Monday, 31st May - Perth

Our last full day in Western Australia. Sue was having lunch with her cousins so Pete and Deborah went into Perth CBD on their own on the train from Stirling.

We got off the train at Perth and caught the blue CAT bus to Northbridge. There are three CAT buses doing different loop routes around Perth so we were able to see quite a lot of Perth CBD for free on the way. We got off at the Museum to see the Pompeii exhibition and persuaded them to let us in to the session which had just started. It began with a film in 3D that recreates the events of the day in AD79 when Mt Vesuvius erupted. Then we saw the exhibition, which was fascinating. There were some interactive computer programs (we had to fight off the school kids to play with them) showing a typical household of the time, and showing various sites around Pompeii. Then there were artefacts - pottery, bronzeware, frescos, statues, and household goods. I was fascinated to see lead pipes with bronze taps for controlling the flow of water, and portable pottery ovens, and keys, and sets of scales. The most moving part of the exhibition was the casts of people as they had died. The ashes fell around them, and solidified, and their bodies decayed leaving a space, and then archeologists were able to fill the empty space with plaster or resin to create a cast of their bodies. There was also a dog that had died, still chained up and unable to escape.

We had a quick look around the rest of the Museum (which used to be a gaol) and then walked down the street to the Vietnamese restaurant that Pete and Sue had been to on Friday. I had Vietnamese pancake, and had to ask the waitress how to eat it because it came with lettuce leaves. Apparently I put the pancake inside the lettuce leaf with mint leaves and then roll it up and eat it. It was very messy but delicious.

We caught another CAT bus up to Perth Mint and did the tour, which included an explanation of how the early miners lived and examples of the nuggets they found. Then we watched gold being poured into a mould. This is just done for tourists, it's not their normal process, but it was still very interesting. The gold is molten when it's poured, but solidifies very quickly. At Perth mint now they don't make ordinary coins for currency, they are all special mint coins to commemorate events. Their museum has an interesting collection of ingots and bars from around the world. There's a weighing machine that gives your weight as the dollar value of the equivalent weight of gold. Pete's worth about $3.6 million and Deborah's worth about $2.5 million.

Then we caught another CAT bus back to the city and explored the shopping malls and arcades without buying anything. It was starting to drizzle, so we caught the CAT to the Esplanade and went to the Lucky Shag so Pete could have beer while watching the sunset. Next to us was a table of men drinking beer with shots who Deborah thought were probably drug dealers as they were boasting about million dollar deals and talking about The Good Shepherd, the goat herders, and the dogs.

Pete realised the football was on in the middle of his second beer so we made a hasty departure and caught the train back to Stirling where Sue picked us up.

Deborah caught up on the blog while Pete watched football and Sue cooked an excellent dinner of silverside with white sauce and veges. Pete had to stir the white sauce while Sue watched MasterChef. Pete finished his beer and started on the white wine. And here we are, digesting.

Tomorrow we go home. Pete wants to check in early to the Virgin Blue gold lounge and have breakfast there - because he can.

Sunday, 30th May - Perth Beaches

While Pete checked his emails Sue took Deborah to see Herdsman's Lake which is quite a large lake near where she lives. There's a wildlife sanctuary with a board walk. In fact there are several lakes north of Perth and inland from the coast.

Then we picked up Pete and went for a drive up the coast. Perth is blessed with beautiful beaches all along the coast, and we stopped several times to admire the view. There were big tankers on the horizon, yachts with white sails that looked like paintings, jet skis, surfers, people walking on the beach, people jogging and riding bicycles, people walking dogs, people sunbathing. There's a scenic tourist drive up the coast and we followed it from Scarborough Beach up to Hilary's Marina, a big marina that's man made and has a seawall of big limestone rocks.

We came home for lunch and relaxed in the sun in the back yard. Sue showed Deborah her garden, which includes Cape Gooseberries, passionfruit vines, herbs, and pumpkins. Then we went to Cottesloe Beach which is one of Perth's well known beaches. There are expensive houses there, too. We headed to Kings Park through some expensive real estate with expensive views.

