Posts Tagged With: Perth

Making it Home

Posted on April 12, 2025 by julieallen36

Our last trip in the Hop on Hop Off Uber was the next day (Sunday). We’d done our packing and had to check out of the hotel at 11am. Our flight wasn’t until later in the afternoon so we had time for one more stop. One of the most visited attractions in Perth is the historic Perth Mint and it looked an interesting place to spend our last morning.

It was another very hot and sunny day and we waited for the start of our tour in the shady courtyard. I managed to blag a copy of the kids quiz which featured multiple guess scratch off answers! We decided to listen to the tour first and then see what we had learned.

The tour was very good and we learned about the history of the place as well as getting to gaze upon and even handle plenty of gold! The Mint was established in the 1890s as a subsidiary of the Royal Mint in the UK. The population of Western Australia was growing very rapidly due to the discovery of gold at Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and Murchison. The Mint produced coins for the growing colony as well as being the place that miners brought their raw gold to be turned into coins and bullion. We handled huge replicas of some of the most famous gold nuggets including ‘Welcome Stranger’. This is the biggest gold nugget ever discovered and was found by two Cornish Miners in Victoria, Australia in 1869. It weighed 72 kg or 192 pounds. The miners were paid £9381 for it back in the day but at 2019 gold prices it would be worth £2.3million. The plastic version I handled weighed slightly less and was worth about £2.34

Once in the Mint itself we wandered freely around the exhibition which had real gold and silver nuggets on display. It also held the 1 tonne record breaking coin. This didn’t look real but is made of 99.9% pure gold with a lovely bouncing kangaroo on it. Its face value is Aus $1 million. We enjoyed standing on the scales and having our ‘Weight in Gold’ recorded and then also trying to lift the real gold ingot. This weighs 400 ounces and is totally enclosed so that, even if you can lift it, you can’t scarper with it. Bad luck thieving Brummies!

The final stage and indeed highlight of the visit was watching the ‘gold pour’! This is where we got to sit where the furnaces are and watch our guide as she got dressed up in all sorts of PPE and poured the molten gold out of the ‘Crucible’ pot and into the Ingot mould. This was all very dramatic and done in the dark.

We bought some souvenir gifts in the shop and then made our way back to the hotel where we had a bit of time by the lovely pool and then got changed ready for our flight. We got another Uber to the airport where the Qantas lady was able to resolve the issue we’d had with our seats so that we could sit together on the way home. Phew. Now we just needed to relax so it was a bit unnerving when the very loud alarms went off when we were part way through security. The tannoys said that there was a ‘security breach which was currently bring investigated’. It kept saying this over and over again v loudly. The staff went into lockdown mode and we were asked to stay where we were. It felt as if there might be a terrorist on the loose but the security lady said it was more likely to be someone vaping in the toilets.

Eventually, we were allowed to go and made our way through to the Gate with Jane in her wheelchair. Unfortunately, the retail experience through here was very poor so my plans for last minute purchases were made impossible.

Once on the plane we settled in for the 17+ hour flight home. Very little sleep was had by either of us but all in all , it wasn’t too bad. We arrived back at Heathrow at 5am and I was very glad when our lovely taxi driver, Luke, came to pick us up and drive us home.

I think it will take me some time to process my feelings about the whole trip, the ups and downs but my overall sense is of a new respect for the vastness of this country and a love of its people, animals and strangely -trees. As we were driving to the airport in Perth I saw a sign with a helicopter (rescue) on it and the words ‘Help. It’s what Australians do’. How true that is.

Well that’s all very nice but I must say I feel very relieved to be home with Jane, safely in one piece. I always knew that Australia is basically out to get you ever since reading Bill Bryson’s book ‘Down Under’. So let’s leave things with the words of Bill Bryson-

Australia: It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world’s ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures – the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish – are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. … If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It’s a tough place.” 😳🫣😀

Now we’re really thankful that we made it back!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Perth | 1 Comment

Bells and Botanicals

Posted on April 6, 2025 by julieallen36

Sunday would be our last full day in Perth and we had considered getting on the Hop on Hop off Bus. However, in the end we decided that there were three main ‘stops’ that we wanted to spend our time at so we’d just hop about by Uber instead. We actually woke up to some cloud today and temperatures of a mere 28 degrees.

