30/03/12
Perth, one of the
world’s most liveable cities. A fabulous outdoor lifestyle with parks, rivers
and beaches and a beautiful historic port, Fremantle.
Perth is probably the
most outdoorsy of all Aussie cities. The climate, Perth’s brilliant setting
along the Swan River and the Indian Ocean, and the abundance of parkland mean
that it’s almost obligatory to get outside and enjoy the sun and fresh air.
Perth has a wonderful Mediterranean climate that gives it more hours of sun
than any other major city in Australia, from October right through to April.
We
were unlucky for our first week back at the sunshine capital. It rained for
days, it was freezing cold. Living outside, sleeping on car parks, staying
cooped up in our vans for shelter and warmth, and worse of all cold showers,
was not fun at all. The temperature was around 16°. Brrrrr! The next week the
weather changed drastically: bright sun and 35°! Time to get the shorts back
out!
There is a Pesky Sea
Breeze though.
In the summer, Perth
gets an easterly offshore breeze in the morning; then, as the land heats up, it
switches to a south-westerly on-shore wind. This is called the ‘Fremantle
Doctor’, because it blows up the river from Fremantle and provides relief on
hot summer days. The timing and strength of the breeze varies and it can be
almost gale force, whipping up the sand on exposed beaches.
We didn’t actually do
much during our 3 weeks in Perth. Most all of our time and energy was used to
get our 4WDs ready.
We wanted to go to the
Fremantle prison, but the price was way too high for just a small 1h tour.
FREMANTLE Prison
Even jails boasted attractive
architecture in the 1850s. this limestone jail, built to house 1000 inmates by
convicts who no doubt ended up inside it, was Perth’s maximum-security prison
until 1991.
We did however get to
spend quite a bit of time with my aunt and uncle, Wally and Carmel. They very
kindly let us stay with them for a couple of nights. What a great time! Lots of
chatting, nice music, lovely meals… I do hope that I will get a chance to see
them again!
I also had a bit of
time to do a bit of shopping! I hadn’t been shopping for so long! It was too
hard to resist!
I also had to go to
the orthodontist to get my stupid retained glued back on!
The day before we left
Perth it was Anzac day! A bank holiday!
Anzac day (april 25),
which commemorates the Australian landings at Gallipoli in 1915 that helped
define the nation, is the most poignant public holiday in Australia. The Perth
Dawn Service is held by the War Memorial in Kings Park. You arrive in the dark
and ease your way into the throng. The muffled tapping of a drum marks the
official procession to the memorial, and then the real service starts as the
predawn light reveals a hushed crowd of up to 40 000n yound and old. The sun
rises behind the memorial silhouetted against the Swan River, and the Last Post
sounds.
Australia Day (Jan 26)
is another public holiday (I wasn’t in Australia to attend it this year). It
commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia. The Abororiginals
call it ‘Invaision Day’…
Le Carnet de Voyage
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