Lap Around Australia: Perth

Perth: Kings Park Botanic Gardens, The city

We were woken up in the wee hours of this morning by a loud cacophony of sirens, so loud that Barb actually got out of the caravan to investigate. There was a police chopper overhead too so she figured something was going down, but at least not directly affecting us. Back to bed. A few hours later we were woken again. This time by very loud raindrops on the roof that seemed like hail. Apparently not .... just a downpour. When we woke up in the morning there were puddles everywhere but the sun was shining and it looked like a glorious day. John read that the sirens were from a police car chase that happened on Hale road outside our caravan park; the car eventually side-swiped another vehicle then ran head on into a bus shelter. All occupants caught and transported to hospital. Jeez! We're back in the city.

Today we headed in to the city to Kings Park Botanic Gardens. These gardens are an absolute "must see" for anyone visiting Perth. Not only for the acres of gorgeous cultivated parkland that showcases the vast variety of wildflowers unique to Western Australia, but also because of the elevated views it offers over the city and Swan River. It is simply breathtaking! We found the drive in a bit daunting because our GPS doesn't give much warning of when to change lanes to switch to a different freeway or road. Oh well, we made it in the end and were pleasantly surprised to find free parking available.
We spent quite a bit of time just wandering around here looking closely at the flowers, admiring the spectacular views and reading about all the different monuments and memorials found scattered around the grounds.

 

 

 

 We decided against eating in the café at the gardens as it was just too busy on a Sunday morning. We noticed that there was a bus stop into the city right opposite where our car was parked. Travel to the inner city area from the gardens is free. Wow! We gratefully hopped on and asked the driver to let us know when we reached London Court. We'd heard about this place from our friends who'd been here only a week or so ago. It's a replica London street from back in Tudor times. It's a great Tourist attraction and has some nice speciality shops and cafes in the precinct also.

We walked through to the street behind and found the main shopping area of town. We had a brief wander through here with no real intention or desire to shop, and then turned down toward Elizabeth Quay. The lure of the water and boats is always strong.

There's some lovely architecture in Perth too. A lot of it is almost over-shadowed by towering high-rise development, so it's not quite as appealing as Fremantle, but there's plenty of parks and bronze statuary to keep people happy.
As we neared the quay we could hear a carillion of bells. We couldn't see a church, but then we realised the sound was emanating from a blue modern glass tower, appropriately called the Bell Tower. There is a moat with fountains surrounding the tower and the little bridges are covered with locks like we've seen on bridges in Europe.

We diverted into one of the quayside cafes and had an early lunch overlooking the water. Yes! This is more like it. After this refreshment we were ready to wander again. It's very lovely down by the riverside. We walked across the new walking bridge and around to the harbour-side where you can catch a ferry ride or even a venetian style gondola ride. There's an old fashioned carousel providing rides for small children, and there was a Dinosaur discovery exhibition going on in the nearby museum.

We walked back up into town, but by this time Barb's knee was protesting from all the exercise ( especially those hills) and so we decided to catch the bus back up the hill to Kings Park and find our car. What a great day.