Our first stop was to return to the Bell Tower at Elizabeth Quay. It is a very modern structure made with copper and lots of glass. The lady on reception told us we were in luck as the bellringers would be doing there thing today between 12 noon and 1pm. The bell tower includes the 12 bells of St Martin’s in the Field, Trafalgar Square London and these form part of a 16 bell peel with two extra chromatic notes. They are the second largest set of change ringing bells in the world. The bells from London were rescued from being scrapped in 1988 and donated to Western Australia in exchange for the metals for new bells to be made for St Martins in the Field.

In addition,there is one absolutely enormous bell called the ANZAC Bell. It’s made of gold, copper and tin and is the largest swinging bell in Australia. We visited the 5th Floor of the Bell Tower in time to see this being rung at midday. Luckily our ears were protected by the glass encasing it!

Next we went down to level 4 where you could see all the 16 bells ringing as the Bellringers began to do there thing. The sound brought back memories of royal weddings and other events back in London.

There was lots of information on the wall about the bells including a note of the inscriptions in each. I was doing a bit of sketching whilst listening to the bells when this older gentleman, approached and made a comment about the bells. Somehow, I got chatting to him and he introduced himself. It turned out that he was the main man behind the whole initiative to bring the bells over to Perth. He was here visiting with his son and family and his name was Laith Reynolds. He asked where Jane and I came from and when we told him he said that he’d lived in Burford (Cotswolds) for many years and had just sold his house there! Next thing you know, Laith invited us to join him and his family for a behind the scenes view of the bellringers! Of course we were up for this! So down we went to the 2nd level and into the bellringing chamber where there were eight people holding onto the ropes. We had to be absolutely silent and if anyone asked, we were members of Laith’s family! Laith is massively keen on everything related to bellringing- hence his passion for saving these bells.

Afterwards we felt very privileged to have been allowed into the inner sanctum. But more than this- to have met Laith. I Googled him later and found that he’s an incredible chap. He was a fine example of the Australian Entrepreneurial ‘Have a Go’ spirit. He and his wife had lived all over the world (Canada, Bangladesh, China, Hawaii and of course Burford! ). He’d worked for Philips developing two way radio systems, then branched out on his own into mining, agriculture and now even healthcare- developing new blood tests to detect cancers. What a guy.

I admit we were a little star struck by our meeting and afterwards we needed to cool down with an ice cream from the Gelateria. It had been recommended by someone at Rosebridge House. I had pineapple and mint and Jane had the special which involved vanilla, raspberry ripple and Vovo biscuits. Both hailed a success.

By now it was 2pm and we caught the free Blue CAT bus to Kings Park. This is one of the world’s biggest inner city parks and is actually located just above our hotel. There is a Jacobs Ladder that climbs up to the entrance of the park but that’s no use to us! We decided to concentrate our efforts on just the Botanical Gardens part of the park and the first stop was the very classy gift shop. Here I bought several items for inspiring future art projects!

We started at the War Memorial which is in memory of the ANZAC troops who served in WW1. Being Sunday there were lots of families enjoying the green space and we liked the views across to the Perth Skyline once more.

Once we entered the Botanical Gardens proper we did a little circuit which allowed us to explore the different regional areas, magnificent Eucalyptus trees, beautiful Banksias and Baobab. I was particularly keen that we walk along the raised walkway and glass bridge that took us through the tree canopy. It did actually start to rain as we were doing this but it only added to the magic of this place as the sun made everything sparkle.

Jane was very tired as we made our way around but we did complete our circuit and then decided to have a quick beer before catching our Uber back. We sat out side in the cafe admiring the views over to the city and the setting sun. The Eucalyptus trees lining the street were absolutely stunning and burned an image in my memory. It was so lovely that we decided to stay and eat here which was a good decision as the food was delicious.

I’d been struggling to piece all of the different parts of Perth together in my head. Sydney made perfect sense but somehow Perth seemed to be these disparate areas that had no real connection. However, I think the visit to Kings Park brought things together for me and meeting the legend, Laith Reynolds, was the icing on the cake. What a good day it had turned out to be.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Bell Tower, Kings Park, Perth | Leave a comment

A date with the quokkas at Wadjemup

Posted on April 3, 2025 by julieallen36

On Saturday we woke up early which appears now to have become a thing! Today was one we’d be looking forward to and we were very glad to still be able to make the trip. We were off to Rottnest Island to see the Quokkas and this time, in the wild.

