Good bye Oz, Hello San Fran

We have completed the marathon travel back to The States. 7 1/2 hrs from Perth to Hong Kong with a 6 hr layover and then 11 hrs to San Francisco. Luckily we were flying business class. Cathay Pacific let's you be fully flat. No turbulence and a good movie selection. Hong Kong airport has an upscale shopping experience, should you want it. Yeah as if I would pay pay 3000 dollars for a scarf.....It did wile away an hour or two.
The weather here is perfect. A sunny, blue sky cloudless day in the 70's. We walked the water front and had seafood outside for lunch.






Yikes they are putting up Xmas decorations. I am not ready to face the holidays.


Tonight we met friends from Michael's past. Tom and Zan, friends from his California days. Michael had not seen Zan in 30 years! We ate at Cafe Pescatore, right next to the Sheraton.


We had eaten here 2 years ago when we met Caroline and her friend Kate and Tom there for dinner. At that time, we had Marlo as a waiter. There is continuity in the world for who was our waiter again but Marlo. What I wanted was not on the menu, but Marlo made it happen; a pasta with herbs, dunginess crab, and white wine butter sauce. A little cracked pepper, chili flakes, and shaved Parmesan cheese, and oh it was sooooo delicious. For dessert, Michael had ice cream with chocolate sauce.


Michael smoked his cheroot while I strolled the waterside taking pictures of the lit up sites I had photographed earlier in the daylight.








And as I went to sleep, images of Oz filled my thoughts.



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Location:Beach St,San Francisco,United States

Last day in Oz

We had an early breakfast and reorganized our belongings to include bottles of wine and some mustard. All breakable, but will hopefully survive the world wide jaunt. Considerable weight has been added to the luggage. We cleaned up our South Perth digs and bid a farewell, mailing Pauline and Andrew the keys. Then we went to the Hotel Windsor, a landmark in South Perth, for lunch.





After lunch it was only fitting that we visit the zoo prior to leaving for the airport. We wanted to see the Australian animals one last time. The park the zoo is in, is lushly planted with native flora.





We saw kangaroos, echidnas, quokkas, wallabies, kangaroos, dingos, and of course the koalas.

The echidna is a strange beast. It lays an egg, despite being a mammal. The egg hatches and this helpless pink thing without a spine nurses at the mum's teat. At this stage it is spineless both without a backbone and without it's prickly spines. At this point, it is known as a puggle. When it's prickers start mum leaves baby underground for 6 days, then restarts nursing......strange indeed. Of course, no pics of this critter. No Numbats either. However wallabies and tree kangaroos showed themselves.


Above is a baby wallaby nursing. Below is the tree kangaroo. He is quite different from his ground counterpart.








So then it was off to the airport and our 7 1/2 hr flight to Hong Kong where we have a 6 hour layover till we board our 11 hour trip to San Francisco.
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Location:Perth, wa

Perth

Friday, Michael wanted to write, so Pauline and I travelled to Guildford, Swann valley area to see some galleries, and wine taste. We stopped by an old mansion now a venue site, in fact a Scottish wedding was underway complete with bagpiper.








Then we went to Taylor studios.


June Taylor does wood cuts and textiles. I coveted the wood block prints and the fabric. I bought a banksia print shirt, ironically in black and white linen. There is a cafe and outside where you sit,are farm tools etc made into art objects.








We went to several wineries and then sat under the grape arbor and had lunch at Sandelford Winery. I was too busy savoring my lunch to take pictures. Pauline dropped me off and we said our last goodbyes.
Saturday, Michael and I drove to Fremantle. We headed for the Esplanade Hotel. Michael's folks had stayed there during the '83 races and I have been hearing about the place for as long as I have known them. Apparently Michael's dad wandered in to try to book a room and the clerk laughed given the races were going on. A man next to Bud leaned over and offered the use of a set of rooms that his business had rented, but were not using. They loved staying there. It is lovely.





We posed for pictures, bought a hat for bud and had a coffee in the park across the street. In one of the trees was a baby some kind of a bird who was trying to learn to fly.


We visited, the maritime museum,





drove around the harbor,


and had lunch at The View. They were having a function there called Beat on the Balcony. The crowd was really young and with 4 girls to each guy. All the girls were dressed up with 2 and 3 inch heels. The acoustic groups were pretty bad. Because of the function our service was terrible. The people watching was good and we were overlooking the harbor on a lovely sunny day. No worries mate!



