Perth 206

What's covered?

It was only when we looked at the flight times that we realised Hong Kong and Perth are in the same time zone so no jet lag!

We spent a wonderful week with Malcolm and Sue.

13 September

Chinese Customs decided to have a second detailed check for everyone, almost at the end of the corridor to the plane where there really wasn't the room to do it, especially as Cathay Pacific had allowed people into the corridor before the plane was ready. All a bit chaotic at the start but otherwise it was trouble free. Sue was waiting for us at the airport.

14 September

We went to Galleria, the local shopping mall, which was bigger than I recalled from our last visit. Primarily this was to get a local SIM card. It had to be registered to an Australian resident so it was put in Malcolm's name but chargeable to my card. A$50 per month got me unlimited Australian calls plus 1,000 minutes of international calls to specific countries which included the UK. The card could also be used in New Zealand using those 1,000 minutes per month. With 6GB of data it was a great deal.

We then went by bus to King's Park. We had been on our previous visit but it's a place you can return to time and time again. We had lunch there and then returned "home" after a brief visit to the shops in central Perth.

15 September

Sue had to go to a funeral so I drove Malcolm's adapted VW to Lake Leschenaultia (via Harvey Norman to buy an ANZ satnav). The cafe there was closed but nearby some rangers were burning some Black Boys to make the seeds germinate giving Gill the chance to photograph this.

We then backtracked a few miles to Chidlow Wells Shopping Centre, which was really not much more than a few shops in a rural setting. The Baytree Bakery was a real find as everything was home made and delicious. There were pies, cakes, granolas, jams and so on.

On the way we had bumped into one of Malcolm's friends at a petrol station. Malcolm had only just said we were in his territory and been telling us of his amazing property. Lou Jones invited us to drop in on our way back and we did. Wow. Outside it looked rather like a corrugated steel warehouse but inside it had the most amazing rooms and collections. At one time Lou had been in a band and after going around the house, he put some karaoke on the TV and sang a couple of numbers. One of those magic moments in life where something is so different and great fun. He also played some Lettice Rowbotham songs from Britain's Got Talent that we had not seen. Lou is a real character.

16 September

We went into Perth by bus with Malcolm and started at The WA Art Gallery. Then some shopping in the main shopping area of Perth.

17 September

On our previous visit, the weather had been beautiful at this time of year. This time Perth was not out of its coldest winter for 80 years! Gill needed some warmer tops so back to Galleria where she got some real bargains in Millers sale. Then off to the Swan Valley for the scenery and a very nice lunch at The Mallard Duck.

In the evening Malcolm and Sue treated us to the Romeo and Juliet ballet at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth. A lovely old fashioned theatre and an excellent production.

18 September

The plan today was for me and Gill to take Malcolm's Morris Minor Convertible to Bindoon where there was an historic car event. Malcolm's muscular dystrophy means that he could no longer drive it and as I had one at the time I met Gill, Malcolm thought that would be nice for us. He and Sue, along with Ole and Eric would go in the VW and after the car event the plan was to all travel on to the Chittering Valley in just the VW, picking up the Morris later. That backfired in more ways than one. First Ole and Eric made up the numbers the VW could accommodate with us for Chittering Valley but Jan had also been invited and it was suddenly realised there was a logistics problem. We could have used the Morris Minor for the whole day out but that was not to be.

It had not been run for a few weeks and although it was fine then, today it was not. It was puffing out black smoke and misfiring. At first we decided to give it a go. After several miles though the problem seemed to be getting worse rather than better so after several attempts, I managed to stop the others and between us, Malcolm and I decided it was too risky to continue. We turned around and needless to say, within a mile of so of getting back to the house, the performance started to get better! However, it was still not right so we stuck by the decision. Ole and Eric switched to their car which also solved the seating problem.

At Bindoon there were some wonderful old cars from around the world and we met quite a few of Malcolm's friends. We had a light lunch at The Bakery and then toured around the Chittering Valley.

We picked up a takeaway at Red Rooster on the way back.

19 September

We drove to The Pinnacles stopping off at Moore River Estuary. A lovely spot that the locals are trying to keep not too touristy, even though there is some reliance on such business.

Malcolm's chair worked on the sand so he was able to get around it OK apart from just one spot where we had to rescue him.

Then we went on to Cervantes for lunch at the bar and bistro.