Perth

I had a really fun trip to Perth. Jane was so fun and kind to take me around, and her family is so nice. When I was with them, it felt like my own family. I arrived late Wednesday night and Jane drove me around so I could see the city at night. The next morning Jane had a wedding all day, so I went to Fremantle, which is just south of Perth. I went and saw some historical stuff like the round house, walked on the beach, saw shipwreck galleries, the maritime museum in which I went on a tour of a submarine, and then I went to the prison, shopping, had lunch on the wharf at Cicerellos, and since it was Thanksgiving, I went to a restaurant and even though it wasn't your typical thanksgiving, it was still a good one. Oh and it helped to have a really cute Irish waiter, that had lived in Park City for three seasons. It was a good thanksgiving, despite the fact I didn't have any stuffing, candied yams, turkey, or pumpkin pie. Instead I had fish and chips, then pasta and a slice of Australian apple pie.

Hello Perth! The beautiful is so blue, the sun is warm, and the beaches have white sand. Oh heaven.

This cannon had been in a shipwreck. It was found off the coast of Western Australia and this cannon is from the 1600s.

These boards were also from a shipwreck. This ship dated back to the 1500s these boards are the only part that survived. I order to preserve them, they were dipped in wax. I think that what they did.

This is the roundhouse and its where English convicts were sent in the 1850s. And whaling was carried out below the round house, with easy access to the beach.

This is inside the roundhouse. I'm standing by the well.

This is the beach in Fremantle that I decided to walk down, cause I had some extra time. There was quite a bit of seaweed along the edge.

This is me climbing through the submarine into the next compartment. Unfortunately its a little blurry because the guy taking it didn't hold the button half way down first. It was really cool being on a submarine, but I was excited to leave. I have no idea how submariners can be on their so long.


This is the prison and it was in use from the 1800s through to the 1990s. It was amazing. Prisoners were still using buckets as toilets even in the 1990s when they were in their cells for the night.

Happy Thanksgiving to me! It was good and I was starving.

On Friday Jane and I went downtown. She showed me the sites and we went shopping. We had a really good time. Perth has some really cute shops. Just check out London Court. Then we went

to the Perth Mint. I looked at the old coins, the medals made for the Sydney Olympics, and then we watched a demonstration on how to make a gold bar. It was fascinating and then I got to touch and lift to see how heavy a gold bar is. I must say I'm going to start lifting weights. Then you even had the option to stand on a scale to see how much your worth in gold. No Thank You!!! It was fun, then we went home and we were both so tired, we stayed at Jane's house and then went to one of her friends engagement party.

This is Jane and me at Hillary's Boat Harbor and no not Clinton.

In case you cant tell, the sign in the background gives different cities throughout the world and shows which direction they are and how many miles away it is. As President Hinckley said, "Perth, Perth the end of the earth." Perth is the farthest away on the globe I can get from SLC. BTW it is the most isolated city in the world.

Another great kodak moment

I know everyones jealous that I got to see such a beautiful place. I think I could live there.

This is me outside the Perth Mint. Thats where I saw them make the gold bar. Oh and Western Australia still has lots of gold mines yet to be recovered.

This is me riding a joey (baby kangaroo)

This is London Court, the outside looks like a castle, and they have the cutest decorations for Christmas. There are lots of darling shops inside.

chocoholics

Since I was spending the week in Melbourne there were many things that I got to do. On Monday I had the opportunity to go to the centenary of Victorian Women's Suffrage dinner. It was at Parliament. It was absolutely wonderful. I had even read a book about Liberal women so I knew a lot of the history and figures that we were talking about. There were about 180 people there. It was a great experience that I was glad to be a part of.

picture of the centenary of women's suffrage

The rest of the week went by quickly. We had lots of work to do. After work I went and saw Nights in Rodanthe and Quantum of Solace at the theatre. Then on Friday it was Lucs last day so we went out to lunch and then we had cheesecake. Then on Saturday I got up early and went into the city. I had to go and buy some souvenirs at Queen Victoria's Market. It was so cold. It was the coldest November 22 on the record. It rained and hailed pretty hard all day and it was literally freezing. I had three layers of clothes on. Then I walked by this building which has a very unique look to it.

This is the Public Baths, but is now a swimming pool. I have yet to go inside.

This is an alley leading to Collins Street which is completely filled with graffiti. Its actually pretty cool to look at and its even on art shows occasionally.

Then I went on one of the most fun things I've done in Melbourne. Melbourne has a very unique and interesting culture. They really love their cafes, teas, and chocolates. There are so many chocolate stores/cafes around. I went on a chocoholics tour, where we go around to five different chocolate stores and try their chocolates. We started out at Koko Black in the Royal Arcade.

