Perth ........................in the rain

We really liked Perth finding it a clean town that married its history with its future really well. It is undergoing a boom as the mining industry expands in Western Australia by leaps and bounds. Buildings were varied, both ancient and modern. It was easy to walk around and is situated on the coast with lots of great views. This Bell Tower has a St Martin's in the Fields Carrillon and was a gift from the Brits. It is beautifully set at the harbour and chimes away throughout the day.

As well I loved the tree top walkways developed to protect the environment as well as to provide interesting views from a height. Great to see the birds and leaves and blossom and fruit so close up and such a great idea. There is a very well used one in King Park which we walked.

Further down the coast we also enjoyed Fremantle or Fremo to the locals (they shorten everything here) where we visited the famous prison which only closed in 1992 and the conditions there were really awful. It closed for hygiene reasons....they still had no running water in the goal at that time and a riot was caused when the inmates threw the boiling water, being brought in by the guards, over them. Hence the closure.

Also spent time with a nephew, Kevin Vanderplank and his children. He lectures in International Finance at Edith Cowan University. They seem quite avant guard there and have no rigid hangups about courses e.g One of his sons, Graham, is doing a degree in Gaming!!! He is a computer whizz and is developing all sorts of programmes and software and thinks its great to be able to do a degree while enjoying himself at the same time!