FUN with HERB and GWASSHOPPA

5^th May, 2012

Our nephew Gwasshoppa (aka Wayne) arrived safely at Perth and we whisked him back to York for a good night’s sleep before bundling him into Mitzi on Sunday morning and heading for the town of Toodyay where the Moondyne Joe Festival was in full swing.  Parking was at a premium in town but we managed to find a spot about a kilometre away from where the main street had been blocked off for the festivities.  There were lots of people wandering about checking out the classic and vintage cars

Wayne and Wok check out the classic cars

and Gwasshoppa and Wok were reliving their youth and drooling over any vehicle that was pre 1980’s.

Wok and Wayne picking out their favourite MG

In front of the main hotel a mock trial was underway

The trial of Moondyne Joe

with the non repentant Moondyne Joe explaining the reason why he was in the possession of the Magistrate’s horse.  Moondyne Joe was a larger than life character in the history of Western Australia and earned his fame by escaping numerous times from custody.  The town of Toodyay holds the festival once a year and mingling with the crowds are many folk dressed in period costume.

These three guys in colonial costumes were having a good time

We had a delightful morning wandering past the many stalls set up in the main street and looking at the old colonial buildings like Connors Mill.

Connors Mill in Toodyay

On Tuesday the three of us left early and headed into Perth Airport where we met our son Herb (aka Trent).  Then it was off into Perth for a bit of sightseeing.  We had been warned that parking in Perth was difficult and after checking out one car parking area and going around in circles for a while we were starting to believe the rumours.  We headed for some car parking areas near the WACA stadium and luckily ‘hawkeye’ Herb spotted a vacant space and we swooped on it like a seagull on a hot potato chip.  Perth (like Fremantle) also runs a free bus service around the central business district and there was a CAT bus stop right beside the parking area so we didn’t have long to wait.  A few stops later we hopped off the bus and walked across the road to the Perth Mint where we were in time to join the next tour through the facility.

Wayne, Trent and Wok have fun with two prospectors at the Perth Mint

After gold was discovered in the late 1800’s West Australia applied to the British Government to open a Royal Mint.  The mint is now run by the West Australian Government and is the oldest operational mint in Australia.  We watched as molten gold was poured into an ingot and couldn’t believe how quickly it took to cool down and be taken out of the mould.  Out in the courtyard Wok and Herb had fun playing with a replica of the largest nugget of gold ever found in the world – the ‘Welcome Nugget’.  The nugget was cut up into small pieces for melting but fortunately photos were taken of it before it was destroyed and with modern techniques the nugget was recreated from those photos.  Imagine finding a nugget that size!  It would be pretty hard to wipe the smile off your face for a long time we reckon  …

Wok and Trent have some fun with a replica of the Welcome Nugget



And Wayne tries to show them up by doing it all himself

Touring the mint was pretty thirsty work so a spot of lunch at the Grosvenor Hotel across the road seemed like a capital idea.

Trent, Wok and Wayne tuck into a huge steak sandwich with chips

Suitably replenished we continued on our merry way on the CAT bus and hopped off at the ferry terminal where we headed for the Swan Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower in Perth

At the top of the tower we got a lovely view of the city

Wok checks out the Perth cityscape

and the Swan River.

View of the Swan River from the Bell Tower

Then it was time to get into the swing of things and the guys did a great job of ringing the bells

Wayne, Trent and Wok - the slap happy bell ringers

albeit a wee bit out of time.  The bells were made in England over 100 years ago and volunteer bell ringers still belt out a decent tune.

The Swan Bells are some very serious looking bells - heavy too

A quick stop at the ice cream shop on the jetty was next on the ‘to do’ list and then it was back on the CAT bus for a tour around the city of Perth.  We finally arrived back at the WACA car park late in the afternoon and headed home to York.  The drive out of the city took a bit longer than expected as we got tangled up with all the workers going home for the day but once on the outskirts we motored along quite nicely.  A visit to Wave Rock was on the next day’s agenda – it was approx. 500 kms there and back but this time no problems with traffic.  Just open road and lots of empty wheat fields waiting to be sown.  When we got there the guys had a play on the Rock

Trent does some rock surfing while Wayne surfs the top of the wave

and then walked along the base to Hippo’s Yawn where Herb decided to check out the view from the top.

Trent gets a different perspective at the Hippo's Yawn

We had a rest day on Thursday and on Friday drove to Fremantle.  We dropped Herb and Gwasshoppa off at the Fremantle Prison to do a tour while we took Mitzi to a free car park and caught the CAT bus back into town.  As we had already been on two tours through the prison we didn’t feel the need to go again so we met up with them at the prison when their tour finished.

Fremantle Prison

While we waited for them we checked out some of the buildings attached to the prison walls which housed the Prison Superintendant, Chaplain and Doctor.

Fremantle Prison residences

Herb and Gwasshoppa enjoyed their prison tour and we walked down past the Fremantle AFL (Australian Rules Football) grounds where a bronze statue of two players graces the middle of a roundabout in front of the stadium entrance.

Bronze Statue outside Fremantle AFL Stadium

We wandered through the markets and down the streets to the marina where Cicerello’s Restaurant caught our eye.

