Hip Hip Hurray ...

... hippie all the way

January 27, 2016

Today we're back on the road. Hurray! It's been a long haul at the house sit but we've put the seven weeks to good use and reinvented ourselves. We didn't feel we quite fit the grey nomad mould so have adopted a new image. We've discovered lurrve and inner peace, lots of hair and flowing robes. It's hip hip hooray, hippie all the way. Ha ha. Myrtle also got a little makeover, including a sprinkling of flowers.  

Feeling groovy: Check out Garry's mo and the growth under my arms.  

Flower power: Neika digs the hippie garb too. She is a natural in front of the camera. 

Such a beautiful dog. It's going to be soooo hard to kiss her goodbye. 

We enjoyed Perth and made many day trips to explore its parks, galleries, museums and shops. Western Australia is pouring its mining royalties into public spaces; the parks, foreshore areas and cycleways are outstanding. We took our bikes on the train one day and had a fab time trundling along the north and south banks and into Kings Park.

On the train. Garry didn't want to be in the pic but .... 

On the South Bank with the CBD behind us.  

Beautiful city: Perth from Kings Park. 

A stop at the WACA was on Garry's to-do  list and we were fortunate to find some friendly security fellas who let us in to the stadium. Garry was stoked. 

The Art Gallery of Western Australia was impressive. We spent several minutes waiting for this couple to move believing they were a living sculpture. We weren't the only dumbies. 

Allegory: after Courbet by John de Andrea

Black Beauty by Niki de Saint Phalle

Outside the West Australian Parliament. Great tour of the two houses. Loads of info and history.

A sign outside a Perth pub. It pays to read the fine print!

We loved Fremantle with its Bohemian feel. Lots of alleyways, cafes and slightly grungy shops. plus the prison and maritime museum. Great stuff.

Five o'clock somewhere? Garry outside Little Creatures Brewery.

Inspecting the sleek Australia II, winner of the 1983 America's Cup, at the fab maritime museum.

Outside Fremantle Prison, a maximum security jail built by convicts in the 1850s. It was decommissioned in 1991 and restored. Life within its walls was brutal and the museum tells it how it was: Solitary confinement, hangings, cat o' nine tails sort of stuff. Ouch.

The scorching temperatures and savage bushfires meant the bush reserves and parks near us have been closed for much of January. Last week they reopened and we dipped into  Serpentine National Park and Lane Poole Conservation Reserve. 

A hike up Baldwin's Bluff at Serpentine gave us a beautiful vista across the plains to the Indian Ocean. 

Perth in the distance, about 40kms away.

Gorgeous dam and waterfall. Crisp, clean water. Very welcome after the walk. 

Friendly fauna. This forward young lady put her paw on Garry's arm in an attempt to get him to share his wrap. 

Garry's body language says it all: "No way." 

Lane Poole Conservation Reserve covers 55,000 hectares of jarrah forest that has been heavily logged in the past. It's also bordered by Alcoa bauxite mines so it's had a pretty torrid time.  National parks have just taken over and much work is being done to rehabilitate the bush. The grass trees are spectacular. 

A beautiful bunch of gum nuts that caught my eye along the way.

So that about wraps up our time in Mandurah, Perth and surrounds. We're heading for Margaret River now and looking forward to our next adventure. 

Until next time beautiful people, stay cool, feelin' the lurve, in the groove, diggin' life etc etc etc.....