Originally, we had been due to catch the ferry from Freemantle and then hire bikes to get around the island as there are no cars. Luckily, in the circumstances, we’d been able to change our booking and were now leaving by ferry from Barrack Street Jetty, Perth and ditching the bikes in favour of the ‘Rottnest Bayseeker’ bus tour. This turned out to be a right result.

Firstly, the ferry up the Swan River to Freemantle was great. We had seats up on the sun deck (in the shade) and the captain gave an interesting commentary as we went along. The views changed as we left the city skyline behind then went past the houses of the rich and famous on the beautiful, lush banks of the river. When we got to Freemantle we were quite surprised to see the huge cranes and container ships…maybe it was a blessing that we’d had to cancel our stay here!

It was lovely and warm up in the sun deck but once we got out into the open see it became a little more rocky and breezy. I kept my eyes on the horizon as the lovely crew served us Icepops to keep us cool. After an hour and a half since setting off we were arriving into the pretty harbour of Rottnest Island. As we approached we had an Indigenous welcome as the island ‘Wadjemup’ is sacred in the Aboriginal history. All of a sudden it became incredibly peaceful and calm and it felt like this was a place we were going to love.

This reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to talk about. Although we haven’t really been on an Aboriginal ‘heritage’ tour or directly learned about ‘Dreamtime’ stories, we have seen hints along the way. One thing that is very noticeable is part of the ‘Reconciliation’ with the past. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, Australia’s colonial history is characterised by devastating land dispossession, violence and racism. The most obvious part of this reconciliation process that we’ve seen is known as an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’. This manifests itself in statues in the various cities and towns, signs at Airports, in verbal greetings to trips and events and on all the different websites. The podcast I’ve been listening to on the History of Australia begins every episode with an Acknowledgment of Country.

For example on arriving in Rottnest the greeting might go like this

“As we arrive here today, we’d like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Wadjemup land on which we tread. We would like to pay our respects to the Elders past, present and future of the Whadjuk Noongar people.”

It’s important because for so long the Aboriginal and Torres Island peoples have experienced a long history of exclusion from Australian history books, the Australian flag, the Australian anthem and for many years, Australian democracy.

It’s an interesting approach and I noticed that when our tour with Shelita in Broken Hill began with such an acknowledgement, a lot of the older Aussie’s in the group raised their eyebrows and tutted loudly. Hm.

Certainly Rottnest Island played its part in this terrible history and we visited the little museum which tries to educate about this. Today the island is a place for happy visitors but in the past it was used to imprison and mistreat Aboriginal peoples who were put to forced hard labour in quarrying limestone and building some of the settlement that remains today.

Anyway…enough of the bleak history. Today Rottnest Island is more famous for two things 1) Its beautiful beaches and stunning waters and 2) The 1,300 Quokkas who call Rottnest their home and who are an Instagram sensation.

Quokkas are everywhere on Rottnest Island and in fact it’s how it got its name. Although these smiling little cuties are marsupials of the wallaby family but smaller, the Dutch guy who discovered the island way back in 1696 thought it was infested with rats ….hence he called it “Rottnest Island”!

Jane was v keen to capture the iconic photo of a Quokka standing up smiling, and we tried to tempt them with tasty looking leaves. They weren’t really playing and perhaps preferred the dropped chocolate ice cream outside the bakery.

The settlement area is very busy with people trying to get to grips with their bikes or stocking up on food and water for the day. But it is also very shady so great to keep cool and we enjoyed lunch of a sausage roll and a slice of Raspberry Lamington from the Bakery and cold ice peach tea.

After this we decided we had time to go for a short walk to Pinky Beach which should only take 20 mins through the accommodation huts (v basic) and trees. However, although the beach was very lovely with white sand and sea of every possible shade of blue and green, it was ridiculously hot. I felt incredibly frazzled and Jane got her sandals wet when a wave came in further than expected. This place wasn’t for us and I could get away quick enough to find a sheltered spot. What on earth had we been thinking when we thought we could ride around here on bikes? To be fair the 40degree heat is exceptional for Perth at this time of year but still….thank goodness for Jason and his VIP bus trip!

