2020 Road trip and Radiance

12 February Left home early to catch public transport to the airport. Unfortunately there was a delay getting our crew up from Melbourne because of bad weather there. We left two hours late, but made up some time. Isobel and Max met us at the airport. The plane was full of Rugby League players who were visiting Perth for a Rugby Sevens tournament. So their luggage seemed to be given priority, and we had to wait quite a bit. It was only a short journey to their home and we were comfortably settled in. We had much to catch up on. More importantly we worked out how our plans would pan out for the few days we are here. Although Perth is three hours behind Sydney, we seemed to manage to get to bed at our normal time, even though our body clock was three hours later. 13 February Another bright warm morning. Today we planned to visit Perth Zoo. As Isobel had not visited for some years she came along too. Isobel and Max’s place is very well situated so we could have taken a...

14 February – Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Great day to be heading down the coast. 41 degC forecast for Perth! A pleasant 38 greeted us in Mandurah. About an hour south of Perth, Mandurah is a beautiful coastal town with high class canal living. Definitely a playground for the wealthy! We found a spot for coffee, which coincidentally is also the ice creamery which had enticed Isobel and Max to bring us here. We were going to take the train down. Having a car really did enable us to see and do more. Especially as it was so hot just doing the small amount of walking we did. After coffee we weaved our way around the foreshore to an area adjacent to the ocean, but still protected by the canal system. We mused our later venue for lunch then headed back to the car to find the wetlands. We had armed ourselves with a map of how to get there. This whole area is full of canal development. Some on reclaimed land, others simply built on the existing inlets of the Peel River sys...

15 February Today, friends Susie and Lance came and collected us and we headed for Heathcote, a historic building on the waterfront, for morning coffee. It was a pity the weather had come in cloudy and mizzly. The views weren’t the best, but it was lovely visiting different places with them afterwards too. They dropped us off at Barrack St ferry terminal where we picked us tickets for the Swan River cruise that afternoon. We found somewhere to have a light lunch and got on the cruise at 2.15. The commentary down the river was sparse, but then again there is really not much to see. On the return journey the weather cleared a little and the shore was more clear. Lots of sail boats were out for Saturday afternoon racing and as we neared Perth their historic Duyfken, a Dutch privateer ship, was sailing down the River. All in all it was a very lovely afternoon. The Bell Tower on the Perth Waterfront The old Swan Brewery King's Park Looks li...