Family and Friends of Perth you are welcome to visit in Hervey Bay
Tis our last look at Perth today and we stopping in a lovely hotel (Indian Ocean) rates were fair and staff were great.Annie started off by getting us into the wrong room !! Desk staff had a good laugh but decided to let us stay !! Scarborough is a lovely beach area popular with surfers and skate boarders.We had hamburgers from an aptly named Hamburger Hill and were the best Ive ever tasted ! (cheap too) With it being off season the area was quiet and also a pub named the Stamford Arms used to a regular haunt for me.The hotel is situated behind the now derelict White Sands Pub (due for massive re development) and my youngest daughter sang there with her Punk Rock band.So we say farewell to all our families and friends we have met over the past 30 yrs with reminder IF you are in the area of URANGAN Hervey Bay come and stop over with us,address supplied on request.Presently we are in limbo waiting for settlement money to come thru from Perth (PS don’t take the red eye flight ,it buggers you up !!) Farewell Perth HELLO Hervey Bay (just like migrating all over again !) I have misplaced my last pics of Perth !!
Mandurah Western Australia
Twas a great feeling travelling on the new Perth to Mandurah train line,after 45 mins we arrived in the now very busy town of Mandurah.When we first came to Australia in 1982 we would go to this place and catch mud crabs and the population was very low,lots of shacks for seasonal fishermen were the order of the day and little tinnies (boats) were aplenty on this then barren land in the hope large feeds of crabs would be caught.Sadly tourism has now caught up in this once sleepy fishing village and the place has been built up immensley to include great shopping centres and hotels.I feel crabbing is no longer the mainstay recreational outing it once was !! Some of these pictures taken on the train travelling from Midlan toPerth to Mandurah approx 100 kms each way Next blog the last days in Perth before catching the Red Eye to Hervey Bay
Filling in till we go back on the road
While Im waiting to get back on the road I managed to get some great quality time in with my daughter and grandson.It goes without saying I will miss them greatly.Will is mt only grand child in Australia (3 more in UK) and its great chatting to him on SKYPE (which hopefully will feature a lot when we complete the migration to Hervey Bay) Me and Annie have sent him little bits plus cards on our way around Oz and we get occasional drawings from him .This year he made me a grandad cup and spoon (with just a tiny bit of help from his mum!! and that will have place of pride in our new home )
Countdown begins Furniture gone and a great day out in Kalamunda
Events are starting to step up a pace now ,we have 5 days left in Perth until we leave for our “new” life in Hervey Bay.Settlement has been brought forward to 28 th Sept from Oct 10th !! Removalist have taken everything (furniture) away today for the trip to Queensland (via rail) I have undergone a full medical (all is well) just need to take stress test on Monday a quick goodbye to all in Perth and away we go.Caversham house is now very empty Blogs will be a little slower and intermittent due to our relocating All will be back on track soon I had a wonderful morning out in Kalamunda (a short drive up the Darling Range from our Caversham home)and we discovered (after 30 yrs in Perth !!) a lovely re constructed village consisting of various food shops/post office/train station complete with train a Blacksmiths shop very much like the one I did my apprenticeship in !! and my favourite building a school !! We stopped at a little out of the way cafe that sells the most delicious cakes and serves coffee in a handle less bowl !! My grandson Will ( who I am going to miss immensely had a great time (so did his mum n Annie !) and of course we had to return via the Zig Zag old train route that was built (now a road) for trains transporting logs from the hill top to transport vehicles on the lowlands
Perth WA home for the past 30 yrs
It only seems like yesterday when we dragged 2 kids half way around the world for new better life.In the beginning things got a little difficult job I started with went bankrupt after a month ! a recession hit Australia and we had a baby on the way !! BUT all changed when I applied for a temporary job with handicapped adults that lasted for nearly 30 years !! Big turning point in my life was buying a cheap house and making a very very good return on it enabling me to retire at 65 !! Getting married late in life and living my dream with the Grey Nomads of Australia and subsequent move to Queensland
Even more Train stuff
The trains at Bassendean had me mesmerized so much here are more train (with a little bus transport from the Perth area thrown in !) I could spend all day pretending to be a train driver/fireman but Ann was getting tired SO here is the final perth train episode (maybe have a few left !!)