There were only about 10 of us on the 1:45 trip and the bus was lovely and air conditioned as we drove around the whole island which is bigger than I’d thought and quite hilly in places. We learned more about the history and the flora and fauna as we drove along the quiet lanes exploring all of the gorgeous beaches and swimming spots. Unlike Hamilton Island, Rottnest is a A grade reserve and totally government owned so there is very little development allowed and the Quokkas come first.

The tour round took about an hour and a half with just two short stops but the views through the windows were great and we took 100s of photos. Once back at the harbour it was more of less time to catch the ferry back to Perth. We again sat in the sundeck and enjoyed the cruise back in the fading sunshine.

Jane found us a nice place to eat in St George’s Terrace and we had a lovely meal at Sentinel. We felt a little under-dressed in our sweaty gear from the day out whereas other diners were all dressed up and off to the theatre! But who cares….those beers tasted really good. What a fabulous day and we happily found our way home once more via Uber.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Perth, Quokkas, Rottnest Island | Leave a comment

Back on plan – Perth City Centre

Posted on April 1, 2025 by julieallen36

Finally, on Friday 28th March we were able to get our holiday back on schedule. The one thing we hadn’t had to cancel or rearrange was our stay at the Aurea Hotel in Perth City Centre. So after our last breakfast at Rosebridge we were back in an Uber and 30 mins later arriving well before check in at our final stop.

We had to wait in reception for our room to become available but it was very hot outside and we liked the Air Con. It looked like they weren’t going to relent and let us in before 3pm so we made a decision to go out. All of a sudden room 202 was ready for us to occupy. Lovely. We’d chosen this hotel because it’s relatively newly refurbished and got great reviews on Trip Advisor. It didn’t disappoint as our room was very spacious, with a restful picture of a beach as a backdrop to the beds, great Air Con and a balcony that overlooked trees and the city skyline beyond. It was so modern that we couldn’t actually work out how to turn the lights on!

We did a bit of unpacking and then headed out following the Receptionists guidance to catch the free bus to Elizabeth Quay (all buses in Perth CBD are free 😀). It was only a short bus ride and walk away and is an area that has seen massive redevelopment into a trendy waterfront attraction on the Swan River. It was named after Queen Elizabeth II in honour of her Diamond Jubilee year, following her visit to the area for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. It was opened in 2016.

Today, it was very quiet really and our first destination, The Bell Tower, which had been recommended to us by the boring chap back at the BnB was closed for a private function. Never mind, we could do that another day and meanwhile we wandered about taking photos of the skyline and modern pedestrian bridge and the Spanda Sculpture which is 29m high. There are quite a lot of restaurants etc in the area but I did notice that not all of these premises were occupied. Generally, I’d say that Perth had aspirations to be as cool and trendy as Sydney but had a way to go but all of the Uber drivers were very keen to tell us how thriving the city is and how much development is going on.

The city skyline is very impressive and over our few days here we saw it from various different angles. Lots of the buildings have company initials and names on them. I was intrigued to know who these were and what had lead to the economic development in Perth. Without doubt it’s been the focus on resource industries- mining and in particular – iron ore as well as Agricultural exporting. Many of the signs on the tower blocks are mining companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Chevron, South32 as well as the usual suspects of the world of finance EY, Deloittes and numerous banks. I also discovered that the richest person in Australia is from Perth. Gina Rhinehart is a mining magnate (Hancock Prospecting) and her net worth is Aus $ 29billion. And guess who she’s friends with in America?

Perth is diversifying and has a highly educated workforce and known for its innovation. Its location on the Indian Ocean within the Asia-Pacific region gives it access to fast growing economies. It looks like the future is bright for ‘The City of Light’. It also looks like I’m giving the boring man at the BnB a run for his money.

