Rottnest Island. (The Witch’s Hat is a backpackers hostel but looks much more salubrious than that). It was a lovely morning after another night of heavy rain – no wonder Perth looks so green – and was even quite mild, although I was still wearing my fleece! Our driver was a short tempered, uncommunicative sort who drove on accelerator and brakes all through the various pick-ups – NOT a pleasant way to start the day. It also started to rain heavily before we reached the terminal – all fingers and toes were crossed for it to improve! However, we arrived with plenty of time to spare for the ferry and dodged the raindrops looking at the city from the riverside from under the overhangs – it’s not quite as impressive a skyline as Sydney, but not bad!

We embarked on our trip at 8.25am with a more than half empty boat and enjoyed the calm waters of the Swan River down to Fremantle. It’s not so much like a river as a large lake in this stretch. We had a commentary on the way, passing some very grand riverside properties – one especially owned by a personality called ? Clough (NOT Brian) which is like a holiday complex, it’s so big, and valued at over $32 million when it was bought several years ago.

When we reached Fremantle, the boat filled up, then we started on the sea* crossing. This was the bit Tom was not looking forward to, but although it as rough, it was bumpy, like airplane turbulence, rather than the long slow pitching motion which does nasty things to his insides!

(*Tom has just corrected me. This is the Indian Ocean we’re talking about, not some piddling little sea. If we were to miss Rottnest, next stop would be South Africa!!)

Anyway, the crossing is only 30 mins and by the time we got there, the sun was shining and it was hot, so off came the fleece. We’d taken both the rucksacks to carry the waterproofs – just in case – but didn’t need them at all. First stop was something to eat as having breakfast so early meant we were starving. There are certainly plenty of places to eat at the port, and, as we found out later, the island is a prime holiday destination. No cars are permitted, the only motorised public transport are the buses and there are official service vehicles – so the only way to get around apart from on foot is by bicycle and there are hundreds of them!

Tom booked us a tour bus trip at 1.30pm, so we had a couple of hours to wander round and enjoy the peace (apart from the kids on bikes – some of whom were hilarious to watch) – I’m not surprised it’s such a popular destination. One of the attractions of the island is the rare quokka, a very small version of the kangaroo family, about the size of a small domestic cat. There are only 2 other places in Australia where they are found and only in very small numbers – this island has by far the biggest population of the 3, but still only 7,000-10,000. They live in communities, mate for life, and are “guarded” by a dominant male who protects his community from marauders. 2 embryos are born, 27 days after mating and only one gestates while the other remains “dormant”. If the first one dies, the other embryo then starts to grow – another example of the miracle of Mother Nature and the survival of the species.

When we joined the tour bus, Howard our driver turned out to be a mine of information and a funny man too – some of his jokes were on a par with Tom’s – need I say more?! Although the island is only 11km long by 4km wide, the roads are very winding and you feel as if you’re travelling further. We went from one end to the other in a figure of eight and Howard didn’t stop talking virtually all the way. We learnt all about the shipwrecks and the geology and the birdlife and the quokkas and the holiday accommodation and so on……It was the best tour we’ve done and the time just seemed to fly by. He said he had 100% success in finding quokkas although they are mainly nocturnal animals (this was only 3.00pm) and, sure enough, just as we were about to arrive back at the bus stop, someone spotted a quokka in a garden. We backed up a little but it was to far away to get decent photos so he drove round the corner and we disembarked and walked back. This one was very shy and kept close to the house wall, but I caught sight of another one in the next garden and he/she was really tame. It came right up to the fence and nosed around only 8-10” away. Howard had also told us that there was an area near one of the lakes where the quokkas liked to gather. That was only a short distance, so we went there and there were loads of them! First a baby, sleeping upright, as they do, then lots just started to appear and come really close – they weren’t at all afraid and were obviously used to being peered at and photographed. It was wonderful – another high spot for me.

