January 10th-off to Peak Hill

Forgot to mention the fabulous Vietnamese Dinner we had at a restaurant with Marianne and Gaille's family upon returning from Perth - calamari done several ways, fish, noodle and vegetable dish, and this fabulous chili chicken (can't wait to get to Vietnam and have some of this yummy food again).
Lots of adventures on the way to Peak Hill or as I refer to it Peeksville! Peak Hill is about 450km northwest of Sydney, travelling through towns such as Edith, Leura, Blackheath, Hartley, Oberon, Manildra and Parkes. Road kill sightings 11 kangaroo and one fox. This blog is being posted late because Peak Hill has no wireless connection!
We travelled through the Blue Mountains and stopped to view the Three Sisters, lots of beautiful scenery here as you can see by the pictures. There are lots of hiking trails but we did not have time to explore if we wanted to get to our destination before dark - apparently travelling the back roads at night can be doggie as the kangaroos are like our deer!
Further on we came to the Jenolan Caves, a world class cave system with underground rivers and spectacular limestone formations. The caves are free to explore but we only had a brief stay before continuing our journey.
We arrived in Bathurst for a picnic lunch on top of Mount Panorama. Lorne if you are reading this blog Mount Panorama, Bathurst is the home of the Bathurst 1000km V8 supercars. I took the pictures of the track especially for you.
Then off to Peak Hill (nowhere Australia). We arrived around dinner before dark so there were no kangaroo incidents. Surprise, surprise Peak Hill does not have any restaurants or fast food facilities. So we went to the local ex-servicemen's club (legion) for dinner only to be told there is no food served on Tuesday's (maybe for religious reasons who knows). We did find out the local lawn bowling club across the street was serving food - yes Joan F there is a lawn bowling club in Peak Hill and I took a picture of it for you -- oh yes we had an interesting dinner. I was hoping to have a cider but no cider, so then I asked for vodka and cranberry juice -- you guessed it no cranberry juice so I settled for vodka and orange juice. I guess in this part of the country one should take up beer drinking.
Tomorrow we are spending the day exploring this area -- that should be interesting as I have been warned to watch the ground for the deadly brown snakes-good thing I have my first aid kit with me!

January 8th

Business class or bust!! My first experience traveling business class--what a wonderful treat! Good food lots of alcohol although I passed on this as I was on a 9am flight, great seats that recline and real plates and cutlery --did I mention the great food! What a way to travel no leg cramps for me on this trip. Not bad for a free flight from Melbourne to Sydney.
Now back in Sydney for an evening of relaxation (no this was not my attire for business class). Tomorrow is a relaxation and laundry day-- hard to believe but since I brought very little baggage after a week I am running out of clothes. But it does show how little one little really needs-- perhaps I will take a look at my closet when I get home. I will think on that for now.
Tuesday I am driving with Brian and Kate (Marianne's daughter) to Peaks Hill a remote town in NSW which is a six hour drive on the other side of the Blue Mountains. Brian grew up in this town and it is probably as close as I will get to the outback!! If you don't see another posting in a couple of days it means I have gone walkabout!

January 7th

Started today by visiting the Fremantle Market, much like the Granville Island Market so we moved on from there to Peppermint Grove. This area would be equivalent to the Uplands in Victoria. Fabulous homes that are huge and have river or ocean views. We came upon a model home open house and couldn't resist taking a browse through this 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom, theatre room, living room, entertainment room, family room, wine cellar tasting room, outside entertainment area with pool and a kitchen to die for!!! All for $1.2 Million but that was the cost of the house not the land (not sure what the land costs but there was an ocean view).
On our drive we came upon a lovely , sandy river bank with 5 black swans (Western Australia's emblem) swimming in the river so we took this opportunity to rest and watch the swans and sailboats.
Then off to the beach to watch a number of young people kite surfing -- very popular sport here -- I dipped my toes in the Indian Ocean again -- may be warm enough for the sharks but not for me, really enjoyed watching the kite surfing -- one would need a lot of upper body strength to do this sport! Guess I will need to go to the gym when I get home to work on this????
Ended the day at the Small Creatures Pub (located next to the building where the sailboat that won the America's Cup is on display). Everyone is talking about the unseasonally cold weather, the mid 20's during the day and quite windy - feels like a normal Victoria summer day and I am getting tanned so all is good!
Tomorrow we fly back to Sydney! Have enjoyed Perth and look forward to seeing more of Western Australia later on in my travels!

