The capital city of Western Australia is a city of 1.8 million, yet the state has only 2.2 million people. (The state of WA has the same population as Manaus on the Amazon River! I don’t know why I love little statistics like that, but I do) Western Australia is roughly half of the continent and it’s relatively unpopulated. Exmouth, also in WA has 2000 folks.
After a brief tour of Fre-O, where we saw many old convict built structures. These people are proud of their “convict” past and celebrate it. (Remember, the convicts were not hardened criminals, many were petty thieves trying to feed their families when times were rough in London. For that, they were transported thousands of miles to Australia to make a new beginning.)
We drove to Cottesloe Beach on the Indian Ocean and walked around a bit. I think everyone in OZx is a swimmer, as the beaches are used a lot. Each beach has a life guard shack with folks on duty watching all the time.
I liked how the beaches were used...folks were swimming and surfing, others were catching the rays, others were using their smartphones, and mothers were feeding their babies. Going to the beach is part of the national heritage.
Our next stop was King’s Park in Perth. King’s Park is 1000 acres of undeveloped land, that retains the look of the city before it was settled. There are scrubby trees and bushes—and then when you least expect it— there’s a beautiful highly maintained botanic garden that has memorials to World Wars 1 and 2.
The city of Perth is huge! Last time we were here we thought it reminded us of Santa Barbara in 1950...well forget that image. After the America’s Cup races in the mid-80s the town “took off” and now it’s a thriving city. The city is set between the Swan River and the Indian Ocean, so it has an interesting set of waterfronts.
The Swan River is relatively shallow (4 meters deep) and is not used for commerce, but it is used for recreation. There are beaches and yacht clubs dotting the shore.
Perth the western gateway to Australia on the Indian Ocean. I think it has been developed to rival Sydney with high rise buildings and interesting architecture. There’s nothing that matches the Opera House in Sydney, but lots of building is happening right now...there is an interesting bridge. Another one of those silly statistics: Perth is closer to the capital of Java, Jakarta, than it is to any other Australian capital city. It’s a continent away from Sydney and Melbourne.
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