Perth IV--The City at Rest

In our visit to Western Australia, we'd seen the bustle of downtown Perth and the beauty of the sea and out-of-town beaches.  During our last day in Australia, we stayed in Perth and watched what people did during their day of rest. 

Michael's Church started at 9 a.m.  With early birds like Dave and Michael, we had plenty of time for breakfast at John Street Cafe before the services started.  Michael ordered eggs benedict, while Dave and I ordered a delicious concoction I will have to try to make at home--meusli with nuts, shredded pears, and rhubarb compote.  People relaxed around us with their Sunday papers and lapdogs.

Michael's Church was a delight. It was a mix of Australians and ex pats.  It was testimony meeting, and so we heard personal stories.  One young American woman talked about the rigors of watching a big family of little kids while her husband, a corporate attorney for a mining company, flew to Houston on business.  Another Australian woman told of being converted to the Church and doing family history work in the Perth temple.  The warm, laughing Relief Society president heard I was visiting my son in Perth and said, "We'll keep an eye on your boy."

After Church, we gathered at King's Park, above the city, for an aboriginal tour.  Our guide told us about the times when, as far as we could see, out over Perth, were aboriginal settlements.  He talked about the plants and trees the aborigines use for food and medicine, such as a bulbous tree which is full of water.  He showed us the tools his people traditionally make and the kangaroo skins that they turn into clothing.

We then wandered through the gorgeous King's Park, which is reputedly the second largest city park in the world, after Central Park in New York City.  We loved the gorgeous flowers and trees, and the views over the city from different vantage points.

 

 

 

 

We paused by the War Memorial, honoring Australians who have fought in so many foreign wars, from Gallipoli of World War I to the War in the Pacific of World War II and the recent Iraq war.

The park was full of weddings and of graduates posing for photographs.

We then drove downtown to visit the Perth Art Museum.  There was a blockbuster art exhibit on modern artists from the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  Michael had seen it twice--once in New York and once in Perth.  It was a treat to me, with its paintings and sculptures by Picasso, Calder, Brancusi, Leger, and many others.

I also enjoyed the collection of Australian art.  There were realistic paintings from the mid-1800s--the "colonial period"--and paintings and sculptures by Australians native artists, addressing native themes, such as aboriginal culture and the great Red Center, or Outback.

 

 

 

 

Michael took us to Pinaroo Memorial Park, a cemetery where kangaroos roam free on the thick green grass.  We saw several mothers with joeys in their pouches.  After all the kangaroos we've seen in Australia, I am starting to identify distinctive, individual features!

 

 

 

 

Australia is full of strange plants, as well as animals, and new ones appeared when I thought I'd seen them all!

We wandered at one last park, as the twilight fell.  This, Michael informed us, was where the black swans live.  Black swans are the emblem of Western Australia.  The dusky, romantic views left us wanting more of Australia, even though we knew we were flying back to the US in the morning.

We treated ourselves to one last meal in festive Fremantle.  We dined on seafish at Cicerello's, and then drove back to Michael's apartment to pack our bags.  It was a perfect trip.

Perth III--The Sea, Beaches, and Dripping Rocks

Australia is about animals--strange ones.  It is also about water--the deep blue sea that cradles dolphins and whales; glorious beaches with white sand and water so translucent that it is barely blue; and drips of water that, over thousands of years, form cave formations. On Saturday, October 6, 2012, we saw all those permutations of water.

We spent the day south of Perth, in the Margaret River area, filled with beautiful beaches and limestone caves.  We started the day, though, in Dunsborough, with a whale watching tour.

No, that was not our boat and those were not the whales we saw.  The boat looked like that one, though, and we would have seen whales like those if they had just jumped a little higher, rather than daintily lifting a fin or a tail out of the water.  Although our whales were not as photogenic, they were still amazing.  There were some fifty whales off the southwestern coast of Australia that day, our guide surmised, and we saw groups of three or four whales near our boat and at several spots in the distance.  It was amazing to see groups of dark shadows just beneath the water, rolling along with the boat.  We were tendered to the boat along with twenty or so other passengers.  Dave, Michael, and I stayed at the front during most of the tour, with the wind and spray in our faces, the better to see each bit of a whale that appeared.

We ate lunch at Stingers, in Dunsborough, a quaint, but stylish beach town.  We lingered over our lunch of fish and chips.   In Australia, I loved the ethnic food--Indian, Thai, Chinese, Middle Eastern--but I also loved the English staples--scones with cream and jam, beef pies, fish and chips, sticky toffee pudding.

Michael spotted a Christian Fletcher gallery, and we hurried over.  As his souvenirs from Australia, Michael is buying Christian Fletcher photographs of Australian beaches to place above his mantel and above his bed.  The photographs were spectacular.  They were taken all over the world, including the slot canyon, Antelope Canyon, near Lake Powell.  Still, our favorites were of the glorious Australian beaches.

We drove south to Bunkers Bay Beach, one of Michael's favorites.  We wandered along the beach on this early spring day, watching the few sunbathers and the surfers, the seagulls prancing along the sand, but most of all just drinking in the beauty of sand and water.

 

 

Next stop was Jewel Cave.  The whole Margaret River area is pocketed with limestone caves, and Jewel Cave is its, well, jewel.  We admired the stalagtites and stalagmites, the "shawls," and the pipettes, or long, skinny formations made from one drop of water making its way downwards for thousands of years.

 

 

 

 

 

Michael planned for us to beach-hop our way back to Perth, but we had time for only one more beach treasure--Red Gate Beach.

 

Back in Perth, we treated ourselves to Michael's favorite restaurant, Chutney Mary's.  Not only was the Indian food delicious, but we loved the atmosphere.  The restaurant was painted bright pinks and oranges, like India itself, and was filled with colorful lamps and pictures.  As we finished our supper, I suggested to Michael that we order a whole new menu of dishes and stay all evening.