Monday, June 9, 2014

Final Day and Home

We are home after a fun filled three weeks in Western Australia.  It is always fun to visit places we have not been, see new places, and have new experiences and adventures.  But it is also good to be home and sleep in our own bed, eat familiar food, and get clean clothes.

Our last day in Perth was spent doing some laundry and repacking suit cases.  But the day was not all work.  We took the Red CAT (Central Area Transit) bus to the CBD to mail a package to ourselves and  spend a few more hours in Perth.  You can tell the CAT buses by the CAT painted on the side.

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In the public art department we saw a series of bonze statues called Footsteps in Time that depict businesspeople through the ages.  First represents the Dutch exploration around 1697.

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Next the Anglo – Celtic settlement of the Swan River around 1829

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The Discovery of Gold 1885 – 95

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Post World War II European Immigration – 1945 – 55

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and finally Millennium Man – 2004

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and I will add one more picture that I believe adds to this public art, and that is a view of the statues with 2014 man on business.

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We then caught Blue Cat bus to the museum area just north of the CBD.  There we visited the Western Australia Museum. 

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The museum has a variety of displays including the history of Western Australia (closed because of the Dinosaur display), local animals, information on the aboriginal natives, and lots more we didn’t have a chance to see.

Of course we had to stop at the Ben and Jerry’s Airstream trailer for an ice cream!

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The museum area also includes the Art Museum, and the State Library.  There is a large public space with a large TV screen.  While we were there, it displayed moving color blobs, short movies, and a live picture of the area with computer generated dinosaurs that appeared to be moving around the area.

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There were wide steps, where people congregated to talk or watch the screen.

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Later, on our way back to the hotel we say St Mary’s Cathedral.

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On Friday, we flew from Perth to Melbourne where we stayed overnight before catching our airplane home.  Then Saturday was the long flights.  We flew from Melbourne to Auckland, had a two hour layover, and then flew 12 hours to Los Angeles.

Our last view of Australia

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The coast of New Zealand as we made the approach into Auckland

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We flew in the Premium Economy seats like we did going over.  The space is wonderful, the food good, and the service on Air New Zealand excellent.

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Because of the landing time in Los Angeles, there were no flights to Omaha, so we stayed overnight and flew home on Sunday.  On arrival we had a nice surprise when Dan, Alaina, Dayna, and Anne greeted us at the airport.  That also gave us a reason for one more restaurant meal before we headed home.

Overall, this is been a great trip.  We were discussing the some of the events and places and couldn’t come up with a single favorite.  All of the places we saw and things we did were fun.  Seeing and visiting the Magpie group was lots of fun, and of course being with Sylvia and Roy was the icing on the cake.

This was our third trip to Australia.  We have been a lot of places during our trips, including Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Gold Coast, the Blue Mountains, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Melbourne, Perth, Freemantle, Fraser Island, Margaret River, Augusta, Albany,  Wave Rock, The Pinnacles.  We walked at the tops of the trees (twice), and have seen lots of unusual animals and birds.  And we have just scratched the surface of the variety of Australia.  Australia is a great country with friendly people.  Even with the long plane ride, it is well worth the effort.

We don’t know what is next for our travels, but we have some trips we are thinking about taking…..probably road trips yet this summer.  So, check back periodically…….you just never know what adventure we will think up next time.

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