Brilliant blue skies this morning and temperatures of around 26C are forecast as we set off to the centre of Perth for breakfast and a wander around. The Coffee Club was selected by the LLW as the preferred venue for breakfast and excellent it was too. Flat whites, poached eggs on toast for Ray and toasted banana bread for the LLW.
There was then a heated debate about the mode of transport to Fremantle and Ray narrowly lost a vote of no confidence and the LLW decided upon the ferry (or to be more correct Captain Cook Cruises). We walked down from Murray Street Mall to Elizabeth Quay and Barrack Road Jetty where Captain Cook was almost ready to leave.
The recently deposed expedition leader put on a brave face and grudgingly admitted that the choice of the maritime route was an inspired one. We were greeted with wonderful views of the Perth skyline , the Swan river, numerous yacht harbours and mega mansion after mega mansion, many of which were in the £20M+ category.
We had a good running commentary from Captain Cook himself and there was one interesting anecdote about how one very rich person had been refused planning permission to build upon a particular plant of land, but was advised by a clever lawyer that if he sought planning permission for a yacht club, that would be approved. This proved to be the case, a yacht club with the world's smallest membership (2) was created, membership was then declared full and the lawyer was royally rewarded. The LLW thought about this new career opportunity for a while but decided it was too much off piste and that she would stick to advising forestry and infrastructure fund managers!!
We arrived in Fremantle and close to where Captain Cook docked, was a stop for one of the local bus services called Cats and differentiated by colour. One of the delights of these services is that they are FoC to all and indeed every bus is FoC if the journey ends in the central business district of Perth or Fremantle. The Blue Cat arrived very soon and we were taken on a circular tour of Fremantle.
We disembarked from the Blue Cat at Esplanade Park near the fishing harbour, part of which was surrounded by restaurants. Both the LLW and Ray declared that they were not particularly hungry
(the amount of food provided by Emirates would probably last a family a whole week) so an unusual lunch of cakes and bottled water was ordered at Kailis's and the offerings of lobster, crab and other such seafood ignored. Now we realise that our loyal reader will feel very concerned about our mental health - have the Jacksons gone stark raving mad (to quote Tony Hancock) but no let me reassure you that this is a very temporary blip and normal service will be resumed soon.
The next stop on the agenda is Cottesloe beach where Ray is threatening to go swimming with Great White Sharks! Some poetic licence there but in any case the waves at Cottesloe where far too big for any shark but of no concern to a Geordie. Believe it or not, that is me in the distance attempting a wave whilst narrowly avoiding drowning. It was certainly exciting swimming and after 15 mins of being battered by the waves of the Indian Ocean, I was exhausted.
Back then to Cottesloe station for the train back to Perth and in no time at all we were walking out of Perth's central railway station. Ray had been scanning the restaurant guides and discovered that a small Thai restaurant (Wok & Ladle) was rated no 3 of all restaurants in Perth. Given that it was on our way back to the hotel, this seemed an obvious choice. We passed St Mary's Cathedral on the way and were soon seated at the chosen restaurant
There was then a heated debate about the mode of transport to Fremantle and Ray narrowly lost a vote of no confidence and the LLW decided upon the ferry (or to be more correct Captain Cook Cruises). We walked down from Murray Street Mall to Elizabeth Quay and Barrack Road Jetty where Captain Cook was almost ready to leave.
The recently deposed expedition leader put on a brave face and grudgingly admitted that the choice of the maritime route was an inspired one. We were greeted with wonderful views of the Perth skyline , the Swan river, numerous yacht harbours and mega mansion after mega mansion, many of which were in the £20M+ category.
We had a good running commentary from Captain Cook himself and there was one interesting anecdote about how one very rich person had been refused planning permission to build upon a particular plant of land, but was advised by a clever lawyer that if he sought planning permission for a yacht club, that would be approved. This proved to be the case, a yacht club with the world's smallest membership (2) was created, membership was then declared full and the lawyer was royally rewarded. The LLW thought about this new career opportunity for a while but decided it was too much off piste and that she would stick to advising forestry and infrastructure fund managers!!
We arrived in Fremantle and close to where Captain Cook docked, was a stop for one of the local bus services called Cats and differentiated by colour. One of the delights of these services is that they are FoC to all and indeed every bus is FoC if the journey ends in the central business district of Perth or Fremantle. The Blue Cat arrived very soon and we were taken on a circular tour of Fremantle.
We disembarked from the Blue Cat at Esplanade Park near the fishing harbour, part of which was surrounded by restaurants. Both the LLW and Ray declared that they were not particularly hungry
(the amount of food provided by Emirates would probably last a family a whole week) so an unusual lunch of cakes and bottled water was ordered at Kailis's and the offerings of lobster, crab and other such seafood ignored. Now we realise that our loyal reader will feel very concerned about our mental health - have the Jacksons gone stark raving mad (to quote Tony Hancock) but no let me reassure you that this is a very temporary blip and normal service will be resumed soon.
Fremantle is an attractive small town with a nautical history now with a major trade in containers and several container ships were docked into main harbour waiting to be unloaded. One such enormous container ship was stacked with containers from all parts of Europe. After our unusual lunch we walked back through the town and the shopping district to the train station.
On our way to the station, several of the trees shown below were encountered. The LLW was unable to identify these specimens and Ray, after his demotion earlier in the day, was keen to retaliate and suggested that a vote of no confidence in the chair of SAGE should be called. Sadly he had to back off rather quickly since it was apparent that there was only one SAGE member present and available to vote!
The next stop on the agenda is Cottesloe beach where Ray is threatening to go swimming with Great White Sharks! Some poetic licence there but in any case the waves at Cottesloe where far too big for any shark but of no concern to a Geordie. Believe it or not, that is me in the distance attempting a wave whilst narrowly avoiding drowning. It was certainly exciting swimming and after 15 mins of being battered by the waves of the Indian Ocean, I was exhausted.
Back then to Cottesloe station for the train back to Perth and in no time at all we were walking out of Perth's central railway station. Ray had been scanning the restaurant guides and discovered that a small Thai restaurant (Wok & Ladle) was rated no 3 of all restaurants in Perth. Given that it was on our way back to the hotel, this seemed an obvious choice. We passed St Mary's Cathedral on the way and were soon seated at the chosen restaurant
Well all we can say is wow! We were treated to a fabulous meal in this simple little restaurant with very friendly staff (perhaps some rather too noisy fellow diners) and at the princely sum of £26 for 2! The food really was top class and it was one of the best meals we have had for quite a while.
Back at the hotel now and the LLW is dealing with her men for a short while. We will soon retire for an early night for two reasons: 1, we have a very busy and energetic itinerary tomorrow with our cycling visit on Rottnest Island and 2, jet lag is beginning to hit us!
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