We then had about 40 mins till the boat returned so had another wander before joining it. The return crossing was not so bumpy but still quite rough in places, it makes you marvel at these intrepid sailors who choose to brave the seas to prove themselves and face waves the size of houses. I fell asleep, only for a few moments, with all the fresh air and exercise we’d had and we got back to the terminal at 6.00pm where the bus then brought us back here, dropping off the other day trippers on the way. After a refreshing cuppa, we walked into Northbridge, the local centre where you have the choice of just about every kind of food within a square mile radius – mostly Chinese or Vietnamese. We ended up in a food court where we both had noodles, mine with roast duck and Tom with bbq pork and chicken – really good value and very tasty. The whole area was heaving with people – obviously THE place to be.

Then it was a slow walk back and time to watch Die Another Day before falling into bed – another day over.

Tuesday 22nd April

And the bad news goes on…somewhere along the line we’ve managed to lose 3 of Tom’s hats, including his beloved Tilley. No, don’t laugh, I haven’t deliberately lost them and we’ve backtracked everywhere with no joy. The only theories we can possibly come up with is that they got mixed up with the throw outs we left at the Adelaide motel or that they were removed from one of our suitcases at Adelaide or Perth – we hadn’t locked them because we thought they were going to be on the train with us. Tom did comment when we collected our cases from the baggage carousel that one looked as if it had been opened. We’ll never know. We only discovered the loss when we got to our new motel this morning and Tom wanted to change hats. We even went back to the previous motel to check in case they’d missed them or put them out with the rubbish.

So that was the start of the day but it did get better, you’ll be pleased to hear.

It poured last night and again this morning – showers were forecast last night – but it brightened up and ended as quite a pleasant day. We found a great vantage point to look over the city. There’s a restaurant called “C”, which is on the 33rd floor of one of the office buildings on St George’s Terrace. There’s no advertising that we could see but the local tourist info lady told us about it. It’s a revolving restaurant but we were there for almost an hour and we hadn’t gone all the way round! Fantastic views and lovely coffee. The dinner menu looked good too.

There are so many statues and sculptures dotted about in the city and all have a story attached. (Australians seem to have a great interest in their history and certainly have great pride in their country and their particular state especially.) We’re still trying to find out about the plaques in the pavement (we never did have time to find the story behind those we saw in Adelaide), which are all over the place. There must be significance attached to them.

Our new (and last) motel is very nice. It’s actually separate apartments so we have lounge/kitchen and separate bedroom, and bathroom with a bath and a shower. Our apartment has French windows leading onto the swimming pool and hot tub – I don’t know whether I’ll be brave enough to try the pool out unless the temperature lifts a bit – we’ll see! The only drawback is that it is further from the city, although we’ve found that one of the free buses comes to within half a mile of it.

We’re trying to cram in as much as possible to this last 7 days – there’s plenty to do and see here so it’s not a problem. We’ll be so whacked, we’ll probably sleep all the way home!

Anyway, tomorrow is a very early start so it’s goodnight for now.

Monday 21st April

Further to the short info bulletin of yesterday morning – I am so p**d off about the train. This was going to be one of the high spots of the Australian part of our adventure. It’s lucky that Tom mentioned it to the receptionist when he did, otherwise we’d have turned up at the station late in the afternoon when we certainly couldn’t have got flights to Perth and would have been left trying to find accommodation in Adelaide for another night. Many people will have been stuck like that, I’ve no doubt. We are definitely fated with trains. Tom’s been trying to make me feel better, of course, as he would, but I have to say I’m very low about it. He even said that it’s a good job it was a freight train that was derailed rather than our Indian Pacific, which I have to admit is very true BUT IT DOESN’T REALLY HELP!!

Sitting having a snack in the airport only added to my bad mood, as, there on the wall beside us, was a poster of – guess what? – the Indian Pacific en route across the Nullarbor Plain. They say a picture is worth a thousand words……..

