More views of Perth in the rain

26th July 2014

The rain this morning was torrential between about 10:00am and 2:00pm.  John was keen to visit the Aviation Heritage Museum and we decided to get there by car instead of taking the train.  Good decision because we would have got soaked.

PBY-5A Catalina flying boat

The museum is on RAAF grounds and has mostly military aircraft and memorabilia on display.  John was very interested in the machinery and I enjoyed the history of the WAAAF [formed during WWII and standing for Womens Auxillary Australian Air Force], later WAAF when women were accepted into the air force in peacetime.  Now of course everyone comes under the RAAF.

I also found a display of some old Ansett 'hosties' uniforms.  The one from the 1970's, in shades of lilac, was particularly hideous and known among the girls who wore it as the violet crumble outfit!

Perth city skyline from Kings Park

We decided to drive into Kings Park in the city in the afternoon, the rain stopped on cue so we walked in the botanic garden.  The park is the largest park in a capital city in the world [so bigger than Central Park in NY] and is elevated so there are wonderful views over the city and out to sea.  When European settlers arrived it was thickly wooded with Jarrah, Marri and Tuart trees.  Most of the the jarrah in particular was removed to build the new colony as it's an extremely hard wood and termite resistant.  Some replanting has taken place to return sections of the park to it's natural state.

Kings Park