It was a very hot afternoon and The Island Brewery seemed like a good place to stop for a cold one. It tasted very good indeed and then we walked up Barrack Street to the ‘Best Fish and Chip Shop’ in Perth. Despite a slight mistake in ordering fish without batter (😇😆) it was indeed very good. And the mushy peas were suitably stodgy. This tatty little place is in a slightly seedy area, so we were soon back in an Uber and heading back to our haven beneath Kings Park. That makes it sound like we were sleeping on a park bench which obviously we weren’t.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Elizabeth Quay, Perth | Leave a comment

Out and About from Rosebridge House

Posted on March 31, 2025 by julieallen36

So, yes….as I mentioned the only slight snag with our BnB was that we didn’t have a car and options for eating out locally were very limited. Pete had explained that there was a good Italian Restaurant just 6 mins walk away but other than that we’d need to go into Kalamunda which was a 20 mins walk. Unfortunately, the latter was out of the question.

On our first night we decided to walk down to the Italian very slowly as it was still very hot at 5-30. We got there and the place looked shut. I popped downstairs and found their pizza takeaway place. The guy in there confirmed that the restaurant wasn’t open today and they had a problem with their pizza maker. Hopeless.

We had no choice but to get an Uber into Kalamunda and head to the Kalamunda Hotel, which Cate had recommended. This was a really local place full of families enjoying time together. It was very traditional and obviously had quite a history too. Jane and I weren’t all that hungry so we decided to share our meal and it was delicious.

When it came time to leave, Jane ordered us another Uber but it kept saying that the driver was 10 mins away and then after 7mins , they’d cancel. This happened twice and then eventually the wait time became 22 mins. Crikey, this wasn’t looking good. We were outside by now and asked the nice waitress who’d served us, whether there was a local taxi firm. There was but they came from down in the city and never gave an expected arrival time! All of this fuss for a 4 mins drive…

Enter scene left our heroes….Brad and his girlfriend Olivia, who had been chatting to the waitress and overheard our predicament. Brad piped up with ‘where do you need to get to Ladies?’ When we told him he said, with a broad smile, he could drop us off. It turned out he was a supplier to the hotel so the waitress vouched for him👍

We piled into the car with Brad and Olivia and off we went. They were absolutely lovely and turns out Brad’s family came to Australia on the 3rd boat of the colonisation of Swan River. Meanwhile, Olivia was telling Jane that her family were £10 poms who came over from Manchester, needing to evade the Mafia!! It was like a living history lesson. They dropped us off at the gate and we said our farewells, what a kind thing to do.

The next night we decided to risk walking to the Italian again. It is a lovely walk down there through an avenue of beautiful native trees. The meal and service was fabulous and on the way back we could see the most amazing sunset, over the city and down towards to the sea. We enjoyed the food so much that we went back again the following night after our big day out.

Indeed, our big day out. On our final day at Rosebridge House we decided to hire a car again and visit a couple of different parts of Perth. We picked up the car from Thrifty at the airport at about 9-30 and our first stop was Caversham Wildlife Park which is not too far away. It’s a wonderful place to see Australian wildlife and we had a great day. By 10am it was already incredibly hot and I was worried about us walking around this place. However, luckily there was plenty of shade and some places were vaguely air conditioned. They’re well organised and we particularly enjoyed the ‘Meet the Animals’ bit, photo with a Wombat (Neil), the Penguin feeding time, the Quokkas, the huge number of koalas but especially the baby one and the kangaroo walkthrough (possibly too many of one thing there….) . One of our favourites was the incredible Tasmanian Devil, who put on a little show for us once he’d woken up that is. He ran actively around his enclosure exploring every little bit as if he’d never seen it before. He climbed a tree and had a bath and his incredible ears shone bright red in the sunshine.

In between meeting all the animals we kept going back to the cafe area to cool off with more water and iced peach tea. It wasn’t until later that I saw just how red my face had got from the heat. All of the volunteers running this place were incredibly friendly and jolly and it was an excellent day out, where we stayed much longer than the 1:30 hours that coach trips are allowed.

Next we were supposed to be visiting the Swan River Valley. This is a wine growing region and I thought we’d be able to visit the vineyards and winery’s to have a look and maybe there would be some nice shops. However, it’s not really like that and because it was now so late (approaching 4pm) everything was starting to close. We popped into one winery ‘Sitella’ and the vines did look beautiful but it was too late to go into the Cellar Door. As we were still a bit frazzled and glad to be in the air conditioned car, we weren’t inclined to stop again and decided to just complete the circuit and call it a day.

