A mostly sunny day in Perth

28th July 2014

The car was booked in for a service in the city this morning so we were in the city centre by 7:45am.  A few showers up until midday and then absolutely beautiful sunshine for the rest of the day.

The old Swan Brewery now converted to apartments

After meeting with some friends [great to catch up with Sandra and Adriaan plus their children] in a cafe in Kings Park we went for a long walk around the park and climbed the DNA tower for a view in all directions.

DNA tower, Kings Park

We then walked along the Swan riverfront and visited several of the beautiful parks that grace the city before catching a bus back to the car dealer.  There are a number of city bus routes that are free so we have taken full advantage.

The swan family safely relocated

Along the river we spotted a black swan crossing a 4 lane highway with six little cygnets following behind.  Fortunately the cars all stopped and the family safely arrived for a reunion with the other parent at a pond over the road.

Rain in the Perth Hills

27th July 2014

More torrential rain this morning so we started off driving to Kalamunda, a small town in the Perth Hills which is surrounded by forests. Unfortunately all the tracks were very wet so we decided to have a cup of coffee instead and visit the farmers market that is held there every weekend.  The local farmers bring in their produce which is really fresh.  We couldn't buy much though as we are leaving for Sydney on Thursday.

Mundaring Weir [not letting the rain spoil the visit]

From here we drove to Mundaring Weir, which is really a dam.  This is the bold project completed in 1903 to deliver water to the goldfields in the east of the state.  The water travels 557 kms inland via steel pipes and rises 390 metres on the way.  As there is no reliable water source in the desert areas this was instrumental in allowing the goldfields to flourish and also provide irrigation to areas on the way for crop production.  The red desert soil is quite fertile when water is applied.

The dam was originally a weir but the reservoir capacity was increased in 1950 by building a second wall 10 metres higher in front of the first one.  Now it would be an unusual circumstance for the reservoir to be so high that it flowed over the wall, in fact despite all the rain we have seen the water level was quite low.  Suprisingly, the Mundaring Weir is not the water source for Perth, all the water is pumped East.

No 1 Pump Station constructed 1902

The original pumping station, now long since superseded, was steam operated, wood burning and known as No 1 Pump Station.  The National  Trust administer the building but unfortunately it was not open today so we didn't get a chance to look at the machinery.

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

Fremantle Goal and the Shipwreck Galleries

25th July 2014

Another day in Fremantle visiting the old goal and the shipwreck museum.  Then stayed on into the evening and had dinner on the street known as the cappuccino strip.

Fremantle Prison

We did an excellent tour of the prison, which was still in use as a high security prison until 1991.  The goal was built in the 1850's by some of the first convicts sent to WA from England.  These convicts were sent at the request of the Swan River settlement as they wanted labour for building the colony.

Prison interior, 4 storeys of cells

The prison is very well presented as some parts have been restored to the 1850's era whereas other areas have been left just as they were when vacated in 1991. We were suprised how basic the prison conditions were in the recent past.
The tour was very entertaining and included tales from the old times, but also more recent events including a tour of the execution chamber where over 40 hangings took place.  That was macabre.

Prison cell as left in 1991

The shipwreck Gallery is really good.  On display are artifacts from a number of 17th century Dutch ships wrecked in WA waters, including the Batavia.  A large part of the rear hull of the Batavia, wrecked in 1629, was still intact when found in several metres of water.  Many years were spent preserving and drying the timbers and now they are on display in the museum along with many other artifacts including a lot of silver coinage, bricks [used for ballast]  pottery and metal items and even some fragments of lace.

Replica of the 1606 Duyfken which charted the north Australian coast

John Forrest National Park

24th July 2014

John Forrest NP is situated on the Darling Scarp, a fault line which runs north south through WA on the edge of the coastal plain.  Known as the Perth Hills, the scarp rises steeply and there are great views to the west over the city.

Huge granite boulders are dotted all over the slopes.

John Forrest NP

The forest is largely jarrah and marri and at this time of the year there is plenty of water so the understorey is verdant.  Jane Brook runs through the park and is a tributary to the Swan River.

Jane Brook which flows into the Swan River

Engineers late in the 19th century were looking for a route to take a steam railway over the scarp to the inland areas beyond and this is one of the places that was achieved. Better routes were found in the mid 20th century but the railway continued to run until 1966.  I think this was mainly as a tourist attraction to bring people into the park.

1895 railway tunnel

We did an 11 km return walk along part of this old railway track, which is also excellent for bikes.  The sun shone brilliantly until about 1pm and it got quite warm, definitely the driest day so far in Perth!

Whiteman Park

23rd July 2014

Plenty of rain again today so we decided to go somewhere with indoor as well as outdoor attractions.

Stand of paperbarks

Whiteman Park is a great facility and at it's centre is a 'village' containing three transport museums, a tramway and a railway all of which contain working vehicles. There is also a water park, children's playgrounds, craft shops and a cafe set among picnic tables and lawns.  Around this is more natural bush with walks.

The rain held off long enough to go on one of these walks amongst the jarrah, banksia and paperbark trees.

An early bicycle with timber tyres

We visited both the transport museum and the motor museum.  All the restorations and the operation of the trams and trains is done by enthusiastic volunteers and hobbyists.

Ring necked parrot

A cheeky ring neck parrot was determined to share our lunch and when he didn't get any took to stripping timber off the picnic table!

Maritime Museum Fremantle

22nd July 2014

Further deluges of rain all night and most of the day so we went by train to the Maritime Museum in Fremantle.  The train system is great, only a 5 minute wait in both directions for the connecting train in Perth central.

HMAS Ovens

We ended up spending most of the day in the museum as there is a lot to see.  This included a tour of HMAS Ovens, a submarine in use from the late 1960's until the mid 1990's.  The conditions inside were so cramped and would have been very stuffy as the submariners only got a shower once a week and could smoke in any part of the vessel!

Cramped sleeping quarters

The museum has a number of interesting boats on display including the Australia II which won the Americas cup in 1983.

Australia II yacht

We had a quick visit to the Roundhouse goal before it closed for the day.  This was the first permanent building in the Swan River settlement being built in 1831; made from the local limestone and actually a 12 sided building.  The goal was never intended for serious criminals as all emigrants were free settlers at that time; it was used for short detentions for minor infringements mostly by visiting sailors.