This is the royal arcade where the tour started.

From the window looking into Koko Black. I got to see the bean that chocolate comes from. The chocolate confectioner even came out and talked to us. She comes from Bruge Belgium which is where the premier chocolatiers come from. Then we tried a chocolate that takes three days to make. I wish I had a picture but it was the best things I have ever eaten. It was amazing!

Then we went to Block Arcade to Haigh's Chocolates. We tasted quite a few from this store. At one point the tour leader had us plug our noses for five seconds and then breathe in again. Immediately we could tell a difference between this one and the previous chocolate. This one was orange.Haigh's display window. They had some really cute looking chocolates for christmas. I wish this photo were closer up.


This is from Cacao. We sampled a chocolate from this store that had chili in it. I didn't really like it as much. Look at the color in this chocolate pack. It looks very appetizing.

Then we ended up at Koko Black on Collins Street and ate at the cafe. We had chocolate mousse and a chocolate muffing. Then we got to pick any drink that we wanted.

This is the drink that I picked. I thought what other time in my life am I going to pay $7 for a chocolate drink. It even had ice cream in it, and chocolate shavings on the top. It was very chocolatey but it was fun to get and the presentation was beautiful.

Unfortunately after this, the tour ended. It was a really fun and uniquely Melbourne. I have heard for a long time that I really needed to go on this tour so I finally did it. After this I went to the Melbourne Museum and looked around. Then I caught the bus and went home. I was tending Jamison, my bosses son while they went out.

He was asleep for most of the time that I was there, but we had fun together. I really miss my nieces and nephews, so being with him makes me feel less lonely for them.

Only three more weeks to go before I'm home. I will be going to Perth on Wednesday, so I will have some pictures of beautiful beaches when I get home. Oh and I really hope I don't get terribly sunburned. It will really be fun, to be with my friend Jane on vacation. The last trips that I've been on, I've been by myself. More to come, stay tuned. JK

Sydney- day 4

My final day in Sydney I had to finish doing the touristy stuff. I saw the city. I took another tour in order to ensure that I saw everything. We went by Darling Harbour and Chinatown. Then the Rocks-which is Sydneys birthplace. It was first settled there in the late 1700s. Then we went by the Parliament House, Hyde Park, St James and then St Marys cathedrals. Then to Mrs. Macquaries Chair which is an area with superb views of the Harbour and city skyline. Then we drove through Kings Cross which is the red light district. I never ventured over here though because thats were the gentlemans clubs and the prostitutes are. It kind of reminded me of Vegas a little bit.

The view from Mrs. Macquaries Chair

Then we drove up the coast to the Gap where we saw even more stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and the Heads. Then we went to Bondi Beach. This beach is Australias premier surfing beach. The waves were small and it was windy and chilly, so there weren't as many people there as I would have thought. It was fun to see it though, another thing to cross off my list of things I have seen.

Bondi Beach

The Gap

Then for the highlight of my trip I got to go on a tour inside the Opera House. I got to see the Great even hall where the symphony performs, the opera hall and drama theatre. The architecture and engineering is amazing. It took them so long to build. The original estimates to build it was $7 million dollars and it ended up costing over $100 million. The government ended up paying it off though in four years, because they introduced the Sydney lottery. I was one of the highlights of my Australian adventure. What I found interesting is that it isn't all connected. You have to go outside or underground to get to the next hall. It is incredible.

One of the only pictures I have inside the opera house because of copyright issues. They wouldn't let us take any. Notice its like a sea shell.

After that I had lunch by the opera house and I just looked out at the harbour and the bridge, and of course the opera house. Then I went and walked across the Harbour Bridge. It was finished in the 1930s and apparently you can even climb to the top of it. That doesn't sound like the definition of fun to me though. Then I went to the Susannah Place Museum which are these really old residential houses in the rocks area that were lived in from the 1800s to the 1990s. They are really unique in Sydney because they tend to tear down and rebuild, whereas Melbourne has lots of old and beautiful buildings. Then I had to run and catch my plane. Oh if only everyone could have come to, it would have been an even more incredible time.

Sydney- day3

I got up at what felt like dawn and went on another tour. Today's featured trip was the Blue Mountains. We started out by driving across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Then we went to the Feathersville Wildlife Park where I got to hand feed kangaroos. I also pet a wombat and yes a koala. They are so cute, it was fun to be able to do that, I wanted to hold one but that is against the law. Oh well, hopefully sometime I will get to before I leave.