We dropped the car off at the airport again and called an Uber to take us home. We had to meet him over at the airport terminal which was a bit of a pain in the heat but hey ho. He drove us nearly back to our place when I suddenly realised that I’d left my iPad in the hire car. It wasn’t in my bag and I remembered leaving it in the boot and something had gone ‘bump’ at one point. Obviously, it had fallen down the back. The Uber driver turned around and we headed back. I tried to phone Thrifty but they wanted me to email and said they’d get back to me within 7 years. I was very stressed, worried that they’d hire the car out again. We decided to try ‘Find My Device’ and sure enough my IPad came up on the map. However my worst fear was confirmed as my iPad was on the move. It appeared to be getting further away at first, oh no……now what….we pressed on and suddenly it looked as if we were following the car with my IPad in it! At this point Jane checked her back pack and guess what she found…..Oh yes, I had!!! We asked the Uber driver to turn around once more. Poor man. I felt hugely relieved that it now looked like it was only my pencil crayons that had fallen on the floor.

It had been a rather expensive day at the park but over a glass of wine at our now favourite Italian Restaurant, Jane and I agreed that the Tasmanian Devil’s ears alone were worth it.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Caversham Wildlife Park, Perth | Leave a comment

Slowing down in the Perth Hills

Posted on March 30, 2025 by julieallen36

Now that Jane was making good progress and after a couple of days relaxing out of hospital, it was time to move on. We had been due to go to Melbourne next and pick up a campervan to drive the Great Ocean Road. However, we’d already cancelled flights and campervans and decided to skip Melbourne altogether and just get ourselves to Perth where we could take it easy before our flight home.

To get to Perth we had to go via Brisbane on a late afternoon flight (1hr +).We had arranged wheelchair support with Qantas and their service was excellent. They looked after Jane and I superbly and not only did Jane get pushed around the airports in the electronic wheelchairs and help carrying all our bags but we also got to board the planes in Category 1 ie first which meant no stress whatsoever. Just to be clear, we didn’t get upgrade to First Class but what they did do was perfect. On the plane from Brisbane to Perth (5hours +) the aircrew even arranged to move the chap who was supposed to sit next to us to another seat so that we could have all the space to ourselves. 🙏

We arrived very late into Perth and got a taxi upto our accommodation in the Perth Hills. Rosebridge House Bed and Breakfast in Gooseberry Hill. Jane had found this place when looking for alternatives as we’d had to cancel in Freemantle. It was described as an ‘adult only retreat’ and we had 4 nights here which were absolute bliss. We had our own little garden apartment right next to the lovely pool. The owners Pete and Julia have been running the place for 18 years and had thought of everything you could possibly need. They were super accommodating and even helped me do a load of washing (much needed after 13 days at the Ibis!).

Every morning we had breakfast in the old fashioned but gorgeous dining room over looking the tropical gardens. Here Julia fed the ‘pets’ including the Bandicoots (very small cute marsupials and not rats despite their similar appearance), Rainbow Lorikeets and Australian Ring Neck parrots. We even had a brief visit from a Kookaburra one morning.

We spent two days just relaxing by the pool but we mostly had to stay in the shade because the temperatures were just too hot at 38 degrees. We’d also retreated into the Air Con to avoid the midday sun. I made the most of the pool and did lots of sketching whilst we were here. Jane meanwhile enjoyed reading her book and relaxing.

This lovely retreat attracted some interesting people who we chatted to over breakfast, all attracted by the peaceful nature of the place.

Cate, a scouser, living in Tasmania after a career as aircrew with Qantas. She was there with her partner Anthony and her son, as well as her Mum (aged 91) who had been visiting from the UK .

The couple from Hertfordshire who were very keen to tell us all the things we needed to do in Perth. The Bell Tower, the car Museum and as Jane described it…’several more very boring suggestions’!!!

Another Kate who was there visiting family members who were all elderly and ill.

Paul, the German chap probably in his 90s who could hardly walk but liked his sausage for breakfast and was on the phone looking for a bridge partner.

Emily, (well, let’s call her that) the very young backpacker from the UK who was on her own but feeling very over-whelmed by Perth. She’d had a great time in the hostels in Melbourne but come to Perth for the sunshine. However, she found the hostels here to be less friendly. She’d obviously been quite upset and her Mum had booked her into this lovely place for a couple of nights. She was going back into Perth looking more cheery and hoping to get work.

