Perth

Driving the 810km from Leonora in the same day, we arrived in Perth just as night fell and had no trouble negotiating the tail end of peak hour traffic to find Marian's (Rod's daughter) place.

...even more remarkable...we only had one minor altercation over navigation !

The nerds had arrived just in time...the day before Marian's computer had spat the dummy and the monitor had also stopped working.

Eager to get her system up and running again, Marian promptly purchased a new monitor and Rod set to work ...it took two and a half days...the hard drives had to be reformatted and all the software painstakingly reinstalled.

...the legacy of the 'msbatch.exe' worm virus downloaded with email from the Internet.

Nerd fix accomplished...it was then time for some sightseeing of Perth and Fremantle..and to complete the shopping list of 'when we reach civilisation' chores, which included:

• 50,000km service for the Prado;
• Warranty work on the caravan pop top struts and bearing repack;
• Replacement zip on nylon outdoor shower cubicle;
• Metal detector repairs; and
• Camera service and CCD clean (whatever that is) for Rod's digital.

We commenced our sightseeing with a visit to Freemantle and, as it was Saturday, the weekend markets.

Several hours were spent browsing the markets and walking the pavements of Freemantle's CBD, admiring its colonial architecture and beautifully restored buildings.
...they certainly don't put the same effort and pride into constructing today's commercial buildings !

* Rod's daughter Marian and her boyfriend Jeremy

Before leaving Freemantle, we visited the Maritime Museum and viewed a replica of the pewter plate inscribed by the early Dutch explorer, Dirck Hartog. We also found an inspection of the restored section of the raised hull of the Dutch East India company sailing ship, The Batavia, quite fascinating.

* Dirck Hartog

Traveling an eastward route from Amsterdam around the Cape of Good Hope to Java, Hartog sighted and explored the Western Australian coastline. He landed (October 1616) and spent three days exploring a desolate offshore island that he named for himself. To mark his landing, he left a flattened pewter plate, inscribed with the details of the visit, nailed on a post on the northern end of the island, now called Cape Inscription. In 1696 another Dutch explorer, Willem de Vlamingh, landed on Dirk Hartogs Island, found Dirck's plate, replaced it with a newly inscribed dish, and sent the original to Amsterdam, where it can now be seen in the Rijksmuseum.

Until the 19th century the coast of Australia parallel to Dirk Hartogs Island was called Eendrachtsland, in honour of the explorer's ship, Eendracht.

* The Batavia

The loss in 1629 of the pride of the Dutch East India company's fleet, Francisco Pelsaert's Batavia, with its bloody sequel of mutiny and reprisal, was the first of several shipwrecks along the Western Australian coastline.

(* Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)

Then it was off to Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, one of Western Australia's most popular tourist attractions.

The Park offered commanding views over the City of Perth and its new Tree Top Walk, opened to the public for the very first time, provided great views of the Swan River and the old Swan Brewery.

Anita admiring the view over the Botanic Gardens and the Swan River from the dizzy heights of the new Tree Top walk in Kings Park...opened to the public for the first time that day.

Perth by night...viewed from Kings Park

Before leaving Perth we caught up with my friend Christine, whom I had not seen for almost twenty years.

The afternoon passed too quickly as we updated each other with the ebbs and flows of our lives over the last two decades and I left, wondering when we would again catch up.

...It's a pity we live so far away from each other.

Anita's friend Christine and her husband Xavier next to some fabulous pottery made by Xavier