Then we came to security, having handed in our hold luggage. (The website LIED). Tom was going on and on about fluids etc, but I had checked that fluids were acceptable on the internal flight, so was able to get one up on him. Then of course the x-ray spotted the paring knife, table knives and corkscrew that I forgot that I had packed in with the bottles of wine which we were bringing with us, and which would have been ok on the train. He started to give me a "told you so", but took one look at my face and shut up.

After that, the flight was uneventful, very full and we didn’t even get to see the Plain as we flew over it as we had aisle seats. The couple next to me had streaming colds and coughed and blew their way the whole time – so I wonder what’s in store for me? I’m running out of Neurofen cold and flu and you can’t buy it here, because one of the ingredients can be extracted and used as a recreational drug.

I couldn’t face doing the blog last night and it’s a real challenge to write anything positive today. Our 2 nights accommodation is in a prison block – at least, that what it looks and feels like. Painted brick walls in an institutional shade of yucky green with darker woodwork, very dim lighting and set up like you see the inside of a prison on TV – a central narrow courtyard with 3 levels of rooms leading from iron railed balconies. The only thing missing is the barbed wire and guards.

We arrived just after 5.00pm and, after the customary cup of tea (no biscuits provided) we went out to find the supermarket – we’d got rid of all the perishables as we were going to be on the train! We found this grotty little high priced one in the back streets beside some dingy looking bars and I’ve just found out this morning when I checked the receipt, that we’d been diddled, which just adds to my general feeling of yeuk! There was a kebab shop next door and with no enthusiasm for anything else, we bought some and brought them back here. They were edible!

This morning I feel grim. I didn’t sleep very well and am all bunged up and sniffy. I’ve sent Tom off on his own, which he wasn’t too happy about but I just want to be a misery on my own! I’ll get over it but I’m still p****d. We’ll move on to our pre-booked motel tomorrow and I’ll no doubt be feeling much more cheerful by them.

Later

Tom came back about 2 o’clock and I had had enough of my own miserable company by then, so I got ready and we went into the city, only 10 mins walk away. On the way, there are some statues of kangaroos near a water feature – the biggest ‘roos we’ve seen so far! Perth has a shopping centre about twice the size of Adelaide, mostly pedestrian precinct, with loads of Australiana shops, which Adelaide lacked. There are some really lovely books and souvenirs we haven’t seen before and have to resist the temptation to buy. There are also lots of high rise buildings, which Adelaide didn’t have, and some very large hotels (Sheraton, Novotel and the Duxton, which looks absolutely wonderful – wish we could afford to stay there!) all within a short walk from our motel. St George’s Cathedral is not far away, and Government House, the Supreme Court Gardens, Perth Concert Hall and the Commonwealth Law Courts too. London Court, which is a narrow lane built like an old London street is full of trendy little shops selling quite reasonable priced goods and this leads into the main shopping precinct. We had a roast pork sandwich at one of the Food Court outlets – food did make me feel a lot more human!

In one of the many arcades, we watched a team make rock. The leader was really comical and kept the kids (and us) amused with his banter and we got to try the rock they’d been making – very good it was too. After a pleasant afternoon NOT buying anything, apart, from some of his rock, a birthday card and some postcards, we wandered back to the motel and on the way found a nice eating place for this evening. Tom’s just complained that he has indigestion so I gave him a Gaviscon – his face was a picture. He said it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever tasted. It gave me the first laugh of the day and has quite cheered me up. You can’t get Rennies Rapeze, fruit flavour here at all. The nearest are Tums orangey flavoured, so I’m thankful I haven’t suffered too much from indigestion while I’ve been away.

Much later still

We’ve just come back from our meal and it was lovely to sit somewhere other than in our room, surrounded by other people. Then we had coffee in comfortable chairs, while watching the world go by outside the window – quite civilised for a change. It is much colder here than in Adelaide though, so it’s on with the fleeces again.

Anyway, it’s time for me to give the computer over to Tom so he can sort out the photos. So it’s goodnight again.

