Perth

Alas, our cruise ended yesterday. I say "alas" because we really like cruises. The ship was comfortable, relaxing, and the ports-of-call were all fun. However, we have lots more vacation ahead of us. Our cruise ended in Perth. We elected a shore excursion that included a tour of Fremantle (where we docked) and Perth and that ended by dropping us at our hotel. The tour took us along the sea, where we saw many extraordinary beaches. All along the coast we saw nice park-like areas, picnic spots, walking and biking areas, and beach access. Residents of Perth like their beaches. There is one devoted to spending time with your dog, and that particular beach was very busy. The one below is one of the most popular for those who just enjoy swimming and sunbathing.

On the cruise, we met lots and lots of interesting people. Particularly at meal times, we would engage in conversations with folks from various parts of the UK, Belgium, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and, of course, the US. Here is a couple from Brisbane with whom we played a game of trivia during the cruise. We had lots of fun seeing them after that and visiting with them.

Almost every public area we visited in Australia so far had wild parrots and cockatoos flying about and making noise.

There are lots of nice homes in Perth. This one would be at the high end of those we saw during the tour.

We also visited Kings Park, which is a botanical garden and which has numerous memorials.

There are also great views from the park looking toward the business district of Perth.

After checking into our hotel, we went for a walk along one of the mall areas, which has its share of both cheesy shops and upscale stores.

Almost by accident, we located a restaurant for lunch located on the 33rd floor of one of Perth's office buildings. The restaurant is one of those where the seating area rotates constantly. So, we thoroughly enjoyed a 360º view of the city while having a terrific lunch.

Our hotel can be seen in this view if you want to search for the words Pan Pacific on the side of the building.

A day later (today), we walked all around the city and enjoyed shopping, an art gallery, a museum, and a visit to the Perth Mint. Much of the original economy of Perth centered around mining, especially for gold, and the Perth Mint, which was once the country's primary mint, now gives tours. Although the government's coinage mint has been moved to Canberra, the Perth Mint is still responsible for the refining and handling of gold. The tour was fascinating. We saw a demonstration of gold melted down and poured into a bar, and we saw a one ton coin (really!) which is worth over $55M Australian. There were lots of other displays too, including one about how Herbert Hoover contributed to the establishment, operation, and management of one of Australia's top ten most productive gold mines.

Here is Kathie holding a replica of the largest gold nugget ever found. The top 26 largest gold nuggets ever found were all located in Australia. The real nugget corresponding to this one weighed around 175 pounds.

I'm holding a replica on the largest one still in existence (not melted down as the others have been). This one is number 23 out of 26. It was purchased by the Gold Nugget Casino in Las Vegas and is supposedly on display in their lobby. We'll check that out sometime.

In one part of the museum, you could get on a scale, and it would tell you how much you were worth in today's gold price if you were solid gold. Today, I would be worth $5,516,392.61. Kathie came in at just under $4M, but I have always known she is worth her weight in gold.

Tomorrow we fly to Alice Springs!