Cicerello's Restaurant on the waterfront in Fremantle

This had to be the place to try a feed of ‘fish and chips’ and we ordered four ‘Senior Specials’ even though Herb is far from being a Senior yet.

Trent, Wayne and Wok enjoying their fish and chips

For $12 each we got a meal of fish and chips, mug of cappuccino or tea and a gelato in a cone (our choice of flavour).  As the gelato alone usually costs about $3.50 as did the cappuccino we thought it was good value.  We were more than pleased when it all tasted pretty good as well.  After lunch we wandered around the marina and ran across some more bronze figures going about their daily chores.  Robyn was intrigued to see what this fisherman had in his basket

Hmmmm  .....  what do you have in there?

and Wok was going to give him a helping hand.

G'day mate - let me give you a hand with that basket.

Another bronze figure at the end of the jetty was checking out his crab pots.

Trent, Robyn and Wok with the crab fisherman

Across from the restaurant was the Shipwrecks Gallery Museum and we spent quite some time looking through the exhibits once again while Herb and Gwasshoppa saw it for the first time.

Trent, Wok and Wayne outside the Shipwreck Galleries Museum

Then we wandered along the foreshore to the Whalers Tunnel which was cut through the limestone to make it easier to drag the whales to the processing plant

The Three Amigos outside the Whalers Tunnel

and then we climbed up to the Roundhouse (the oldest building in West Australia) built by the first settlers to house prisoners.

Wayne, Trent and Wok at the Round House

We walked up the Victorian building lined street to the centre of Fremantle

Victorian Buildings in Fremantle

where the guys decided to try some of the ’43 Beers on Tap’ at the hotel near the markets.

Are you sure you're drinking beer Gwasshoppa?

Then it was time to hop on the CAT bus and head back to Mitzi.  We took Herb and Gwasshoppa to C.Y. O’Connor Beach before heading back to York.

Wayne, Wok and Trent on C.Y. O'Connor Beach

They had not heard the story of Charles Yelverton O’Connor so while they dipped their toes in the Indian Ocean, Wok did a quick rundown for them

Wok tells Wayne and Trent the story of C.Y. O'Connor

while the bronze figure of horse and rider splashed in the waves.

Horse and Rider brave the waves

On the Saturday we went for a long drive again.  This time we headed North West to the coast and drove north.  We stopped at Lancelin and had a nice ‘pub lunch’ overlooking the bay and then continued on up the coast.  We had seen many wildlife signs before but this one caught our eye.

Road sign near Lancelin

Kangaroos and Emus are usually easy to spot but we were pretty sure that an Echidna would be next to impossible unless it was going to sit in the middle of the road and wait for us.  We did see some live wild emus along the road and some kangaroo roadkill but no echidnas came out to watch us pass by.  Finally we arrived at our destination – Nambung National Park.  Inside the park are The Pinnacles – limestone structures that have been buried in the shifting sand.  We drive along the winding sandy track between the structures.

Driving through the Pinnacles

It’s a weird landscape and we stop frequently to have a look.

Mitzi parked in the Pinnacles Desert

Herb finds a pinnacle to have a bit of fun with

Now you see me .....



And now you don't  ...

and then decides to walk the rest of the way through the pinnacle desert while we do the circuitous route in Mitzi.

Trent finishes his walk through the desert

We rendezvous with him near the exit of the sandy desert and then stop at the Interpretation Centre to get a better idea of why the pinnacles have formed and what flora and fauna is in the area.  It’s a fascinating place and once again mother nature has outdone herself.  It was a long drive back to York and we were all tired by the time we got back.  The next day was Sunday – Mother’s Day and Herb had booked a table for us all at ‘C Restaurant’ in Perth that night.  Both Herb and Gwasshoppa were booked on late night flights back to Sydney and Brisbane later that night so in the afternoon they packed their bags and we hopped in Mitzi and headed into Perth for dinner.  Parking was easy to get as apart from a few restaurants that were open the city seemed to be deserted.  We took a walk up an interesting alleyway that was made to look like an olde English shopping lane.

The three amigos meander down the lane

In the mall area we ran across this bronze figure doing a hand stand

Couldn't get any of the guys to do a handstand .....

and in front of the building that housed our restaurant a row of bronze figures portrayed the evolution of the modern day businessman.

Trent and Wayne join the walk to an imaginery workplace

We had a bit of trouble trying to get to the 33^rd floor as the elevators wouldn’t go up and after three attempts the restaurant staff finally managed to get the lifts unlocked to allow us to get to their floor.  And what a floor!  The restaurant was a ‘revolving restaurant’ and from the 33^rd floor we had a fantastic view of Perth and beyond.

Robyn, Wayne, Trent and Wok enjoying the view from the revolving restaurant in Perth

It took one and a half hours for the restaurant to do a full 360 degree circle and when we weren’t drinking and eating we were staring out the window at the view.  It was a lovely way to finish Herb and Gwasshoppa’s visit with us and after dinner we dropped them off at Perth airport where they had a few hours wait for their ‘redeye’ flights home.  It was kind of sad to see them go as we had enjoyed spending the last week with them.  Perhaps we may do it all again another time ….