Happy
Thanksgiving Day! On Thursday, 27 November,
Jesse awoke at 5:00 AM and downloaded the e-mail; however, he did not return to
bed until 7:30 and finally got out of bed at 9:00 AM. Sally awoke even later. Since we had slept so late, we had time for only
breakfast before boarding a ship’s tender for the 25 km ride to the pier at
11:45. (Skipping lunch for a change was
probably a good thing!)
It
was raining when we boarded the tender.
When we were landing at the pier, a crew member lifted an overhead
awning and nearly drenched us. We were
saved by being only a few inches from the small downpour. Since everyone had arrived at the pier early
for this excursion, we were allowed to board our coach and start our tour 30
minutes early, at 12:30 PM. Since only
one other couple boarded the coach after us, we had a choice of two sets of
seats. This time the tour guide doubled
as the coach driver, as he narrated the highlights of Busselton and navigated
the small town and countryside streets and roads.
Our coach
followed the beautiful 18-mile coastline of Geographe Bay to the seaside town of
Dunsborough, where we stopped at Palmer Wines for a taste of their award-winning
vintages. Palmer Wines is set in idyllic
surrounding, with a small vineyard on the grounds. Once inside the tasting room, we sipped and
savored various wines, and were given an opportunity to purchase any that we
liked at a significant “Princess” discount.
(We didn’t buy any.)
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| Palmer's Wine Vineyard |
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| Canal Rocks |
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| More Canal Rocks |
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| Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse |
En
route to our final stop at the town of Dunsborough, we journeyed past the
magnificent surf beaches and quiet coves that sit on the southwest side of the
Cape. As we inched closer to Dunsborough, our coach
meandered its way past vineyards, breweries and through the town of Yallingup. An Aboriginal word meaning "Place of
Love," Yallingup is famous as the location of Ngilgi Cave, a revered Aboriginal
site and popular tourist attraction.
Dunsborough
is the northernmost town in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, an area of
rugged limestone sea cliffs and windswept granite headlands that stretches to
the southern shores of Cape Leeuwin. Perched
on the picturesque Geographe Bay, Dunsborough was first known as a whaling
station over a century ago; today, the town offers plenty of chic boutiques,
beautiful beaches and relaxed eateries. For
a short time, we walked in a small shopping area, where we passed a realty
office. In the window were photos of
homes with magnificent views on sale for a bargain price of perhaps “only”
one-half million Australian dollars – and several for more than that.
We recognized the couple seated behind us on
the coach, from the dance floor – Kevin and Martha from Brisbane. Actually, they hadn’t been dancing for a few
days because Martha somehow managed to injure her back.
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| On Princess Tender |
During
dinner, we conversed with Mylene and Vivian from Tasmania. They were the first couple that we’ve met
thus far who actually lives in Tasmania.
We laughed when Vivian said he had a “girl’s” name. I asked him if he had a story similar to the
“boy named Sue,” in the country western song.
They shared a lot of information about the Aborigines. In Tasmania there are almost no Aborigines
because the authorities rounded them up and shot them dead during the early
days of settlement. This was not a proud
moment in Tasmanian history, but it is only one of the many horror stories that
we’ve heard about mistreatment of the Aborigines. The only “pure” Tasmanian Aborigine passed
away a few years ago at the age of 103. Today,
there seems to be more respect for Aboriginal culture and religious beliefs,
but the few who are left still suffer from wide-spread discrimination.
Since
we finished dinner at 7:45 PM and dancing was not scheduled to start until 8:45
PM, we returned to our cabin for a little while before going to the Wheelhouse
Bar. There we sat with Paul and Mary and
danced until 9:45 PM before retiring for the night.
Freemantle and Perth
On Friday,
28 November, Jesse awoke about 6:00, downloaded e-mail, and returned to bed at
7:00. After breakfast at lounging for a
while in our cabin, we left the ship for our tour meet up point on the pier at
11:45 AM. There, we ran into Bob from
Auckland, who was on the same tour. His
wife, Linda, was not with him. She had
taken a fall while disembarking the ship in Albany. Although she was afraid that she might have
damaged her artificial hip during the fall, X-rays did not indicate any
problems; however, she was still on heavy pain medication and was unable to
participate in the excursion.
Diane,
our tour guide, narrated the tour as our driver, Brendon, drove us through the
streets of Fremantle and Perth. The drive took us through historic Fremantle past
Fremantle Prison and the Round House, both built in the early 1800's to house prisoners.
At one point, 10,000 prisoners were in
Fremantle Prison! We traveled along the
Esplanade en route to Perth, the capital
of Western Australia, the largest state in Australia. It comprises one-third of the continent, land
wise, but only eleven percent of Australia’s population. Founded in 1829 and located alongside Swan
River, Perth has a Mediterranean climate, the best of any other Australian
city, and a population that is only one-third that of the major eastern cities. We journeyed through the exclusive suburbs of
Mossman Park, Peppermint Grove, Dalkeith and Millionaires Row, where the homes
of the rich and famous overlook the river. We drove past Matilda Bay, the restored Swan
Brewery and the historic Royal Perth Yacht Club (once home to the America's
Cup). Housing in this area is very
expensive. Our tour guide, Diane,
mentioned that she and her husband had just recently sold their house for two
million dollars!
We
disembarked the coach and visited King's Park, Perth's premiere park which
occupies 1,000 acres along the Swan River. Stunningly beautiful, it features a combination
of cultivated botanical gardens and wild, native bush that is home to 319
species of native plants and over 80 species of birds. We enjoyed free time to explore the grounds
of this breathtaking park. We saw Gija
Jumulu, a mighty baobab tree said to be 750 years old! (Amazingly, it was transplanted from another
location only about two years ago and survives!
Although it looked dead to us, our guide told us that it loses its
leaves after the dry season – and the leaves will grow back.) We also learned the identity of the pine
trees that look so different from American pines, with long needles that grow
straight up; they are Nordic pines.
Also, the common trees with lavender blossoms that beautify many streets
in Australia are called jacaranda trees.
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| Perch Skyline |
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| Gija Jumulu Baobab Tree |
Next,
we made a photo stop at Cottlesloe Beach with beautiful white sand and azure
water. While admiring this beach, Mylene
(from Tasmania, whom we talked with at dinner last night) told us how children
in beach areas are taught water safety at an early age because of beaches with drop-offs
and dangerous currents. She and her
husband had grown up with this skill, and her husband taught others for many
years.
At
4:30 PM, we re-boarded the ship and went immediately to the Horizon Court for a
late lunch (soup and salad) before relaxing for a time before dinner.
At
dinner, we sat next to Peter and Denise from Brisbane; they had only boarded
the ship today. We discussed our travels
and future travel plans. Later, we were joined
on the other side by David and Lynn, from Melbourne, whom we had met
previously. We conversed with them until
it was time for dancing to start. In the
Wheelhouse Bar, we sat with Paul and Mary again, and danced to the Soul Wave
until their break at 9:45 PM before retiring for the night.
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