Freemantle and Perth

All good things must end, and when we left the Margaret River we headed north along the coastline again for Freemantle and Perth. Freemantle is Perth’s port and is a quaint old settlement that is just beginning to capitalize on its tourism potential – or maybe the residents want it that way. It has lovely old historic buildings in the downtown that are being nicely refurbished and preserved. Some of the original port buildings, including the first gaol, are still standing. You have got to give the Brits credit for consistency. The first building they constructed in almost every port was their prison. We visited the old gaol roundhouse in Freemantle, and it was here that the immigration folks finally caught up with me. I’m to be deported once freed from my bondage.

On Saturday morning we headed into Perth- and I finally got to see this booming new city in the glorious sun of a western Australian day. Calgarians, I took this skyline shot just for you – hope you can see all the construction cranes in the city – more, I would hazard to guess, than are now on the Calgary skyline. Perth has a population of about 1.4 million right now and isn’t likely to slow its growth any time soon. Resources and mining are booming and Perth is head of those corporations, and the capital of the state. The highlight of our Perth tour would be the beautiful Swan Bell Tower – Perth’s millennium project. We arrived at the river-front park where it was located at the stroke on 12 noon, just as the bells were beginning to be rung. Nothing computerized about this; the bells are rung by volunteers each day from noon until 1. Sixteen volunteers standing in a circle two stories below the bells, pulling on enormous ropes to ring the even more enormous bells. Quite a skill. We were just delighted to be able to spend the hour in the tower watching the bell-ringers at their work, and two floors above watching the giant bells sound out. The entire tower moves with force of the bells striking. Quite the experience.

We also toured the city by open-air bus, and once we scraped the bugs off our front teeth, we had a picnic in the park on the Swan River. Life is good. Late Saturday night, Joyce and Chris headed home for Hervey Bay and I headed for Sydney for my last stop on this tour. Spending a week touring Sydney was number three on the top-three things I really wanted to do in Oz, so I better make it good. Chris and Joyce, and friend Bev from Brisbane, will rejoin me in Sydney next weekend to see me off home to Canada. (I have been sooo good for the airline industry in this country). Oh yeah, and there might be the immigration officers making sure I actually get on the plane home. No worries.