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.
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