Fremantle and Perth

Of all the places we have seen in Australia so far, Perth might take the prize. We docked at Fremantle, which is about 12 miles from Perth and got on a tour bus that was to take us to Perth so we could see the most interesting places. On the way we drove through suburbs with the Swan River to the right and the Indian Ocean to our left. Perth is a beautiful city, more laid back than Sydney, with many parks, wide streets and friendly people. There were a lot of skyscrapers and grand hotels,l It seems to be a wealthy city because of nearby mining for gold, copper, coal and iron ore. Since it was a Sunday the traffic was lighter and we moved quickly through the city. The city has a population of 1.2 million, very cosmopolitan with every nationality under the sun. When you consider the whole country has a population of about 24 million that's a lot of people in one place. It is said that the unemployment is very low in Perth. It was a very hot day, around 100 degrees but low humidity and there was a sea breeze so it was not unbearable. Basically we were driven around the sites and taken to parks where there were beautiful trees and good views of both the city and the river. Fremantle itself is a sort of country town but very nice, with lots of coffee bars. We think they must be into drinking coffee here because there were cafes everywhere and they were very crowded. There were many people on the streets and we thought this was unusual for a Sunday. They seemed to spend lots of time outdoors but this is understandable because the place is surrounded by beautiful, white beaches and turquoise water of the Indian Ocean, which we are seeing for the first time.

Instead of getting off in Fremantle to look around Morag decided she was too tired even to shop. She said she needs a buddy (read Carol) to go shopping with. Mel is not a bundle of laughs in the shopping arena.

So we were back in time to eat a late lunch on the ship. Again, as we pulled out of the harbor that evening people were lined up along the wharf, the dock and the breakwater to wave us off. There were a load of boats in the harbor also there to say goodbye and they exchanged whistle blows with the ship as we sailed out on our way to Exmouth. We saw the pilot boat come alongside the ship to take the pilot off. We don't stop. The boat matches speed with the ship and comes very close so the pilot can jump off the ship and onto the deck of the boat. Too scary for us but he made it. That's it for now as we sail towards Exmouth, our last stop in Australia.

We did get two new couples at our table last night, both from Australia and appear to be very nice. The two women were not born in Australia: one was born in Macedonia (Greece) and the other in Denmark. Until after Exmouth….