At Kings Park we found the Boardwalk which includes a Treetop Walk. It was very popular. Kings Park is beautiful - Deborah thinks it's the best botanic garden she's seen in any Australian capital city. There are fantastic views over the water, lush green lawns, and a wide variety of Australian and exotic plants.

We came home and had takeaway fish for dinner (fish, scallops, pineapple fritters, fishcake) with salad.

Deborah drank too much red wine and fell asleep in front of the television when Pete and Sue were watching Johnny Cash.

Saturday, 29th May - Fremantle

On Saturday we went to Fremantle. Sue had to write up a report on her meeting so Pete and Deborah caught the train to the Esplanade and then a ferry to Fremantle. The Esplanade has a Bell Tower which houses bells from St Martins in the Fields. There are also tiles in the pavement signed by schoolchildren from all around WA in 1999. The Esplanade has several wharves with different tour companies, cafes and souvenir shops. Our tour company is spruiking and seems like it will be quite entertaining. The man at the tour office gives us a Fremantle map and recommends some places to visit.

Our captain gives us a running commentary as we sail down the Swan River. Most of the stories are about developers vs conservationists - for example, a bridge that needed to be shifted to protect an historic mill building was a win for the conservationists. There are lots of very expensive houses overlooking the river. Rose Porteous couldn't sell the house she inherited from Lang Hancock, Prix d'Lamour, so she demolished the building and split the site up into separate building lots. Someone is building a replica of the Taj Mahal. There are a lot of yacht clubs.

Our ferry berths at a dock that's some distance from Fremantle, and Pete wants to beat the other passengers to the bus stop, so he doesn't want me to take a loo stop when we get off the ferry. In spite of that, we're there before anyone else ... and then I point out that we might as well walk up the hill to the Arts Centre instead of catching the bus.

The Fremantle Arts Centre was a lunatic asylum and it's a beautiful sandstone building. It has exhibitions as well as artists studios. The current exhibition is by someone whose name I can't remember but one of the exhibits is the Jungle Book cartoon with each character speaking in a different language. There's another room with a video of an empty room.

We catch the CAT bus (free bus, circular route around Fremantle tourist attractions) and get off at the old markets. They're very like Paddys Markets in Sydney, but smaller. There's an interesting shop where old 78 records have been made into handbags and book covers. Pete buys chilli macadamias and we share an organic doughnut.

We walk along the cappuchino strip to Kakula Sister which is a sister shop to Kakulas where Pete and Sue shopped on Friday. Then we walk back and catch the CAT again, which takes us to the Round House. This was a gaol, built on the cliff, with a tunnel underneath the cliff to let people moving between the whaling station at the base of the cliff and the town of Fremantle. We walk through the tunnel, admire the view, look at the remains of the whaling station, and walk up to the Round House.

A nice lady encourages Pete to try out the stocks in the gaol, but Deborah's camera card has run out of memory so she doesn't have a photo of this.

Then we walk to the Railway Station and wait for Sue to arrive on the train.

After Sue arrives we have lunch at the Salamanca Hotel in the main street. We sat outside in the mall, watching the world go by and listening to the buskers, and had goat curry for lunch. Someone inside was testing their sound system which was really annoying so Deborah couldn't wait to get away. Sue and Deborah went to Fremantle Gaol but Pete didn't want to go (he's seen the insides of too many gaols before) so we left him to continue his favorite pastime.

Fremantle Gaol was just up the hill. The Tunnel Tour was really expensive and anyway it was booked out, so we did the Day Tour. Fremantle Gaol was convict built and - unlike Port Arthur in Tasmania - it's still intact. Our guide took us into the reception area and explained the process when prisoners first arrive at the gaol. Then he showed us the cells in the various divisions, and the exercise yard. One of the yards, and some of the cells, have art work done by the convicts. We saw the chapel, which has the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments above the altar. (A chapel, unlike a church, is attached to another building.) It has a high arched ceiling that is supposed to be built on the same principles as Sydney's Town Hall, and lots of windows without bars, so it's full of light. Apparently it's very popular for weddings.

