33. Down Under at last!

The last day at sea brought about a sea change. The wind became very strong, the swell rose and the temperature plummeted from 28C down to 16C. People were wrapped up against the chill and the swimming pool transformed into a wave pool. As a final hurrah in the trivia, we tied for first place but then lost the tie break. Oh well, there is always next time.

So today, Tuesday, we berthed in Fremantle and it was time to disembark Emerald Princess. Final goodbyes had been said the night before and we had been allocated a disembarkation time of 9.15. I estimated that by the time we were called to disembark, got through immigration and customs, found our driver and got up to our hotel in Perth it would be at least midday. How wrong I was. Everything went like a dream and we were checking in to the hotel by 10.30.

Thankfully our travel agent had found a hotel that was very central, so we walked the short distance into the pedestrianised centre of the city to get our bearings and for a look around. It's a very modern city with a number of high rise buildings and a number of very familiar store brand names.

Following a much needed lunch, we alighted the free CAT bus to go up to Kings Park, a green heart of the city and larger in area than New York's Central Park. It also affords very picturesque views over the city and the Swan River. Eucalyptus trees abound, as well as many other flora including baobab trees, bottlebrush trees and the Sturt Pea. However, the first sight we saw confirmed that we could be in no other place than Australia as a pair of kookaburras were watching proceedings from the safety of a large gum tree. We also saw a number of very colourful rainbow lorikeets who were not at all shy.

Perth has remained on the cool side today with a maximum of around 22C, but with a very cold breeze. For the first time since May, I have worn a sweater....and in the Australian late spring at that!