Sunday 20th April

I was definitely tempting fate when I wrote about the train last night. When Tom took down the luggage to reception this morning, in conversation with the receptionist, he found out that the Indian Pacific had been cancelled!! On further investigation, it turns out that there has been a derailment on the Nullarbor Plain and there will be NO trains for several days! What have we done to deserve this?

Now we’re booked on a Quantas flight to Perth this afternoon and have accommodation for the extra 2 nights we have to spend there. However, there is still the luggage to sort out as I packed for the train and we’ll now have to re-arrange everything to get the wine, etc through the security channel. According to Quantas website, there’s no hold luggage for internal flights, which seems absolutely ludicrous. As you can imagine, I’m not a happy bear, in fact I’m pretty upset as we’re tired, having been kept awake last night by all the revellers who were having a wonderful time in the alley below our room last night! However, I’ll get over it – eventually!
We’ll let you know how it all works out. Bye for now

Saturday 19th April

Another lazy morning, the last for a few days, and we woke to yet another gorgeous day. This has been the best few days we’ve had in succession.

Tom had logged on to the web server last night to post the blog and the so-and-sos had put the prices up – we think for the w/e. So he’d decided to go down to the café beside the motel where there is a wi-fi outlet. While I did the morning chores, that’s what he did so you should have now read the last 2 days worth of outpourings.

We started off the day’s trip with a walk along the west end of North Terrace, which we’d missed yesterday, starting at Government House. The notice outside said no photos were permitted but the guard there told Tom he could take one.

Then we went on to the war memorial. A team of cleaners were busy getting the area round it ready for Anzac day. Then it was on to the Museum where we spent an hour or so learning a little bit more about the indigenous tribes of Australia and the surrounding islands. After coffee, we went to the National Wine Centre and enjoyed a tour there. We couldn’t access all areas as there was a wedding party about to come in for lunch, but Tom spent several minutes talking to a couple of the staff about wines in general and Tin Shed in particular – he has fallen in love with their Shiraz. We did get a glimpse of the cellar which holds the stock for functions, and it rather put our wine rack at home to shame! When we left there, I wanted to go to Ayers House but Tom wasn’t keen so we parted company, arranging to meet up in the centre later. Unfortunately, when I got to the House, there were 2 weddings being held there and it was closed to visitors!! Oh well, time to wander round my kind of shops for a while!! I found a bead shop where I spent half an hour – fabulous beads and lots of patterns for making them up in different ways. It’s surprising how the time flies when you just wander, taking photos and peering into side alleys and strange little shops!

We met up as arranged, bought a few bits for dinner and returned to the room by just after 5.00pm. A nice cup of tea kept me going before I had the exciting task of doing the laundry – since the motel has no facilities, they have an agreement with the apartments opposite to use theirs, so I plodded across with my bag and, one and a quarter hours later, it was all done. So we’re now all clean for the train.

We have no idea if we’ll have net access while we’re on the train, so it may be Tuesday before we can talk to you again! Hopefully by then, I shall have something a bit more exciting to relate to you, as there always seems to be something that goes wrong when trains are involved. Today has been a nothing sort of day really, but I’ve got to keep my readers going somehow!?! I’m almost falling asleep now so shall bid you all a fond goodnight.

Friday 18th April

The weather is being so good to us here – it’s been another wonderful bright sunny cloudless day, with even higher temperatures than previous days. We were out of the hotel just before 11.00am and wandered to the route of the free bus – but the map was out of date and the route is now different! Still, by walking the way we did, we arrived at the Central Market, one of the chosen destinations of the day. It’s not as big as Melbourne’s Victoria Market, but much nicer – cleaner and better laid out. We spent an hour just wandering through the stalls, then had coffee and stickies from Michel’s Patisserie – they do some really yummy cakes. We found a wine store and I spied a bottle of Tin Shed Shiraz, which Tom had to have and we bought some fresh rolls for dinner tonight (still some pate left!).

