Friday 22nd March 2019 - Perth

A leisurely start to the day. Nothing happens quickly as there is lots of talking going on, catching up to do, shared memories, and all that chit chat that happens when you have lots in common, but also quite a lot you realise you do not know about each other!

When we were all ready to leave Anne drove us to Cottesloe Beach where we went to a lovely coffee shop right on the shore and watched people enjoying themselves in the water under the watchful eye of a lifeguard! Yes, they do get sharks here!! The beach was beautiful white sand and again stretched for miles. It feels strange too that we are in a city, yet we have driven for probably 20 minutes or so and there is no real feeling of being in a city. Yes it is built up, but spacious, lots of trees and greenery and then the ocean and beaches.

From here to Kings Park, a huge area very near to the city centre with formal areas but also wild scrub with walking tracks through it. We looked at only a small portion of it - you could probably spend a day there and still not see it all! It also gave us splendid views over the Swan river estuary and the city, and you could really see the urban sprawl!

After a lunch in the park it was off to Pinnaroo. This area holds the crematorium and burial ground, but is also open parkland. The part we visited was nothing like our cemeteries with their ordered lines of headstones. Here the headstones were laid flat into the ground so the open areas just looked like flat grassland. People were having picnics there as well as obviously visiting graves of loved ones. And in amongst it all kangaroos were nibbling the grass! Apparently they eat any fresh flowers are left too!

We of course went to where we could see Terry’s plaque.

Back to Anne’s then for a bit of a siesta before returning to the ocean for fish and chips (not cod but barramundi!) and to watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean.