6th Nov

We headed away to Hong Kong on the 6th Nov and left the Caravan on the front lawn of our Nephews place in Floriat,rather than at the Caravan Park.

We flew overnight and arrived in Hong Kong the next morning. A good flight and we managed to get a bit of sleep on the way.
Grant and Saori are in a different apartment now so we were keen to see it. Its on the 77th floor of the Sorento in Kowloon. A different view from the last apartment. This one looks down the harbour towards Lantau Island and Disneyland, if you can see it in the murk that comes over from China. What difference will Julia's Carbon Tax make to this mess!!

This was the view out of the bedroom window looking down onto the Typhoon shelter for the boats on a slightly clearer day.
Looking back the other way towards the new ICC centre,all 150 levels of it.

We had a drink in the bar on the 118th floor the night before we left. Its the square bit on the side of the building 2/3rds of the way up.

 The photo was taken through the window at night so not very clear, but the cluster of buildings on the left of the photo are the buildings where we were staying, all 80 levels of it. Gives you an idea of how high the ICC building is.
We did a trip to Disneyland Hong Kong as we hadnt done this since it had been built. A nice day out with Grant and Saya. Saori being pregnant gave it a miss.

A selection of photos, the last one is the Lion King. It was a bit strange as it was all in Chinese.

 Grandad doing his thing with Saya at the end of the day at the Grand parade.

 The end of a long day and on our way home.

While we were up there Grant took me on a tour of the Simulators at Cathay City.

The latest was the new 747-800F for the new 800 series Jumbo freighter.

And a 777 300ER simulator.

I couldnt resist the temptation of sitting in the Old 747 Classic simulator as they are not used much nowdays as there are very few of them left flying.

 This is the Flight Engineers panel,all done by computer in the new ones. Compare these photos of the cockpit  with the new one above to see the advances made in flight controls and monitoring.

They dont make them like they used to,look at all those round gauges and switches and the ancient old First Officer. He should have been pensioned off years ago!!
From here we flew home to continue on our Journey South to the Margaret River region.
Cheers Dave and Helen

 

 

31st Oct

Back in Freemantle there was one thing left to do, and that was a visit to the Freemantle jail.
We were told it was An interesting place with lots of history.

  

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 The imposing entrance through which a lot of prisoners marched in ,but some didn't march out of, was built in 1855. The clock was fitted later in 1856 as it wasn't made in time (pun?)

                                              This is the inner gate into the Prison proper.

                                A bit of potted history about the building. Click on it to enlarge.

 Inside the Courtyard with the Chapel on the right and one of the Cell blocks behind it.

The Chapel is interesting, as the top window on the right,when you get the light in the right place has an outline of a Woman in it. Now the last Woman to be hanged there bears a striking likeness to the image in the window. A bit spooky!! You cant see the impression from the inside.

 This is inside one of the Cell blocks,three levels of it. I bet it was noisy at times. The Mesh was put in after a Prisoner did a Swan dive from the top Balcony and killed himself.

                          This is one of the exercise yards with the Guards box at the end looking down.

                           One of the old cells with a Hammock and washbasin but not much else.These         were later updated to make them a bit more comfortable.

 The notice tells you about the paintings on the wall of this cell and a few others were painted as well. One was painted by an Aboriginal in the traditional way and was quite colourful. Apparently they were allowed to paint the cells only when the Prison was about to close,otherwise it would have been classed as damaging public property.

Our guide for the tour was a guy named Deans,who gave a very witty and informative talk on all aspects of Prison life and the History of the place. He was an ex Prison Supervisor so new his stuff. The frame behind him was used for the administration of the Cat o nine tails. The prisoners were strapped to the frame and whipped!! Not a great place to have a holiday in the old days.

This area is the end of the line for some who didn't walk out of the place. You could either sit or stand 

                Enough of the Prison, next we are off to Hong Kong to see family up there.
Cheers
Helen and Dave

29th October

Today we decided to head for the hills behind Perth and have a look at Kalamunda. We were not sure what to expect but unfortunately a lot of the attractions were closed. Being Monday and just after the weekend everyone was having the day off.
Not to worry the main attraction was open,the Motor Museum. I don't think Helen was as enthusiastic as I was but came in anyway.
A good variety of cars and Motorbikes some rare and some just old.

The top photo is the Leyland Force 7V I don't think many were made.

 A view looking down the main street looking back towards the motor Museum.

                       There is also a working railway but was not going when we were there.

30th October

The Next day we did the trip to Rottnest Island. We decided to go on a Tuesday as it was half price day. What better reason as it would have cost $72.00 each on a normal day. Pretty damn expensive.

 The Jetty at Rottnest

               One of the Local Quokkas very friendly and not scared of the Tourists.

                      Looking out over the beach from one of the roads on the Island.

The road along the Beach front with all the Holiday Accommodation on the left.

We did the Bus tour around the Island as it was going to cost us $60.00 for 2 bikes so we declined and did it  the lazy way, and left it to all the young ones to pedal around.

                                      The Local upmarket accommodation and Restaurant.

Some photos to give you an idea of what the Island Coast line looks like. Very spectacular, but to us very similar to what we had experienced all the way down the West Coast.
And then it was on the way home.

                                                    On the Rottnest Ferry to Freemantle.

Next time more of Freemantle.
Cheers Helen and David

25th October

After leaving Cervantes, on the way to Perth, we came across these Sand hills that, from a distance looked like Snowy mountains.

We had to stop and take some photos, even though the wind was blowing a Gale and you could see the Sand whipping off the top of the Dunes. We had only been on the road 30 min and we were sick of the Wind already. It doesn't do much for the fuel economy either.
After a Windy and slow trip, we finally hove into Perth on the Mitchell Freeway, going through the middle of Perth on our way to Freemantle. Notice the little Red Fiat  Convertible that had just passed us!

 The Perth Skyline from the Car coming in on the Mitchell freeway. We managed to find the Caravan park in Freemantle as the GPS didn't put us wrong, so we set up Camp and relaxed.

Quite a nice spot,not far from the Free bus into Freemantle and right on the Beach. Notice the Bikes are off the Caravan and yes they are being used as there are Bike tracks all along the Beach.

                                                             An interested bystander.

The last time I used the Bike this much was in Darwin. Amazingly everything still worked,
on the bike as well!! A couple of fit looking travellers!!
We got in contact with Scott and Nancy, Helen's Nephew and Wife,who we hadn't seen for about 13 years.
We were invited for Tea on the Sunday and to have a look at the new house being built.

                         The Mansion all 8000sq ft of it, right on the water at City Beach

                             The view from the upstairs Lounge looking over the Indian Ocean

  The Lord of the Manor with his favorite Auntie. We hadn't seen Scott for about 13 years.

                                     Some of the wiring, Data cables,TV connections etc etc!

The meal was a nice family affair with Nancy's parents there, as well as friends of Scott and Nancy's.

                           The happy family with Scott, Brianna, Cameron and Nancy.

           Brianna and Cameron did some baking for us, a nice sponge and some great cupcakes.

We did a trip into freemantle on the Free Bus and had a look around and a cup of Coffee and shared a massive steak Sandwich and Chips.

Not sure if we are waiting for the food or are getting over the big helping. We look happy anyway fiddling with the camera phone..

           Looking down the street from the restaurant. They have some nice Malls in Freemantle.

                                  A very European looking Mall off  Hall Street

                                             You could be anywhere in Germany I think.
Well there we are for another chapter in the Blog. We are off to Hong Kong to see Grant and Family next Tuesday, for a week, so there may be a gap before the next installment.
Cheers
Dave and Helen