I stayed in Perth much longer than expected. I will post about that more later.
Thanks to the generosity of my London host’s brother, I was able to off load some stuff at rather snazzy apartment in West Perth. That involved an interesting chat about the events in Albany to commemorate the departure of the ANZAC force to WWI. I look forward to hearing more about that event. I suspect that my opinion of the our Prime Minister will not improve.
Down the River
The bike trail took me down the Swan River. There is a large development being built between the Perth CBD and the river. Hopefully this will bring the two together. It seems that Perth as city, has not taken advantage of the Swan River at all.
The path took me past the University of Western Australia in Crawley (I always thought it was in Nedlands). This is a nice part of the world.
Onto the Bike Path
The route then took me on the bike path that runs parallel to the train to Fremantle. This line is very popular, which is a bit of an achievement in a such a car dependent city such as Perth.
Unfortunately the path does not go all the way to Fremantle and you a thrown onto the road. I was ‘tooted’ at 5 times leading into Perth. I am certain these were not ‘toots’ of the encouragement. There is a sizable bogan element in WA.
Chatting at Little Creatures
I stopped off at the Little Creature Brewery for a beer and a meal. It was quite a happening place for a Wednesday night.
I had a chat will an American woman who is “now a FreeO”. She told me that she has some friends form Colorado who are planning to ride a tandem across the Nullarbor to Perth. I suspect that they will be heading into the wind.
I also had a chat will a bloke who told me that he was a teacher in Broome in the mid 70’s. He had a lot to say. The person looking after my stuff in Perth should to speak to this bloke in the context of the museum upgrade being planned for Broome. He had some “wild west’ stories.
Remembering the Coupe
There is a VW Combie Utility outside one of the Little Creatures buildings. It is a bit older than a model I owned from 1979 to 1984. I bought it off my Dad for $10, and used to joke that I paid $9 too much.
Friends nick named it the coupe – in reference to sports cars, which it was clearly not. There are lots of stories about the ‘coupe’ that I will post one day. One involves being pulled up on the Yarra Glen Freeway in Canberra the night before I was to leave of a Foreign Affair trip to India. The Policeman was totally confused to say the least.
Back in the Tent
It was dark by the time I got to the camping ground at South Beach.
Fremantle Goal
I decided to stay an extra day in Fremantle to check out the Gaol. It is an interesting place. As the guide explained, its history has two parts – one as a convict prison up until the 1870’s and the second as a ‘modern’ prison up until 1991.
It is difficult to believe that that it was still in operation up until 1991. That is a true indictment of the State Governments since WWII, if not before.
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