Thursday 9th November – Perth for one last day

We explained to the Allens that we really wanted to have a relaxed morning and utilise their washing machine and internet as much as possible!  Not a problem but they managed to distract me from some much needed blogging by taking the cover off their pool and it was too good to resist.  Simon, on the other hand, managed to stay in the zone and get his first mega-Facebook update of this trip done, even if it took him about three hours!

Having done all of our washing and packing we said our final farewells to the Allens and drove into Perth one more time.  King’s Park had been listed as a ‘must-do’ whilst in Perth, mostly for the amazing views of the city and the Swan River it affords, but also as a huge botanical garden.  We drove to a couple of viewpoints and took a stroll down to the glass bridge.  It was as beautiful as suggested.

Views of Perth from King's Park

Lisa and Ken had invited us back for one last night and the important matter of collecting a pair of shoes that Simon had ordered for his travels. These shoes have almost travelled as far round the world in the last two weeks as we have in a year!  Having ordered them in the UK to arrive before our departure date they subsequently arrived two days late.  As they were sent from the USA it would have cost a lot to return them anyway, so instead, Simon’s parents forwarded them to Perth as urgently as possible.  Lisa had been on nights so was just awake and with it when we arrived about 6pm to find that Simon’s shoes had literally been delivered only hours earlier that day.  Thank goodness they’d arrived!  And I was even more relieved that they actually FIT and Simon is happy with them after all that kerfuffle.

We only had a couple of hours with Lisa so the two of us went out for a dog walk together whilst Simon took it easy at the house.  On our return I reheated some leftover chilli for dinner and after Lisa disappeared to work again it was an evening of skyping and facetiming whilst we still had some access to the internet.  Most notably, we got to ‘meet’ our new niece Maria for the first time and hear that she is a very keen sleeper, much to my brother and sister-in-law’s relief!