I am a few days behind schedule for posting.  There has been no WiFi or cell phone coverage for the past couple of days.

As we were leaving Alice Springs, I realized that I was saying, “Goodbye,” to the Ghost Gum trees. I really loved those trees and am sure I will miss seeing them.

We arrived in Perth at about 12:30. It was so nice to be picked up from the airport by Jan. Sadly, Rose is still  not feeling well. Jan made an appointment for her at a local doctor.

Jan’s garden is quite lovely. The Wisteria is absolutely beautiful.  There are many plants and even an orange tree.  I only took a couple of photos.

We did laundry in the washing machine and hung it outside to dry. Then we took Rose to the doctor. The doctor prescribed an anti-biotic and cough-medicine. So we went to the pharmacy.

Lyn’s prepared leg of lamb dinner for us at her house.. Jan’s sister, Margie, and a friend of Lyn’s, Lea, joined us for dinner. The meal was delicious and we had a lively discussion including politics. Great fun.

Rose stayed at Lyn’s house and I stayed with Jan at her house.

The weather is quite a bit cooler in Perth.   In the morning Jan and I took the bus into town. Rose stayed at Lyn’s to rest another day. We walked along the south side of the Swan River and caught the Ferry to the city.

Here are some of the things we saw today.

A bird that Jan thought might be a called a Shag. It is a kind of Cormorant.

Black Swans. The river was named after the Black swans.

Two Kookaburras were sitting on a light post.

I had a good laugh at myself when I started singing, “Kookaburra sitting on an old gum tree,” and realized that I had never realized that a gum tree was actually a Eucalyptus.

Here are a couple of photos of the river.

Jan showed me a couple of Paper Bark Trees along the shores of the Swan River

It absolutely poured on us just before we got onto the ferry and our pants were soaked. We dried off as we walked through the city. We passed through a courtyard with these sculptures.

Jan showed me this beautiful Morton tree. I liked climbing up on the fabulous trunk for a photo. The size of the trunk was amazing.

We walked through Kings Park Botanical Garden: The 17 hectare Western Australian Botanic Garden showcases around 3000 of the states 3500 plant species.

I only captured a few plants in photos. I will try to label some of the ones Jan could identify for me (not necessarily in the correct order of what we saw).

Growing in the swampy forests of the southwest, the Scented Boronia has been used traditionally during ceremonies, celebrations and special occasions. The fragrance has inspired commercial production in southwest Australia and other states for cut flower, perfume and confectionary industries.

These are called Banksia.  They come in a variety of colors.

• The bottom middle photo is of a sculpture and mosaic depicting the leaves of the Banksia.
• The bottom right is called a Honey Eater  who is sucking the nectar of the Banksia.

These next photos are some Eucalyptus plants.

• The top photo is Eucalyptus juvenile and mature leaves together
• middle one is Eucalyptus nuts and flowers
• lower one is unopened Eucalyptus flower.

We passed by a couple of Magpies playing with each other.

I learned that Wonnil Peppermint leaves contain the aromatic scent of peppermint. When crushed and inhaled the scent helps relieve fevers.   The leaves were used as antiseptic and the saplings made good spear shaft and digging sticks.

The next photo is of Everlastings  (not opened) and a Smoke Bush.

Below is a  Gija Jumulu (Boab Tree) that was moved 3200 km from Telegraph Creek, near Warmum, North Western Australia. The 750-year-old (estimated) Gija Jumulu was planted on July 20, 2008. This was the longest land journey of a tree this size in history. The construction of a new bridge in the great northern highway would have required the tree to be cut down. The Gija people of East Kimberley gifted the Jumulu to the people of Western Australia.

On the way back to the city we walked down a road lined with Kari Trees. The Centenary Committee planted these trees in 1929. There is a plaque by each tree with the name of the person who played to have it planted.

We decided to go to a movie in the evening so we walked back to the theater in Perth. On the way we stopped at the Stable Bar just to look at Sables Bar. It was built on the site of the original Perth police stables. It looked like a fun place to get a bite to eat although it was quite expensive.   The waitress told us that the four-course dinner (for a minimum of 4 people) was a good deal. The cost would only be $45 per person. Jan and I found this sign posted on the way into the bar very interesting.

Luckily the theater added on another showing to start 10 minutes after the showing of Perfect Strangers ((an Italian movie) because the show-time we wanted to attend was sold out. We went out for a pizza before the show. Pizza was good and the movie was quite enjoyable.

We walked to the bus stop and took the bus back to Lyn’s house to check on Rose. She was still not feeling well.

I loved spending the day in Perth with Jan.