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Since we had to bring
our trusted Cruiser for some new tyres and a little servicing to Perth, we took
this opportunity to revisit some of our favourite spots along with discovering
some new ones. One of the favourites of all Perth citizens is certainly
Freemantle, or as it is called by the locals "Freo". Freemantle is still the
most important harbour of Western Australia. Around the round house precinct a
township, whaling station and a prison were established to look after the first
european settlers as well as the convicts brought here from England. Around
this precinct in later years a beautiful township sprang up. Freemantle
features some absolutely stunning old houses from around 1900. A lot of
different restaurants along the "Cappucino Strip" help to look after your
personal well being and are very much a part of the Freemantle
lifestyle.
Half an hour by ferry from Freemantle is Rottnest Island
located. Probably West Australias most visited Holliday Island. It is inhabited
by Quokka's, a very friendly marsupial, about the size of a large rabbit. Early
dutch explorers took these Quokka's as being rats. Therefore they named the
island "Rotennest" which means rats nest. From there it is only a short stretch
to Rottnest. The island roughly measures 12km by 4km and can be discovered by
walking, cycling or with the Bayseeker Bus. The island boasts a lot of
beautiful beaches together with a rich history. It was used in the second world
war to defend Perth against enemy attacks. Therefore 2 gun batteries were
installed and a signaling post to look out for enemy ships or plains. One such
gun station can be visited on Mt. Oliver as well as 2 Lighthouses that still
are in use.
A new addition to the Perth city skyline is the Swan Bells
at the city harbour. It was one of the Millenium projects of Perth. It houses
18 church bells, some originally from the St. Martin in the Fields church at
Trafalger Square in London. These bells were for the first time cast in the
14th century. They are now housed in a magnificient glass tower overlooking the
city skyline and the harbour. The accoustics of this building allow to be
adjusted such that the bells can only be heared inside or that the sound can be
heared throughout the city.
From Perth we then started to head out into
the outback again. Our way lead us through some more remote areas with new
species of wildflowers, and a lot of already known ones. From Paynes Find
towards Sandstone, we encountered lots of Emu's traversing the road just in
front of the car, or at times even running ahead at speeds of up to 50 km/h.
Usually the moment of surprise was on their side, so that we couldn't manage to
take a picture of them. Luckily we managed to avoid hitting one. We just
arrived in Sandstone late in the afternoon. Obviously we had to revisit London
Bridge and take the odd sunset picture. The next day we drove along some more
gravelroads towards Wiluna from where we intended to start our trip onto the
Gunbarrel Highway. |
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