Day 60 – Day 66– Mekering – Perth 2nd June - 7th June

We had a quick visit to the remnants on a farmhouse at Mekering before taking the drive to Perth. There, we stayed with old friends: Allan, Vickie and their daughter Jess for a few days.

Farmhouse remains in Merkering

We wandered around the city of Perth to begin with having Yum Cha in Northbridge. After a slow start on the Dim Sim's a late flourish in orderings meant that we all left full and satisfied – Allan happy his pork buns had arrived. 

Perth

We visited the Perth Museum -– well half of it as part of the building has been condemned. A pleasant surprise was its ACDC exhibition, a terrific exhibit with lots of info and great music played very loudly. We rushed through Perth Art Gallery but had time to look at the excellent art display by students.

Perth Museum

Ben at ACDC exhibit

For some reason we seem to visit a lot of prisons as we travelled around Australia. It mush be a residual of Australia's strong convict heritage. Perth was no exception and we visited Fremantle Prison which had remained a working prison until the 1970's. An informative and entertaining guide took us through the prison, talking about the conditions, riots and through some of the ghoulish parts where inmates had sadly met their end in the gallows.

We were fortunate that Fremantle markets were also open that day and we had a look at the excellent fresh produce and coffee sold there. Lunch was at Cicirello's, a fish 'n' chips institution that makes reasonable produce even though it is very busy and caters for what seems 1000's of patrons at a time. While walking around the wharves we were luck to see 3 or 4 dolphins playing in the water nearby.

The next day we took a day trip to visit Toodyay for breakfast at another institution – the Cola Cafe. This was followed by a walk around the pretty old town of York, where Vickie had packed sandwiches for everyone. We all walked across a small suspension bridge that traversed the river.

Each evening we were fortunate to have a feast, courtesy of the marvellous cook, Vickie, conjuring up mountains of food and desert.

Vickie, Jesse & Jasmine preparing desert

A trip through Barracks Street Jetty and Kings Park finished our time in Perth. The weather had continued to be beautifully warm, the tent had dried out and the tropical roof repaired - now the next leg of our journey northwards was to begin.

DNA Tower at Kings Park

Allan & Jessie