Trains,Trains and more Trains
Today we visited the Train museum in Bassendean (birth place of Rolf Harris !!) and the display is awesome The museum is approx 2 kms from my old home in Caversham and 20 kms from Perth CBD I am an avid train fan and will be building a model railway once settled into our new home>Steam has always fascinated me and reminds me of an era gone by that will never come into existence again sadly .My younger brother Brian when a lad travelled all over the North West of England collecting train names and numbers No longer will we see the spectacle of engines like the Flying Scotsman or the ones we caught on a Sunday from Blackpool to Fleetwood in a glorious railway station that was demolished and turned into the rubbishy station it is today ! Because I have taken SO many photo,s my next blog will contain a slide show (just for enthusiasts) of more trains and memorabilia. Some of the carriage interiors are magnificent with their wooden structures,dining rooms,bedroom and a carriage specifically built with approx 6 shower rooms !! Australia is a HUGE country and rail travel was built for comfort taking into consideration the length of time a person could spend on a train travelling from coast to coast If in this area DO pay the museum a visit All associated at the museum are volunteers Entry fees go along way in helping the museum survive
Winding down towards new life in Hervey Bay Qld
Events are starting to step up a pace now ,we have 10 days left in Perth until we leave for our “new” life in Hervey Bay.Settlement has been brought forward to 28 th Sept from Oct 10th !! Removalist take everything away next Friday for the trip to Queensland (via rail) I have undergone a full medical (all is well) just need to take stress test on Monday a quick goodbye to all in Perth and away we go.Because Fremantle has been very instrumental in my West Australian life especially from a work point of view I will add more pics relating to Freo My next blog will hopefully take in the town of Kalamunda & the famous abandoned railroad The Zig Zag Blogs will be alittle slower and intermittent due to our relocating All will be back on track soon
Fremantle my favourite place to visit when working
My job has been very good to me over the years and when on duty I would take my residents to Fremantle in West Australia on outings that included walks along the groynes (stone piers) visits to the world renowned Cicerrello;s fish n chip outlet (in days gone by I used to get FREE Fish n Chips but the store has now become very commercialized over the years and any warm sunny weekends the place is overflowing with people .The area is famous for taking the prestigious Americas Cup (yacht race) away from the USA for the first time in almost 150 yrs !! Fremantle located at the mouth of the Swan River.and serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was settled in 1829 and was declared a city in 1929,boasting a population of approximately 25,000. Fremantle is subject to weather and climate relative to seaside communities – to the point that the regular sea breeze is known as the Fremantle Doctor, as it has a cooling effect to provide relief from the summer heat. The Round House, the oldest remaining intact building in Western Australia, was built as a gaol in 1830 Probably the first building arriving convicts saw !!
Burswood Casino Perth
Perth boasts the biggest Casino in Western Australia .Pokies (One armed Bandits) are illegal in WA EXCEPT for the Casino.I go in the local RSL club in Bellevue (great nights on Fridays starting from 7pm) Altho the club struggles the Eastern States & Northern Territories RSL thrive by virtue they have Pokies (not illegal) and the return from these gambling machines is tremendous enabling the clubs to spend on great facilities like cheap subsidised drinks & meals in the clubs restaurants (members only get the cut price,non members pay more BUT membership is only $12 annually !) The Perth casino is built on reclaimed land that was once the areas rubbish tip !!Apart from the Casino a huge 5 star hotel and sports complex is included (The 18 hole golf course is excellent) and the large sports hall accommodates star attractions like Rod Stewart.Although the machines are illegal in pubs West Australians can gamble thru other outlets including Bookies (Horse racing/sporting bets) and often these agencies can be found inside pubs ! Scratch cards and the lotteries re hugely popular but astonishingly Pokies are illegal !! The mind boggles !! It is noticeable that it is winter in Perth by the showing of clouds in the photo,s (tongue in cheek) The Casino is a good night out with its night clubs,pubs,excellent eateries & first class theatre that attracts big names from all over the world (I saw We Will Rock You show TWICE & have to say that production was better than the London version I saw)
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 