Pretty Perth

 First stop on our Australian adventure was Perth. A short taxi ride from the airport filled us in on all the UK travel plans of the young female taxi driver who was unable to help me with our luggage but gave little info as to what to expect in Perth save for the fact that our hotel was on the busy party street and might be noisy. Our Novotel was bog standard, with even a standard bog, but well situated. After a look around we ate in a delightful Italian over the road and planned our next day which would be a trip  to Freemantle. This was where we experienced the wonder that is Australian city travel for the first time, a  lesson for Leeds and the UK in how to get people out of cars. All city zone transport was free. The train to Freemantle, including all associated travel for the day, was ridiculously cheap. I`d give up the car tomorrow if we had that set up in Leeds. Trains and buses were efficient and clean and the drivers very helpful, as was every Australian we met anywhere on this trip. It was here that I also learned the Australian penchant for abbreviation. Freemantle became Freo, a caberbet sauvignon became a cab sav etc. I had to ask one Australian guy what they did with all the free time they created with all the abbreviations but he couldn`t answer or thought me bizarre - not sure which!

Train to Freo

Freo was lovely, nicer than Perth for me and a delight to visit. The Tourist Information office there expressed some surprise that we were taking a train across Australia, next leg of our journey, but assured us all would be wonderful and gave us the heads up on what to see here willingly. It was like a cowboy town with a beach at the end but also had a wonderful brewery overlooking the harbour. We had aimed to get back to the brewery for some live music that night but jet lag was still an issue and left us too exhausted to get back there, using the same cheap day ticket we`d used for the first visit.

Even had a Geordie brewing tank!

The next day brought our Swan River cruise with wine-tasting and the ever present Captain Cooke Tours we encountered everywhere in Australia. 

Down by the harbour was one of our favourite parts of Perth

The Bell Tower

We were amazed to hear that in this seeming fresh water river there were porpoises and sharks. We thought the captain was joking as he told us it made swimming in the river more exciting. He must have felt awful later in the day when we heard the news of a young girl being taken by a shark in the river within an hour of his joking about it in a rare event that shocked the locals. Booking online we weren`t sure from the reviews what we were getting and the ticket desk seemed to tell us we would be getting the wine tasting on the boat with the captain - disappointing. It wasn`t to be! 2 vineyards and a brewery later after getting off the boat we had sampled 28 generous helpings of white , red and sparkling wines and had a beer with some gorgeous wagyu burgers.

The houses on the riverside were wonderful,as were the pelican sightings as well as other birds.

The WACA

First samples and cheese board

High and dry

 Wonderful day made all the better by the company. We ended up after the river cruise on a bus with 12 20 somethings who with their American, Ukranian and overwhelmingly Scottish and Irish accents we took to be tourists. Turned out they were working locally and were out on a jolly. Either their capacity for alcohol didn`t match ours or they were packing extra but they got louder and funnier as the afternoon went on. At one point tipsy Sue persuaded me that one American traveller looked like James Norton out of Happy Valley and asked me to get a photo of him. Equally tipsy I heard myself saying " James - can I get a picture of you ?" which surprised him as this wasn`t his name. Of course once I`d explained he was the image of a UK TV heartthrob in the biggest show on TV he was pleased to pose. Others then asked for their photos to be taken too. Great fun afternoon and I`ll always remember the frustrated look on the face of the vineyard owner saying no 10-12 times in a row as a drunk Irish girl asked "Is this one sparkling?" to every wine whether white or red.

Frustrated winemaker "No it`s not sparkling"

James Norton? Not when sober!

After a pointless search for a meal later than we found most Australians seem to eat we then slept before our last day in Perth. Free transport to Kings Park Botanical Gardens brought another lovely day. Very hot and we felt we were the only ones mad enough to be walking sight to sight as others drove there but quite delightful and we saw some different parts of Perth as we came back to town.

DNA TOWER