Monkey Mia to Perth - the last leg

Unfortunately, we had grey and rainy weather for our (on paper) 583km drive from Monkey Mia to Geraldton. Still, we have been spoiled, so no complaints! We saw a few dolphins before we left but then got wet loading the car. We had planned on a trip into Francois Peron National Park but the weather deterred us and we continued on our way, stopping at Billabong Roadhouse for lunch, not at the roadhouse but at a cafe in the adjoining Shell service station setup - very tasty beef pie and chips! Here I had hoped that we might see some Budgerigars (which have eluded us on both trips) at the billabong but the weather was so dire, no self-respecting budgie would deign to emerge!

The origin of the name, Monkey Mia, is uncertain but it is thought that a pearler called Monkey anchored in Shark Bay in 1834 and 'mia' is an Aboriginal word meaning house or home, so the name then becomes home of (the) Monkey.

View over the bay before we left

A Bottlenose Dolphin cruised by while we loaded up

A last view of the jetty and dolphin-feeding area

In spite of the weather, or maybe because of it?, we decided to detour to Kalbarri and then down the coast - hence the 'on paper' comment above, as this extended our journey considerably. For most of this part, the rain eased off and we were able to enjoy the magnificent coastal scenery, as well as a few wildflowers. Kalbarri (named after the Aboriginal word for the woody pear) is a wildflower hotspot and you can find something in flower at any time of year with Spring bringing a wondrous display. This was the furthest north we had ventured when we lived in Perth and the coastal loop was not in place then or, if so, only as a 4wd track. It was good to see that the area is still worth visiting and has improved in terms of facilities and accessibility. Not really the best day for photography and we were happy to find our, reasonably comfortable, cabin at the Big 4 Sunset Beach Holiday Park.

Apparently the "North" of the country is a contentious issue - is the 26th Parallel a compromise?

Hibbertia flower near Kalbarri

Calothamnus flower near Kalbarri

Scaevola flower near Kalbarri

On our first trip back in 2017, we had visited Depot Hill, not very far from Geraldton, and enjoyed good wildlife sightings, so decided on a return trip. We got lost! However, in our meanderings we came across the best sighting of a couple of Blue-tongued Skinks (bobtails) on this trip. They seem very scarce now. When we lived in Perth, they occasionally visited our garden and they were to be seen regularly in parks and on dirt roads. This encounter turned out to be not far from Depot Hill and we enjoyed a lunch stop there.

Blue-tongued Skink showing off

Blue-tongued Skink wishing we weren't there

Perhaps we got a bit too close?!

Blue-tongued Skink finds refuge

Blue-tongued Skink settled in camouflage

A reminder that Depot Hill was used by troops as a firing range

Female Splendid Fairy-wren in the shrubs on the opposite side of the road from Depot Hill - no ants!

We had been sitting at a picnic table at one side of the car park and decided to go on one of the walks. We had only gone a few paces when Judith stopped and said she was standing on an ants' nest - some nest! We walked quickly back to the vehicle and leapt in, beating ants off as we did so, and then we could see that the whole car park was a heaving mass of ants! We warned off another vehicle and drove across the road where I dropped my trousers to complete the de-anting process. Thankfully, Judith failed to take a photo as she was laughing so much but I am sure you can imagine the grisly picture! We were then very happy to drive into Geraldton to meet up with an old friend at Skeetas, a very nice beachside restaurant which caters for people like us who like to drink coffee, eat cakes and generally natter until they turf us out to lay tables for dinner!

The last leg of our journey entailed a drive of 481km to Perth but, again, we deviated from the original direct route in order to try out Lobster Shack Rolls at the Lobster Shack in Cervantes. Very tasty and a worthwhile detour!

Entering The Lobster Shack

Inside The Lobster Shack

One of our Lobster Shack Rolls

From Cervantes, we took a scenic route, ignoring poor Gladys, as we wanted to travel over roads that were new to us, in terms of coverage in the course of the 'Lap'. We arrived in good time at our rented, self-contained flat in Woodlands which had been arranged through AirBnB. It was excellent, with plenty of room for us, a friend (Tilly) who flew over from Canberra to be with us and for all of our luggage and bits and pieces acquired along the way.

