From: "Philip Merryman" <phil_merryman@hotmail.com>

Date: Sun Feb 10, 2002 10:37:05 AM Etc/GMT

Subject: Perth

Hi everyone!

Strewth it's hot!!!! Perth has been the hottest place in Oz for the last few days, something it has shared with Cairns. According to the TV weather here and Cairns have been 35C, hotter than Alice at a mere 31!

Yesterday I went over to the nearby Rottnest Island. The name derives from the Dutch (it seems I cannot escape the Dutch !! :-)) Rotte Nest or "Rats Nest". Some of the first Europeans to reach this part of the world were the Dutch and one of their explorers (who's name escapes me but begins with a V) found the local marsupials had a resemblence to large rats, hence the name. The animals are actually called Quokkas and are small wallaby type creatures the size of a domestic cat. They are quite cute really and can be readily found on the island, I managed to see a group of about 10 in one place. The island also has an old gun emplacement from WW2. This had been made from to ex-WW1 battleship guns which fired 9.2 inch shells. The installation has been preserved in some form and is reachable by a rickety railway which was built to get supplies up the hill to the guns. The island also has some wonderful beaches and bays. As I only had 5 hours on the island there was not the time to explore it thoroughly. You can hire bikes but as it is 11.5 x 4.5 km even with a bike it would have been a rush to get right round. However I saw a good cross section of what the island has to offer in a short time. I stopped off on Freemantle for fish & chips and to watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean before returning on the train to Perth.

Today I went for a walk around the City visiting some of its features. One of the most noteworthy is a new and stylish bell tower by the ferry pier which now houses the bells from St.Martin-in-the-Fields church at Trafalgar Square in London. These were moved here in 1988 and the Australians provided the metals to cast the replacements for St. Martins. There was a good reason for this: the bells were not sounding very well in the tower in London, and as is customary, were due to be melted down to cast new ones. However the bells themselves were perfectly OK, the problem was some mismatch between the bells and the acoustics of the tower. So the people of Perth thought it would be a good way to mark the Oz Bicentennial & Millennium to move them here, and add a few more, and gift replacements for London. Anyway you can get into the tower to see them being rung and watch them at belfry level. Fortunately the belfry is double glazed from the viewing gallery so you do not get deafened!!

There are other intersting old features in Perth as well amongst the new tall buildings. They seem to have kept in touch with at least some of their history and not swept it all away for new steel and glass structures. It feels a very relaxed place, though to be fair I have only really seen it on a weekend. It is easy to get round the city using two free busses called the CAT (Central Area Transit). Ken Livingstone are you watching??? (A reference my London friends will understand!).

My train across the Nullabor Plain leaves tomorrow morning and takes 3 days to get to Adelaide. I have a night there before spending another 2 days on the train from Adelaide to Alice. I have one day there before going on a 5 day trip into the outback. So from now on communication will be a bit sparse. Hopefully I can find somewhere in Alice on the "free" day when I arrive (Free = get the washing done!).

Anyway, Bye for now. For those who have sent me messages, many thanks. If I haven't replied to you individually my apologies. On Friday this Internet facility was really fast, today it is humungously slow :-( So It is taking a long time just to open and read messages. As you pay by the time taken, I'll try again next time!

Cheers

Phil