The house itself is v historic. It once belonged to a magistrate, and has classic Australian style architecture of a single storey, made of wood, with verandahs and a picket fence all around. The garden had been built from scratch by Pete and Julia and had lots of ‘secret’ shady places to sit. The trees are stunning and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to identify them with the help of Photos on my phone but I’m not sure how reliable it has been. But there were Eucalyptus, Hibiscus, Moreton Bay Ash, Honey Mesquite, Orange Jasmine, Magnolia, Tree Ferns, roses, geraniums and bourganvillea. Beautiful.

The only slight issue with staying up here in the Perth Hills without a car turned out to be eating out…but I’ll save that for the next post!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Perth, Perth Hills | 1 Comment

No Worries, mate!

Posted on March 5, 2025 by julieallen36

(Update…..our travels have been continuing but we’ve been on a train and our WiFi v limited. Now that we’ve arrived in Sydney I will try and address the current backlog of adventures! But not all at once! ) So here we go….a few days back…….

Sorry for the radio silence folks. We’ve been holed up in our lovely Country Comfort Hotel in Perth relaxing and recovering. So, we basically enjoyed a day and a half by the pool in the beautiful sunny weather and 30 degree heat! Our only trip out was by Uber to a local pharmacy. Did I mention that we had a ridiculous amount of luggage? Well unfortunately, this had taken its toll on Jane’s back and she is suffering from a serious twinge to her lower back. Eek! This was going to need stronger meds than we have with us….hence the trip out to the extremely helpful pharmacy ladies. The other thing that seemed to work quite well was the jacuzzi by the pool.

We’ve noticed that everyone seems to have a great attitude and whatever you ask for, you get the response ‘No worries, mate!’ And they mean it. This was the case in the hotel reception and restaurant so it was very easy to just stay put! We could explore Perth more when we return.

Yesterday (Saturday 1st) we arranged a late checkout at 12 noon and then had another 3 hrs to kill by the pool before our taxi would pick us up. It wasn’t quite so relaxing today as the kids are now on half term and had taken over the pool with their inflatables and bombing! One particular group amused us by sitting in the jacuzzi blowing up their rash shirts with the jets of bubbly water making themselves look like Michelin men!

When it came time for us to get ready, we had all our stuff in a Conference Room (No worries, mate! ) and we got changed and repacked ready to go. We now each had an enormous suitcase, a holdall bag, a backpack and a suit-bag. I was very worried that they wouldn’t let us on the train with all this stuff.

Our taxi collected us and we drove the short distance to the East Perth Train Terminal where it was very exciting to see the Indian Pacific Train waiting for us. It is absolutely enormous with 29 carriages, 2 locomotives, 30 crew and 20 platinum beds and 182 Gold Beds.

We quickly checked in and were very pleased to say goodbye to our huge suitcases. We’d only see them again 4 days later in Sydney. We were told to go onto the platform where there was some entertainment, snacks and drinks and even some wildlife. So, you can imagine how overwhelmed we were when the wildlife turned out to be a snake (no thanks) and a pair of Koala Bears. We were allowed to go right up close and even stroke its little leg (the koala obv, snakes don’t have legs, silly!) It actually made me well up as it was all so unexpected and lovely.

Next Anne-Marie, the Perth manager, wanted our photo and also insisted on taking our other heavy bags off us and would take them to our cabin!!! No worries mate! Literally, no worries!

We made our way to the refreshments and sat down with Morag and Ian from Dundee. There was some very loud singing going on and although we tried to chat with our Scottish friends, I’m afraid I could only hear about 1/4 of what they said but just nodded encouragingly.

Soon it was time to board (5pm) and we made our way upto coach G where Paul, our host, greeted us and welcomed us onboard. We found our room and admired its host of facilities. These included a bunk bed, an en-suite toilet and shower, a small amount of storage and floor space. We soon got ourselves organised and waited for the train to leave.

Unfortunately, when we did leave it became apparent that our request for a forward facing carriage had been ignored. Oh dear….Paul said he would need to get his manager. He turned up and obviously hadn’t read the ‘No Worries’ memo. There was nothing he could do about the direction of travel but he did reassure that the train would be reversed from Adelaide onwards. He kept asking if we had any other questions but when we did, he just sort of snorted, as if this was all beneath him to have to deal with.

