Perth & Fremantle, Western Australia 18-19 December 2018

18 December 2018 - Tuesday

Perth and Fremantle, Western Australia

We are up early and back at the Bakehouse for breakfast at 8:00 am.   We are at the Fremantle Train Station by 10am for our day in Perth.  The clerk tells us about the family day pass --  $12 AUD per couple for the train and all buses and ferries in the area.   We're in on this deal.

Pat with a "Chimera" street art in Freemantle

Off we go onto this efficient light rail system that delivers us to the Perth Train Station by 10:30a.    Our first stop is the Art Museum of Western Australia located right outside the station -- however as luck would have it, they are closed on Tuesdays.

Colette and Pat in front of the Perth Mint

So --- undeterred we are off on the free "CAT" bus system to The Perth Mint.  It was founded as a colonial branch of Britain's Royal Mint in 1899 in response to Western Australia's gold rush, which was considerably later than the gold rush in the United States and other parts of Australia.   The original purpose was to refine the discovered gold and turn it into bullion bars and sovereign coins for use throughout the United Kingdom.

Gold Bullion at the Perth Mint

In 1970, ownership of The Perth Mint was transferred from the British Government to the Government of Western Australia. This change allowed the Perth Mint to produce and market the Australian Bullion Coin Program.  There is a Bullion Trading Room on the premises offering gold, silver and platinum bullion products for investors at "live" market prices.   Precious metals including coins, bars and old jewelry can also be sold here.

Their shop sells exclusive jewelry including diamonds, south sea pearls, natural gold nuggets and Australian opals.

We take the tour, which includes the gold exhibition, the coin room, the diamond room and the "exciting molten gold pour" in the original Melting House.  

Molten Gold Pouring Demonstration

The Melting House functioned as the refinery for more than 90 years during which 2,596 tons of gold was smelted, refined and cast. The walls and ceiling of the Melting House are embedded with gold dust, accumulated over the many decades of continuous refining.  

There is even a scale here where one can get weighed to determine how much you are worth.    Phil is worth $5,782,175 at today's gold price.

After a snack in the Cafe at the Mint, it is time to get back on the "CAT" bus -- cut through an office building to a bus stop where we pick up the "935" to King's Park.

Kings Park has spectacular views of Perth over the Swan River and the city.    Established in 1895 this park takes up 10 acres of grassy parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza.  It is open 24 hours a day.

Phil looking so "happy" at Kings Park, Perth.

We have lunch here at one of the cafes where they have a system of ordering that we've seen in many places.   Customers order at the counter, pay and are giving a number to put on their table -- meals are delivered directly to the table. It seems to work well in Australia and cuts down on labor.

After lunch -- we take a stroll through the Western Australian Botanic Garden, housing one-half of Australia's 25,000 plant species.  This garden is ever changing with a living research center committed to conservation.  

Our walk includes the Federation Walkway --- a combination of pathways, an elevated walkway and a viewing bridge all laid out on a map so we cannot get lost.

By late afternoon, we determine it's time to get back on Bus 935.   Colette has gotten explicit instructions from the Information ladies on making our way back to the train station.   Directions are spot on  --- as we cut through a mall and across a plaza and "Voila" -- the Perth Train Station is in front of us.

We just missed a train to Fremantle but another comes in 8 minutes and it is almost express so our ride back is only 11 minutes long.   We are in time for 5p happy hour at the hotel --- and a 6:30p dinner reservation at Capri.

Capri is family-run with lots of active and positive energy.   As we sit down we notice customers walking in the door with bottles in brown bags which prompts Phil and Marc to get up and go down the street to the "bottle" store -- promptly returning with a couple of bottles of wine.   There are lots of what appears to be local groups eating here.   One group of nine women of various ages catches my eye since they are having the best time.  Are they a book group?  I can't help myself.  I have to ask what they are celebrating.   I pop over and speak to one of the women about my age.   She tells me they are celebrating the ninth anniversary of the opening of her daughter's Pilate's Studio.  These women are all her first students.   

This place is great fun and a very good choice.  

19 December - Wednesday

Fremantle, Western Australia

This morning breakfast is at CIBO - a place we spotted yesterday near the train station.   Our plan is to spend the day in Fremantle with our first stop at the Maritime Museum on the waterfront.

This is a terrific museum with huge boats -- some you can enter and others are hanging from the ceiling.    Colette, Marc and Phil decide to take part in the submarine tour, I opt for the virtual reality segment visiting Antarctica.  

America's Cup Race when Australia Won

All reports from the submarine group are that it was informative and enjoyable.    I loved the virtual reality -- my first time using the glasses but I felt like I was riding in the helicopter over Antarctica.  And, since it was 360 degrees, I could turn around and see my seatmates.  It was really fun.

Phil emerging from the Submarine

After the Maritime Museum -- we split up.  Boys went one way and girls the other way. Colette and I visited a few charity and other shops and stopped for a coffee break at a place called "Breaks".    We have a lovely afternoon wandering around Fremantle.

Back at the hotel -- Phil comes in about 3:30 and I realize I don't have my glasses.    I brought two pair and have now lost two pair.  They are not prescription and I usually but them at "Ocean State Job Lot" when I'm home.

I think I left them at "Breaks" so I popped out but the coffee shop is closed so I walk to  "Red Dot" (equivalent of our Dollar Stores) and was able to purchase a pair for $6 AUD and while I was out I picked up a hat at Target (yes it is our Target) making it back to the hotel in time for the 5p happy hour.

Tonight we dine at Hans -- a very good Asian restaurant on the waterfront.   Excellent choice.

Thanks for Reading,

Pat