Petting the wallabies and kangaroos

The wombat in the perfect pose

Feeding the Koala

Then the bus continued on to the Blue Mountains. We ended up reaching there around 11:00 or so. The blue mountains really are blue, because of the haze they appear blue even in the day. Its really pretty. They are famous for the formation called the three sisters. We heard different Aboriginal myths about their formations and it was really interesting. Then we went to a lookout and saw them. They are gorgeous. It made me kind of homesick to be near mountains again. On my way walking around I saw an Aboriginal man playing his didgeridoo so I had my picture with him. It was really a beautiful day. It was really hazy and rainy on the way up to the mountains, but it cleared out and was beautiful. If it had been foggy and I couldn't see the mountains and valleys I really would have been disappointed.
The three sisters rock formation

The blue mountains but in this picture they look kind of green


Me and the Aboriginal

Then we drove over to another side of the mountain and I got to go on the world steepest Scenic Railway. It was kind of creepy because it was literally straight down. I kept hoping I would live to see the end of the railway. I also got to go on the skywalk (tram) which had a glass floor so you could see directly underneath you. Then I walked down in the valley on the valley floor and saw the tall tree ferns and part of it felt like a rainforest. It was so muggy and there were varying plants and sizes. It was kind of dark in there to. Then I rode the cable way back up to the top.

on the valley floor

After that we drove home and stopped in the town of Bilpin. This is an agricultural area. This is where all the fruit is grown. Then we drove past the Richmond Air Force Base and then went on to see where the 2000 Olympic Games were. They turned their torch into a fountain. It was so neat seeing the grounds where another Olympics took place. I really wanted to see this site, so I'm glad my tour stopped there. Then I caught a ferry back to the city. It was fun because I got to see the city from the water and I even got to go under the Harbour Bridge and I got some great shots of the Opera House. Yes its as cool as it looks in pictures. The architecture is absolutely amazing! Then after that I walked around the city and I saw Central Quay and the stores. Then I took a detour and went by David Jones (a department store) and saw the Christmas display in the windows. They were themed and they were marionettes. It was really cute. Then I walked by and saw a Christmas tree and for some random reason there were a lot of bats flying around. Yuck, so I walked home, had some dinner, and went back to the hostel.

the 2000 Sydney Olympic stadium

The torch is now a waterfall

Sydney- day 2 (Canberra)

On the second day of my trip to Sydney I took a bus that went from New South Wales to the ACT or Australian Capital Territory which is where Canberra is. Its about a 4 hour drive to Canberra from Sydney. Its further south and it was fun to see the Australian countryside as we drove through. We stopped in a very small town called Berrima where everyone could get their morning tea. We went through the Southern Highlands and Goulburn Sheep district and the mysterious Lake George, which is nonexistent because of the draught. There is no lake and there are just cows in fields where the lake existed 10 years ago.

driving through New South Wales

waiting for morning tea to end in Goulburn

Then we entered the ACT and its quite odd. The location was chosen because Melbourne and Sydney each wanted the capital in their city, so finally they decided to put it somewhere else. They ended up putting it in Canberra. It is closer to Sydney but Melbourne agreed because its still far enough away. It is not located by the Pacific Ocean because they wanted it to be protected and further away from foreign ships and etc. We entered Canberra and went to the National Museum. Then we went to the billion dollar New Parliament House where we saw the Senate, House of Representative chambers and the Great Hall. Its a very different looking parliament house, because it is so new and it has a very interesting design.

Canberra

The lake winds through the city

the city from Mount Ainslie

Inside the National Museum. These are used by Aboriginals they are like a totem pole but for those that are dead.

New Parliament House

Inside one of the chambers

We went on to look at the views of Canberra from Mount Ainslie and then we drove past the embassies. Americas is the largest and its brick sitting on a hill with a big white fence around it. I like the way it looked, it said America. After this we drove to the Australian War Memorial. It was a pretty memorial and it had the most amazing war museum underneath it. I could have spent three days in that museum. Its main focus was ANZAC in the first world war. It was the best museum I have ever seen relating to war. It didn't glorify it, but I don't even know how to describe it. It was a neat experience.

the Memorial

Part of the war memorial, the soldiers names that have died

Canberra is a small town. Everyone that lives there are public servants. When Parliament is not in session, the town loses half its population. I wouldn't want to live there. You could tour the town in one day no joke. It was an interesting capital though, especially since I have been to Sydney and Melbourne. Its more like Hobart than the other two cities.

Not to shabby of a picture for using the self timer

Then on the drive home we stopped in Goulburn for dinner. I got a meat pie and some mashed potatos. The Australians absolutely love meat pies. I haven't been converted yet. I just don't understand. I ended up getting back to my hostel 13 hours after I left. It was a long but good day. I'm glad I got to see the capital of Australia.