Perth

Sunday, 11 May we travelled north through Margaret River on the Bussell Highway.   We bypassed Bussellton and Bunbury, and were on a very busy freeway with lots of traffic and traffic lights.  It was Mother’s Day, so maybe more people were out and about.   Can’t remember the last time we encountered traffic lights – Esperance and Albany had lots of roundabouts to control traffic! We turned east off the highway to Pinjarra to refuel, then we were on the South Western Highway which ran right past the caravan park we had chosen at Armadale.  This is a city about 30kms from Perth centre via the Tonkin Highway, which is undergoing a major upgrade, but it was a fairly easy drive in to the city. Caravan parks closer to Perth do not cater for large vans and vehicles.

Monday morning we drove in to Ascot to organize the car service, then drove to North Freemantle and Cottesloe Beach.    I had wanted to visit  the wharf at Freemantle for fish and chips, but a storm came in so it was a quick dash to a café for lunch at Cottesloe.   Again, this would be a beautiful spot on a hot, sunny day.   As the rain eased we drove south to Freemantle, and passed lots of the beautiful, old stone and brick buildings.    Had the weather been better, we would have spent some time walking around the area.    

The weather was looking much better by Tuesday, so we headed off to the Avon Valley, east of Perth behind the Darling Range.    Our first stop was Toodyay on the Avon River, originally settled in 1831.  A visit to the local bakery provided sweet treats for our lunch stop at the next town on the tourist drive, Northam.

The Avon Descent canoe race, held every August, starts on the Avon R here.    It also has beautiful old buildings, but is a much larger place than Toodyay, and  is the centre for a large wheat growing area. 

Avon River at Toodyay

Old Post Office and Main Street of Toodyay

Northam - start of the Avon Descent

After lunch we headed south on the scenic route to York, also on the Avon River.   What a find!  My new, favourite place with well maintained old buildings, suspension bridge over the river, and  park which provides overnight RV parking with free electricity.   We stopped for a chat to a couple from Victoria who were camped there for the night.   It was 4pm by then, so we travelled south to the wheatbelt town of Beverley.   Gliders fly from here over the Avon Valley and there is an aeronautical museum.

York Town Hall

Church of England, York

Not much further and we arrived at the Brookton Highway which led us through part of  the Perth Hills to the highway just north of the caravan park.  What a wonderful day out!

After leaving the car for a service at Ascot on Wednesday, we caught the bus in to Perth City.   I was hoping to do a cruise to Freemantle and return, but after checking  at the Pier complex realised we would not return in time to collect the car.    There was a hop-on, hop-off tour bus ready to depart, so we decided to spend the day seeing the city sights this way.    We chose to stop at the Perth Mint first  and was in time to do a 1 hour tour there.  Unfortunately no photos allowed inside, but the displays were very good, including the $1 million gold coin, weighing 1 tonne.   It is now worth over $50 million - all owned by the WA Govt.  

Perth Mint

Avenue lined with Lemon Scented Gums

Perth CBD

Silver Princess Eucalypt

Another variety of bottlebrush

A species of cat's paw (I assume)

Our last couple of days in Perth has been for housekeeping and maintenance of the van and car, washing and restocking the pantry.   We are due at Cape Range National Park, near Exmouth, on 17^th June so need to plan an itinerary for the next 4 weeks.   We will decide in the morning whether we turn left or right as we exit the caravan park.