Perth through the days, #4: final days

Our second last day was a varied one. When we woke, at the usual early time, it was cloudy and somewhat cooler. And some wind. So it felt a bit better than the hot weather we had been experiencing. But we both felt quite lazy. I had a post-breakfast nap, and Darlene slept a bit later in the morning. For me, it was a time for re-grouping since, after all, we were/are still time-shifted. We let it go. Our plan had been to make two local outings this day, but in the end only accomplished one (albeit a very nice one). We took the free bus to Kings Park, at the western edge of the CBD, and got off to walk the avenue with the Red Gum trees along it. It is magical: you want to reach out and stroke these trees, and when you do, you realize they have a tough covering which is not exactly a bark, but is so smooth as to be quite sensual. We walked over to look again at the view of Perth from the Park, then descended the slope a bit to visit the Aboriginal Art Gallery.


I found it very interesting, Darlene less so. Of course, with unerring skill, the piece I really liked was the most expensive in the entire gallery. Such is life. But I had no desire to spend that kind of money to get it home.

Further along, through the Botanical Garden part of the park, we (by which, I mean "I") were caught by the sight of a baobab tree. Here in Australia? Apparently, yes.


They grow in the north-west of the country, are native there and called "Boab" trees. They had a few very young specimens, and one relatively young (750 years old - they can live for a few thousand years), which had apparently been transplanted about six years ago when it was in the way of a new highway up north. I said my hello's to the gods of the baobab, and wished it well. It had sustained some damage in transit, but was doing well enough to heal itself at present. So it may live into middle age, in another 400-500 years!

But we heard some music as well. We had seen the signs for a concert, on entry to the Park. And the music we were hearing was intriguing. A blend of almost reggae, plus something more native in nature. We wound our was through the various gardens and found the venue, an open-air bandshell, with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) practising sound checks and various pieces. The headline artist, known as Gurrumul, is aboriginal from the Queensland area on the north of the country, and has a very large following in the area. We had heard him practice before we got there, but he was nowhere to be seen when we got there. Unfortunately, fo uis, what was to be seen was a security guard, who politely got us to leave the area.

We took this as a sign, found our way to a cafe and had some lunch, then headed home. Darlene had promised herself a swim in the apartment's pool, and she actually braved the cold water of the pool to get in and do several laps.

And so went that day. A sleep, some packing, and we were off to the train on Sunday morning, beginning our journey across the Nullarbor to Adelaide.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Perth, Australia