Day 40 Fremantle and Perth

Our ship arrived at the port city of Fremantle this morning and we were off it as soon as possible. We caught a train to a beach about half way between Fremantle and Perth. It was a nice beach which had a surprising amount of activity for a work day. The beach was wide, long and very clean. The city provided a public facility where you could change and shower after being on the beach. This was a nice accommodation. After a short swim in the Indian Ocean we were back to the train on our way to Perth. Perth is located on the Swan River which empties into the ocean at Fremantle. It looks to be a nice city but any verdict we might render would not be fair due to the short period of time we spent there. We immediately walked across the city and caught a ferry to the other side of the river for lunch. We hopped back on the same ferry about a hour and a half later to go back to the other side to catch a ferry that would take us down the Swan River to Fremantle and our ship. This was a nice trip since we could see what this area is about which is life around the river. Of course they have the obligatory "millionaires row" of homes that sit right on the river and enjoy views of the surrounding area. That ferry deposited us about half mile from our ship in Fremantle and we did some strolling around in the city before making our way back to the ship.
This area of Australia has a lot to recommend it. The weather was great, nice and sunny and hot. I am sure it gets quite hot here as there were public warnings posted in some places such as the train. It was not humid and all of the indoor areas we visited which were only a few were air conditioned.
We wanted to send a special message to Carl, Chris' brother, who will have surgery tomorrow. Carl , all the best and we are thinking of you and praying for you and Kay.
Tomorrow Geraldton.

Chris - "Let the Sun Shine" The Perth area is considered to be the sunniest place on earth. They have sun 300 days a year on average and average 8 hours of sun a day. They also have some of the best beaches in Australia, so it seemed the smart thing was to go to the beach! Paul mentioned swimming...my ankles swam, as Paul's whole body swam. The water was cold!!!! Well, cold for how much sun they get. The beach we went to reminded you of a typical Mediterranean beach. It was beautiful with a pretty public facilities building. Again, the sand was very fine and soft. We then went to Perth and as Paul said we did the speed walking tour of the middle of the city. Perth has pedestrian malls and arcades like the other cities in Australia we visited. From the VERY LITTLE we saw I'd say that the malls in Perth were not as pretty as the other cities. There didn't appear to be as many trees throughout the pedestrian area and we didn't see any bronze sculptures or art, as in Adelaide. We only saw a small area so maybe the beauty was in another area of the mall. The city I saw had a mix of what appeared to be 50's style buildings mixed in with some skyscrapers. It could be called the city of cranes for all the construction we saw. What the city appeared to lack in charm in their shopping area they made up for in green park space and the beautiful Swan River. Parks surround the city and they had a botanical gardens we didn't get to. The Swan River area was very pretty and the 75 minute cruise to Fremantle was relaxing and beautiful. The Swan River is very broad and dotted with beautiful homes and harbors. Most of the boats we saw in the harbors were sailboats. Fremantle was redesigned in the 1980's to accommodate the America's Cup that was held there. The wharf area was built to look like a wharf in the early 1900's. It looks somewhat like fisherman's wharf, but not the commercialism. Those buildings are mixed in with a quaint, small town type of downtown. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful way to spend most of it....on the water!

I Love You, Carl and are praying for you!