Final preparations...
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2005
1
11
20
Trip End
Jun 14, 2005
Perth, Australia
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Since our miniature tour round the South West of the "Island," we've decided on a slightly different budget (it's gonna cost more than we thought!) and I've also agreed that we can get a tent, and use that a few times a week... How the hell will my 4 star hotel body cope with sleeping rough?!? Time will tell!
The route we took back to Perth kept us away from some of the worst weather seen in this region for some time - tornado's all but destroyed large sections of Bunbury (just South of Perth) and the rain and subsequent flooding caused even more damage to the region.
Luckily we missed it all, but arrived back to enjoy the tail end of the storms, including some excellent lightening displays, and some truly torrential rainstorms!
To while away the worst of the weather, and also to help our backs to fitness, we enjoyed more trips to the swimming pool (I made excellent use of the sauna!), and made sure that we had everything ready for heading off around Oz.
The sun did eventually come back out for us, and we managed to get back to tourist ways.
A trip to Freemantle Prison was excellent, and well worth the time it took to see the cells and hear the stories of the original residents of this fair country (bloody crims!)
Several pubs received our custom, including The Flying Scotsman, The Queens, The Brisbane
I even managed to squeeze in a game of golf with Dougal (well 9 holes anyway!). Not my most successful outing I have to say, but I did manage to get a birdie on the last hole (are you proud, Dad?)
Sadly we didn't get a chance to see Rottnest Island (named by the Dutch as "Rat Nest" Island because of the large rodents or rather marsupials called quokkas they saw when they landed there...) or the Zoo, but what we did get to see during our time here was great, and definitely worth a visit again! I'll hopefully be coming back here some time in the future and can get to see all the things I've missed.
We're off up the coast towards Broome and the onwards towards Darwin or Alice Springs, depending on mood, weather and time...
Freemantle Prison
1 The Terrace
Freemantle
(08) 9336 9200
