Perth - Bell Tower, Perth Mint and Kings Park

G’Day mates,

On Friday I had the day off and took the chance to sprint to the city center of Perth. It is a 20-minute drive by bus to the Southern end of the CBD (Central Business District). There I took the FREE Blue CAT (I love it when public transport is free, very environmentally friendly) to the first sightseeing spot: The Bell Tower with the Swan Bells at the Barrack St Jetty. I took the pictures with the old digital camera of my host mother Cecile.

 

Luckily I was just in time for the interactive demonstration of the bells. I didn’t know about this. After a short overview of the history of the bells and the tower it was time to ring the bells! It is much harder than you think and the weight of the bells start at nearly 250 kg!

 

I have to say: I managed quite well! Someone said I must have done this before but I think I just listened carefully to the instructions and learned from the mistakes of the others who had to ring their bell before me.

 

After an hour I went to the other floors through the museum, the viewing gallery to the 6^th floor to have an amazing view on the Perth skyline.

 

Then I took the Blue CAT again and made almost the whole loop to William Street where I entered the Visitor Information Center.

I got lots and lots of information about Perth and the surroundings. It was 2pm and I decided to go to the Perth Mint. I arrived in time for the next tour but unfortunately you are not allowed to take any pictures inside the building. Honestly a shame, as there is a lot to see like the world’s largest gold coin, gold nuggets, a gold melting and forming demonstration, you can lift a 12kg-gold-bar, weight yourself and get the value of your weight in gold, lots of coins in silver and gold and much much more. It was great fun.

 

Back in the city I walked up and down London Court which is like going back in time and back to the UK. A true tourist attraction.

 

At 4pm I decided to get the Red CAT towards the King’s Park on the Eastern end of the CBD. I walked up Fraser Avenue where you also have memorials and statues along the way. But the best thing is the view onto the Perth skyline with the big Swan River in front of it. Absolutely amazing!

 

On my way back to the bus stop I met another German female backpacker who wanted to head back into the city to get ready for her flight to Cairns. She was an Au Pair in New Zealand for half a year, so we exchanged a bit on our experiences. After one hour I arrived back in Manning at 7pm, tired but happy. In the evening I watched “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey on the sofa together with Cécile and Sébastien. They have a projector and so you can watch any movie in the living room on a really big screen. Great! I think my next stop will again be: Perth city!

Yours Perth-sightseeing Stefanie

Oh, by the way: this is my 100th blog post :-)