January 6th

Today started by having coffee with my dad's cousin's (80 year old George and 77 year old Julie) this was the first time I have met them. George and Julie immigrated from the UK to Perth in 1966 with 80pounds in their pocket and 7 children. They now have 30 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren all living in the Perth area. Funny how family connects very quickly and it wasn't long before we were chatting about different family members and I found out a few family secrets that I did not know about. Those of you who heard the story at Christopher Causton's farewell about my mother and auntie working at Causton printers in the UK-- well I was telling George and Julie the story and asked if they remembered Causton printers in Southampton -- Julie informed me her father worked there from 1939 until he retired.

The Steve Irwin ship (similar to Greenpeace) was docked today at Fremantle while they loaded supplies and new volunteers to continue on their voyage to discourage whalers.

This afternoon we drove south along the coast line of Western Australia. I don't think the picture does the color of the water justice as it is a beautiful turquoise color.
This evening we went for dinner at a pub and ate dinner while listening to a jazz quartet. Eating out in Perth is very expensive as an average main course in a pub is $25 and up. A cocktail costs $15!!!!!

Tonight we went on the Fremantle Prison torchlight tour. The prison was built by convicts in the 1850's and was used continually as a place of incarceration and punishment for almost 140 years decommissioned in 1991. The prison housed men, women and children (youngest child was 8 years old for stealing one schilling) - over 40 people were hung in the gallows. As we entered the prison we were given a small torch to light our way on the tour as we made our way through the prison -- I was selected to be put into the solitary confinement cell and I definitely was not wearing prison issued shoes! But I did meet a friend there and we were able to document the occasion with a picture. Fortunately they took pity on me and I was given early release for good behaviour or maybe it was for being best dressed prisoner!

January 5th

Took a boat cruise from Fremantle to Perth saw dolphins playing in the water. Have not seen any sharks yet but there have been 5 shark attacks in this area lately, so no swimming in the ocean for me! Saw a house on the riverbank that was for sale for $70m but it only sold for $55m see picture. Perth is a lovely, clean city.
Had a lovely picnic dinner by the Swan River and then went to the outdoor movie theatre at the university of western australia and saw a French film The Boy and the Bike. It is too bad Victoria does not get the weather to have this kind of theatre but I am not sure Victorians would be willing to pay $16 to watch a foreign film- apparently Aussie's are because the place was packed.
Tomorrow morning I am meeting my dad's cousin for coffee. When I cleaned out my parents house I found a letter from my dad's cousin who lives here. I kept the letter in case I ever made it this way and thought I would call him--stay tuned and I will let you know how coffee goes.

Perth

Flew to Perth today 5 hour flight and 3 hour time difference. Staying in a cottage in Fremantle. This area is lovely place as you can see by the beautiful picture of the Indian Ocean. Jillian and her husband met us at the airport (Jillian is the sister of my Victoria Aussie friend Janice). Jillian joined us for a meal and drinks in Fremantle. We then drove up the coast and sat on the beach to watch the sun set. It was 32c here today. Tomorrow we are taking the ferry down the Swan River to see Perth. Away over a week and have not purchased one pair of shoes YET!

Life is tough but someone has to do it!

Relaxation today after a one hour walk in one of the national parks. Saw a couple of interesting park ideas--oh right I retired!
This is a picture of my friend's backyard. Life is great!