FEBRUARY 4, 2009 - FREMANTLE

FEBRUARY 4, 2009 - 27/105 - FREMANTLE (DAY 2)

This morning we sleep in a bit, fix breakfast and walk over to Shed C on Victoria Quay where we catch the11:15 ferry to Perth.

It is pleasant a morning for a boat ride with a cooling breeze and lots of sun. The ferry travels about 15 miles up the Swan River to a dock in downtown Perth. The river is gorgeous with lots of pleasure boats moored along the way at the many marinas. Of course, overlooking the river are many spectacular homes. There are obviously many wealthy people in Western Australia. The ride takes an hour and a half and the staff offers a wine tasting as a way to pass the time.
As I said, the dock is in the center of Perth so it is easy to walk to some of the sites during the short time we have. Perth is very clean, very modern and has a great park system. We pass the Swan Bells Tower, an impressive glass structure that chimes the hours as we leave the dock area and head to the Supreme Court Gardens. It is the lunch hour and lots of people are eating under the trees. We pass the pretty St Georges Anglican Church and the Town Hall and turn down the pedestrian shopping street to check out some of the jewelry stores for opals. Off the main shopping area there is an arcade shopping street heading back toward the docks so we walk down this delightful little street and I duck into an antique store in which I could have spent the day! The owner was very easy to visit with...she travels all over the world to find her stuff and has a very good eye!
Time has flown by and we head back to the dock and our return trip. The wind has really kicked up again and the river is 3km wide near Perth so there are really white caps on the seas as we head down river. In Fremantle the tide is coming in with a vengeance and with the wind at 35 knots (minimal gale force) the captain has trouble getting the ferry tied off.

Back at the condo we get things ready for our early flight to Darwin in the morning. We have a cocktail, watch the sun set from the deck, have dinner and call it a night.
Off to the Northern Territory, our forth state in Australia.