Then our guide took us to the punishment area. He showed us the wooden frame that convicts were lashed to when they were punished, and described in graphic detail the effects of a lashing. He showed us the solitary cells, where prisoners could be deprived of sound and light for long periods, and then the place where prisoners were hanged. Hanging is quite a science - the condemned man (or woman) had to be weighed and measured so that the rope could be set at the right height.

It was a fascinating tour, and thought provoking. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and I wish we'd had time to do the Tunnels Tour as well.

Afterwards we caught up with Pete, who'd been exploring Fremantle pubs, and met him in the beer garden of Rosie O'Gradys. We had tea and coffee and he had another beer. Then we caught the train home. The people who come out at night were starting to emerge and it was interesting to see some of the outfits the girls were wearing. There were a couple of drunks harassing a girl as we caught the escalators at Perth and Pete make rude remarks about the Perth locals.

We had pre dinner drinks and nibbles, and then Sue cooked noodles and chicken for dinner.

Friday, 27th May - Perth

Deborah is in Sydney. Sue has another meeting in town at 3 pm so Pete and Sue catch the bus into town in the morning. They walk to Northbridge and go to Kakulas (which is a bulk grocery store) and buy some goodies (turkish delight, sesame nut sweets, wasabi peas, quinoa, tapioca).

After Kakulas they find a great little Vietnamese restaurant in James Street called Little Saigon and have lunch (Sue doesn't get the Vietnamese pancake she wanted but Pete has a seven meats thingie). After Sue's meeting at the Holiday Inn they both feel like a drink so they head to the seafront. They go to the Lucky Shag Pub and sit on the deck and watch the sun set and the moon rise, which Pete says is very picturesque.

Pete coerced Sue into staying longer than she wanted (don't we know that feeling!) so they are a bit late picking Deborah up from the airport because it takes them ages to get home on the train and the bus, so they're still on the freeway when she phones to say she's arrived.

Thursday, 26th May - Perth

Sue has checked Fuel Watch and so on the way to dropping Sue at the train station we fill up the car. Sue is going into town for a shareholders meeting. Then Pete drives Deborah to the airport (with Deborah providing impeccable directions). Deborah is flying back to Sydney for a night because she has to use up an airfare, and has two meetings to go to.

Pete wants to explain about Fuel Watch. It's a website. At 2 pm each day all Perth and some country area servos must lock in tomorrow's prices for fuel. Most servos in the area wanted $1.30 per litre for regular unleaded. On Fuel Watch website we found it for $1.21 a litre. It's a great system but NSW decided we didn't need a system like this. Why? Vested interests, Pete says.

Anyway, Pete finds his way back to Sue's via the freeway. They spend the afternoon at Karrinyup Shopping Centre and Ikea (Pete loves shopping). They have nibbles at Sue's before dinner and then go to the Indian Ocean hotel at Scarborough Beach for dinner.

Wednesday, 25th May - Pemberton to Perth

Alas, we had to leave Pemberton. We could have spent more time there. We checked out of the Old Picture Theatre (actually, Reception was closed so we just left our keys in the room).

We had time to fill in before our trip on the Tramway so we drove out to Big Brook Dam. We managed to tune into the tourist radio channel and wish we'd done it sooner because it was really interesting. We heard about the history of timber logging in the area in the 1920s, and also saw some information on signposts around the dam. The dam is on the Warren River and is a water reservoir for Pemberton, but it's also a popular swimming spot - a very peaceful lake with no-one around when we went there. The dam was built in 1986 and also supplies a trout hatchery.

By 1930 2000 hectare of karri forest had been clear felled to produce logs for the Pemberton Mill but a spark from a steam locomotive started a fire which burned the remaining forest. This caused the remaining karri to drop their seeds on the ashbed from the fire, the seeds germinated and now 80 years later there's a new karri forest.