Ah well, he was obviously having a stressful time! Luckily Paul made up for it by giving us a cuddly eagle 🦅 soft toy and Marcello, in charge of the dining car , was an absolutely star in letting us eat earlier than our card said and letting Jane sit in a forward facing seat.

We were joined by Nigel from Chinnor for dinner in the Queen Adelaide restaurant car. Nigel told us that this was a dream trip for him too after a serious illness. He’d also treated himself to an Aston Martin! The food and wine were extremely good and then it was time for bed. The room got made up and I climbed the little ladder up to my bunk bed! We were both very tired and couldn’t suss out how to turn off the blue ceiling light. Let’s see how sleeping goes!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Indian Pacific Train, Perth | 4 Comments

Perth – Are we there yet?

Posted on February 28, 2025 by julieallen36

G’day mates! Yes, indeed we are here. In fact we arrived yesterday (Thurs) after our epic Qantas flight from London Heathrow to Perth. It was supposed to take 16.5 hours but when we got on board there was a happy announcement that it would only be 15.5- hurrah! And that takes you and your ridiculous amounts of luggage, the 15 thousand kilometres to Australia, direct.

Luckily, the day before’s not-so-happy message ‘Important Update regarding Inflight Entertainment for your flight’ …….ie it might not work 🙀🙀 turned out to be a false alarm, as they managed to fix it just in time. So, we passed a few hours enjoying the good selection of movies, TV shows, music, games and even an audiobook. Jane gobbled up 3 movies – Conclave 4*, Anora 4* and Wild Robot 5* . I watched Lee 4* and then flipped from one thing to the next.

The flight, in this Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was generally pretty smooth but despite this, we got v little sleep, due possibly to over-excitement. As we flew into Perth we had great views of the long, empty beaches and the city as a whole. We also flew over the surrounding countryside which looked parched and where there had been bushfires in the weeks before, apparently.

The airport is only quite small and we were quickly through before facing the man at Bio Security. We’d been given several warnings about how strict they are about you not bringing in guns, food, soil, drugs etc and so I was keen to declare to the man that we only had tea bags, Minstrels and squirty squash but had not found a box for these to tick on the form. His response to this was that there wasn’t room on the form to create tick boxes for everything and, pointing to the exit, he told us to ‘Get Out!’. This was all said with a smile – Welcome to Australia 😁

Once out, we phoned our hotel, the nearby Country Comfort and the v nice lady came to pick us up in their courtesy bus. The drive back took about 10mins through the wide streets of suburban Perth. It looked very lovely in the midday cloud with manicured front lawns and beautiful trees of every shade. Jane even spotted some parakeets in the branches of the Gum trees.

We had a two hour Power Nap and then woke ourselves up to try and avoid the jet lag. We had a really nice tea in their Firehouse Restaurant (pulled pork bao buns and chicken satay skewers followed by a lemon meringue , all to share). And our two schooners of beer were just the ticket. I think we’re gonna love it here ❤️ 🇦🇺

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, Oz, Perth | 2 Comments

Australia……we’re on our way!

Posted on February 25, 2025 by julieallen36

Yes, folks you guessed correct. We are indeed off to Australia tomorrow morning. After months and months of planning and preparation we are finally on our way. We have ignored all advice to travel light and have a ridiculous amount of luggage.

Currently, holed up in the Leonardo Hotel near Terminal 3 we are relaxing watching Mary Berry cook a pear tart. On the TV obviously, not in the kitchen.

We were collected by lovely Luke, our taxi driver, who collected us at 1pm and drove us safely down to London. We were due to stay at brother Pete’s in Reigate but I couldn’t take the stress of worrying about getting to Heathrow on the M25 on the day of travel. So, Luke and his taxi and the Leonardo Hotel were the worry-free alternative. Great decision as now we just need to get the airport Hoppa tomorrow. Hurrah.

Our flight leaves tomorrow at 11-50am and then 16.5 hours later we will land in Perth, Australia. It’s a direct flight, no stops at all. Let’s see how that goes!!

See you on the other side of the World!