Leaving the market, we walked to Victoria Square, which we’d passed through on the tram yesterday. There is a huge fountain there – one of the few that are still in operation because of the water restrictions – and several statues, plenty of scope for photos. The free bus also runs through the Square so we caught it and went round the circuit one and a half times, picking out the places we wanted to return to. The centre of the city is much more compact than Melbourne although the streets are wider and the traffic doesn’t seem so frenetic. While on the bus, we had a conversation with a little girl who sat opposite us. She was a real sweetheart, 3 years old and full of chatter – I could just see Isabel in about a year being like that! When we disembarked, we bought our Anzac day badges from an old soldier (Anzac day is on April 25th when we’ll be in Perth). Then we took the wine and bread back to our room, before setting off again to North Terrace where the University buildings and the Botanic Gardens are.

On the way, we passed the Art Gallery and the Museum, both wonderful buildings, beautifully kept. They look much older than they are as do many of the buildings in Adelaide – it’s a very English city, with its brick and stone buildings, but with so much land available it feels more spacious and uncluttered. It’s known as a city of churches as there were very many of them at one time. Some still remain as churches, but, as in UK too, many have been transformed into wine bars, shops or small museums. Along the pavement in front of the university, is a Walk with plaques commemorating people who have been instrumental in making Adelaide what it is today. Somewhere there must be a list of who’s who – we’ll try to find it before we leave.

On the way to the Botanic Gardens, we saw an impressive building on the opposite side of the road. The doors were open so we walked in and had a look around the very imposing interior. The tours are usually on a Thursday, but Tom went to reception and told them that we were on holiday from UK. The building superintendant came down, Tom introduced himself, and we were given a short guided tour. It’s one of these places that look quite small until you get inside then it seemed to go on forever. There were views from the roof over part of the city, and this was our only chance to get a skyline view, as there isn’t a tower in the centre like there is in Melbourne or Brisbane – at least, not that we can find.

Ayer’s House, a National Trust property is along the same road, but by this time it was 3.30pm and it closes at 4.00pm so we will try to fit that in tomorrow instead. After that little side-track, we reached the Gardens and enjoyed a leisurely walkabout, and a cool drink at the café. The gardens are really well kept although parts of them are suffering in the drought and the water features that normally would run are switched off except for one small rill through the SA water garden showing off plants that grow in many parts of the world where water is scarce. Once again we found a huge tree. This seems to be becoming a habit.

We were also too late to visit the National Wine Centre, which is at the northeastern end of the Gardens – hopefully that too we’ll do tomorrow.

Our way back to the motel was via the shopping centre. Little did I know that Tom had brought his programmable belt buckle with him in the hopes of finding a belt to fit it on! There are lots of shops in Adelaide selling belts – and none of them had what he wanted! But eventually a kind lady shop assistant sent him to a bootmakers and leather specialist in one of the arcades and, bingo, a belt was produced and the belt buckle affixed, so he’s a happy chappy. Having now walked the equivalent of the marathon (that’s what it felt like) we hobbled our way back to the motel and have enjoyed our fresh rolls and pate, followed by crisp, juicy grapes while watching Midsomer Murders on TV – yes, they do get it here. Now we’re watching the end of Sleepless in Seattle before hitting the hay ready for our last full day in Adelaide.

I shall leave you with fond thoughts, my friends and will speak to you tomorrow – goodnight.

Thursday 17th April

We seem to be fated just recently to be woken up early by some workmen or other – this morning it was the refuse collectors in the alley at the back of the motel. There had to be some drawback to NOT being in a room over the main street! We don’t know what time it was but it was still dark. We did get back to sleep again afterwards, thank goodness.

I knew there were advantages to having single beds – I didn’t wake up till 20 mins to 10 – no-one to fidget about in the bed beside me! All this gallivanting around is having its effect, I can’t seem to get going so readily in the mornings, but we still manage to do plenty of sight-seeing in the remaining hours of the day.