The timing of the trip had been arranged so that Judith could celebrate her 70th birthday with our friends in Perth. Some of them, not surprisingly given the fairly short notice, had made other arrangements for 'the day', so we had to go out for lunch with them in various parts of Perth - such a hardship! One of the first places we revisited was Burns Beach Restaurant, after walking along the coastal path which had been part of my rehabilitation in 2017.

Silvereye

Willie Wagtail

Female Splendid Fairy-wren

Running Postman wildflower

Over the remaining days we had in Perth, we wandered around Kings Park, visited friends in Rockingham, found a few orchids in Wireless Hill Reserve, enjoyed a fish & chips lunch (it really isn't all we eat but we do enjoy it!) at the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour and had a lovely drive up the west coast.

Panoramic view from Kings Park south over the old Swan Brewery and the Swan River to South Perth

Aniseed Boronia

Banded Greenhood Orchid

View from Kings Park to the city

View over the Swan to the city from South Perth

Tinsel Lily in Wireless Hill Reserve

Dark Banded Greenhood Orchid in Wireless Hill Reserve

Sunlit seedheads in Wireless Hill Reserve

Plenty of choice of eating places at Fishing Boat Harbour

Statue at Fishing Boat Harbour

Statue at Fishing Boat Harbour

Juvenile Nankeen Night Heron at Fishing Boat Harbour

Cottesloe Beach Hotel

We also took Tilly to the Bell Tower which was so beautifully situated but is now dwarfed and overshadowed by high rise apartment and hotel blocks - what were the city fathers thinking?! Nonetheless, we enjoyed the tour and took our turn to ring the bells. The Bell Tower was built to commemorate the new millennium and to house the twelve bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields which had been donated to Western Austraila, as part of the 1988 bicentenary commemorations. Six other bells were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry to form a sixteen bell peal with two extra chromatic notes. The bell chamber is clad in copper and glass with a beautiful glass spire. in 2018, a new 6.5 ton bell was installed to commemorate the end of the First World War. This bell is operated electronically. Just outside the main building is a carillon consisting of 26 bells, which were originally in Canberra.

The Bell Tower used to stand out on the foreshore but is now hemmed in by high-rise buildings

The glass spire punches through to the sky

Some youngsters enjoying bell ringing demonstration

The Great ANZAC Bell

View over Supreme Court Gardens from the Bell Tower

View from the Bell Tower over the Barracks Street Jetty area - the copper circlet in the foreground bears tiny copies of thousands of children's signatures (formerly on tiles laid out in front of the tower)

The carillon

Although I am sad that Test cricket has been moved from the WACA to the Optus Stadium, I had hoped to visit the new stadium, in fact I had hoped to see an AFL game but neither footy nor a tour of the stadium could be arranged far enough in advance, so on our last day in Perth, a grey and dismal day we went to Burswood Park and ate a picnic lunch by the Swan and then had a look at the large new stadium. It is very impressive but appears a bit soulless - maybe this will grow over the years. While in the area, we also had a walk over the new (to us) Matagarup Bridge to East Perth. I had hoped then to take some late afternoon photos of the city from South Perth but the light was truly dire - what a farewell!

Statues in Burswood park - Black Swan (with Matagarup Bridge in the background); Willem de Vlamingh; Mary Durack, storyteller; children playing hopscotch

Optus Stadium

Optus Stadium with semi-covered walkway to main entrance

Statue of AFL star, Nicky Winmar

Matagarup Bridge, near Optus Stadium

Matagarup Bridge and Optus Stadium from East Perth

Red Wattlebirds

Australasian Darter drying its wings

Australasian Darter posing for portrait

Australian Shelduck

A handsome Black Swan, on the Swan River, to see us on our way

The statue of Willem de Vlamingh was unveiled in 1997 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of this Dutch navigator's exploration of the Western Australian coast between 1696 and 1697. The statue also pays tribute to earlier Dutch explorers, starting with Dirk Hartog in 1616. The statue of Dame Mary Durack shows her 'engaged in conversation with her 'young self' as a child. They are both looking at a book, 'The Swan River Saga', one of many historical works penned by Mary Durack. She was a daughter of the Duracks who were pioneers in the Kununurra area, which I mentioned in an earlier blog.

So, that is the end of our 'Big Lap' which have enjoyed immensely and we will surely be back some day. In the meantime, we are watching the disastrous bushfires and wish the firefighters and other emergency services all the very best and send our sincere commiserations to those who have lost homes and, indeed, loved ones.