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Location:Perth

Back to Perth

Leaving yallingup, I stopped at a soap store to get some gifts. There was this great mosaic in front.





Next stop was a gallery, of course with a cafe and terrace.











Then it was a last look at the coast. We went back to the big surfing beach known as The Washing Machine. This time it was overcast, but still lovely. A bit more surf, but the giants we had heard the area had. I am not sure this would be the spot for me as there is quite a reef system coming into the beach. We drove around the hillside neighborhoods which were all sorts and thought briefly, if we needed a better climate to live, the area was appealing.





Then we turned the car around and headed for Perth, about a 2 and 1/2 hr drive. We beat Pauline and her kids by about 15 minutes and we picked up Thai food and had a big feast. Pauline and I dropped the kids off at their school and walked along a soft sand beach under nearly full moon. About 5 degrees warmer and I would have gone for a swim.
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Location:Perth

Yallingup

For our last night on the road we went upscale, a splurge found on the web.
And booked the day before via skype and my iPad. An aside, the iPad has been terrific to travel with. For the most part excellent 3G coverage and the initial 3gb invested has covered the whole stay. It has functioned as our gps, the rented one not wanting to talk to us. I have phoned home inexpensively and I carry all my entertainment.
First stop leaving Pemberton was a fine arts gallery, the Gold and Grape. What a lovely place. It is owned by a jeweler who exhibits his work and then culls out wood working artists to display. The had some beautiful sideboards and dining sets with incredible chairs.





As we drove to the coast, we began to lose the large tingle and Karri trees and the landscape opened up some. We stopped by a cheese farm that offered tastings. Wonderful. The cheese ladies in their head coverings, interrupting their curds and wheys, to show off their cheeses, of which they were so proud. It was on a country road in the middle of nowhere.


Then it was on to Erravilla. Way in the country surrounded by national park, with roads narrowing with each turn. A lovely bed and breakfast. The main house is just for guests and the owners live in a cottage/house in the back back with their two boys.


The structure on the right is the original house and below is an addition that was put on later.


Flowering shrubs and flowers abound. The house is surrounded by fields with Forest in the background. In the back of the house are a vegetable garden, patios, a chook (chicken) house, and the most beautiful Protea shrub.





As you drive up you see Willy the horse and his pet sheep. The two are inseparable. They eat out of the same bucket, and sleep together. When it storms, the sheep hides under Willy.


At the house you are greeted by Enzo, a rambunctious sheepdog.


Anya, our host was funny and warm and directed us to The Cape Wine Bar for dinner. A small warm restaurant in Dunsborough. We hade a white blended by Snake and Herring. Delicious!


We got back to the room and watched an Australian movie, Last Train To Freo and went to bed knowing our wanderings were soon to end. Back to Perth and the preparations home.


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Location:Erravilla estate

Pemberton, WA

We made it Pemberton and The Glenhaven B and B. This was # one rated B and B in the area per trip adviser. I find this site a bit tricky to use. There is always one review that if it reads true will cancel out any of the good reviews. Also some of the rankings are based on only one or two reviews. Here our room was tiny and had twin beds. With Michael's walker and the suitcase, only one of us could be standing. This was the only room they had available when I had booked.They only have three rooms for guests.


The owners are scotch and very hospitable without being cloying. Jim has a dry wit. He makes breakfast contingent on your partaking in sherry hour the night before. It made the three couples talk. We met Henry and Caroline. Henry is Burmese but left for Australia in his early 20's. Caroline is Australian and is an occupational therapist. Stephanie and Michael were young Swiss doctors who were camping in WA.
Sadies at The Gloucester Motel for dinner was recommended to us by Jim. Tucked up the hill off main street with no signage, I am not sure we would have thought this was the place to go. We had a terrific meal. Michael had marron those fresh water cray fish and I had a seafood Laksha coconut based spicy soup. We were all surprised how good the food was.


Michael forgot his glasses, so he had to borrow Caroline's.


I actually would have liked to stay in Pemberton a day or two more. There is a tram, lovely hiking areas, and we only got to see the area with pouring rain and hail.

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Location:Pemberton, WA