Today we went on the tram down to Glenelg on Holdfast Bay. It takes about half an hour from here and cost £5 return each. It is a very picturesque suburb, with a short jetty where there were a few fishermen and lots of tourists, just like us. The season has just about finished now, so it was quite quiet but with plenty of atmosphere. We went into the Bay Discovery Centre in the Town Hall, to read about the beginnings of the Federation of SA, and some of the history of the area, including a great video of the Surf Rescue service – lots of very fit surfers having lots of spills on their boards and boats – not much rescuing going on that I could see, but it made a good film!

In Moseley Square, which is the tram terminus and the central area just before the jetty, there is a water feature. It consists of a central fountain only 2 feet high and numerous jets of water that spout at differing times and heights from ground level and is in the shape of an elongated “S”. The children love it and run in and out trying to dodge the jets or deliberately stand in their path. We watched a boy about 3, who loved to stand on the jet so it stopped and his sister who was fascinated by the central column of water – sheer concentration and joy in their faces – lovely to watch.

There are some lovely buildings round the sea front and down the streets and we found a very pleasant coffee shop for the daily sustenance when we felt the hunger pangs. After a slow wander up Jetty Road, the main shopping and eating street, we caught the tram back into the city in time to investigate some more of Adelaide. The tram ride has shown us some of the other areas we’d like to see in more depth and as we have another 2 full days here, there’ll be plenty of time to do that.

One of the shops we went into in Glenelg was run by an Italian who pronounced proudly that he was a Fascist and had his shirts made by the same family who used to provide Mussolini and his Black Shirts with their black shirts. I can’t quite remember how we got on to the subject, but we certainly had a quick history lesson about how the worst thing that Mussolini did was to team up with Hitler. Before that, he had been making Italy an example to the world with the free schooling and medical services for poorer families in parts of Italy that he instigated – so now you (and we) know!! I think we’d have been there still had we not made an excuse and ran! We do meet some interesting people, and some not so.

One of the guides at the Bay Discovery Centre was telling us that the Indian Pacific train, which we are booked to go on to Perth, was held up for almost 13 hours the other day, because work on the line had overrun near Broken Hill, between Sydney and Adelaide. No-one was allowed off the train for security reasons and there had been a lot of complaints, as you can imagine. I trust nothing like that will happen to us, but given our track record with trains, I won’t hold my breath! Better take another book!

On the way back in the tram, some young person (not sure if it was a male or female!) got up and offered me his/her seat – I don’t know if I was pleased or insulted that I look old and decrepit enough to need it!! And then, when I offered my seat to an even older gentleman, I was turned down!!! Have I really aged so much since coming here? I was only saying to Tom this morning that I was quite pleased that my hair wasn’t showing more sign of turning grey – maybe I’m going colourblind? Talking of hair, you remember I told you about my drastic haircut in Port Macquarie all those weeks ago? Well, my hair is still shorter than I normally allow Chris to cut it in the first place – that gives you some idea of just how short it was. I won’t need another trim until after I get back home in another 2 weeks. I have to admit that it has been easy to look after, once I got used to it.

The entertainers were out on Rundle Mall again – they obviously pay for the privilege of having a “spot”. I bought a CD of one of the groups who were playing. They told us that they’ll be doing a European tour later in the year – I don’t think it will be in Wembley though, but their sound is very pleasant. Tom said he didn’t know whether being liked by a 60 year old granny was good advertising for them – cheek!!

We’ve been enjoying some more of Maggie Beer’s pate tonight and trying to drink up some of the wine mountain we accrued during our Barossa stay – I think tomorrow morning might be another late one. Tom’s asleep now, having warned me not to let him stay asleep for too long so I shall now go and wake him up – gently of course!! He, he!!

Right, you lot, who’ve been following our travels so avidly – I hope you’re not going to expect a continuation once we get home. One of you in an e-mail has already moaned at the thought of not having the daily blog to read. So you’d better start weaning yourselves off it. Only 11 more entries from the land of Oz to go. (You’ll probably be glad when it’s all over – but don’t forget, the exam is still to come!!!)

Love to you all and goodnight for now!