We drove through an arboretum of native and exotic trees and then headed back to Pemberton to the Tramway Depot. The railway was used to transport logs using steam locomotive, but now it's just a privately owned tourist attraction with a diesel engine powering the purpose built tram. It departed the depot at 10.45 am with 16 passengers. The driver has to manually turn the traffic lights on and off when we cross the main street of Pemberton. We go past the Pemberton Timber Mill, which is still in operation. On our left are some of the original timber workers cottages which are still inhabited, and one which has been converted to a chook house. Then the tram meanders through the karri forrest, crossing six bridges on the way. We stop at the cascades and finally at the Warren River Bridge before starting back. We get back to Pemberton at 12 noon.

There's supposed to be a cafe attached to a wood craft shop but we find the cafe closed down some years ago. The shop has some beautiful woodwork but it's way too expensive for us. Sue buys a leather fly swat.

We drive back to Manjimup and have lunch at a nice cafe, then keep driving back to Perth, mostly in the rain. Sue has done all the driving on this trip, Pete sits in the front passenger seat so he can stretch his legs, and Deborah sits in the back.

Sue lives in Doubleview in Perth near Scarborough Beach which is north of Perth. Pete watches the Rugby League State of Origin match and NSW lose to Queensland by 28 to 24 points.

Tuesday, 24th May - Windy Harbour

We decided we wanted to drive down to Windy Harbour which is a little seaside town on the coast near Point D'Entrecasteaux. It was well worth the drive. We called into the tourist centre at Northcliffe on the way.

At Windy Harbour we drove down to the boat ramp. There was an interesting composting system for fish offal using maggots and worms to decompose the offal. We walked a little way along the beach. The beach cabins were close together with no fences - it looked as if people had just built beach shacks wherever there was a spare bit of land.

We visited a few lookouts in D'Entrecasteaux National Park, with stunning beach views and rock formations at Salmon Beach (complete with fishermen), Tookalup, and Point D'Entrecasteaux. The cliffs are limestone and have been eroded into interesting formations, including at Point D'Entrecsteaux an arch with a view to the ocean below that was quite spectacular.

On the way home we climbed Mt Chudalup. Inland from the coast there are big sand dunes with low vegetation, and then further inland the vegetation changes quite suddenly to taller trees. Mt Chudalup is a single rock formation (monolith) that stands out from the surrounding low plains and wetland. It reminded me of Kakadu. There's a track to the top, but Pete couldn't do the last bit of the climb because it was too steep so Sue and I left him to wait for us while we climbed to the top and admired the 360 degree views of the coast and inland. When we came down he wasn't there, so we assumed he'd gone back to the car. We heard him cooee-ing as we went down the track. When we got back to the car he wasn't there either, and we got quite worried that he'd got lost or had an accident, so we started walking back up the track, cooee-ing and speculating on what might have happened to him. Well, we eventually found him coming back down - he'd taken a different track to see whether it was an alternative route to the top, and we were supposed to have understood this from his cooees.

(Pete says this is biased and his version is different.)

We had lunch - excellent home baked pies - at the Hollowbutt Cafe at Northcliffe and went for a loop walk in the bush near Northcliffe where there are twin karri trees. Then we drove through a marri forest.

On the way back to Pemberton we drove through Warren National Park and saw the Bicentennial Tree, the Marianne North tree (painted by a lady called Marianne North at the turn of the century) and followed 12 km of the heartbreak trail along the Warren River. We stopped at Drafty's Camp, the Warren Campsite, and the Warren Lookout. It's a pretty river with lots of good camping sites and swimming spots and must be very popular in summer.

Back at Pemberton we drove to see the Gloucester Tree. The Park Ranger wanted to charge us $11 to drive in and Pete thought this was too much so we drove out again, parked outside and walked in! The Gloucester Tree is also climbable but we decided we'd done enough tree climbing and went back to our Picture Theatre for rose and beer. Then we staggered up the hill to the Gloucester Motel for dinner at Sadies.