Perth

This was a momentous day. We were flying to Perth for a week and a half long vacation to Western Australia with the Jacksons. Vacations are always fun, but we were a little nervous, because this was our first time traveling with Immy. Many people had told us the best time to travel with a baby is in the first six months before they are mobile, so that's what we're doing but you never know how she is going to handle everything. We can now report that Immy is a champion traveler. She took everything in stride, which was amazing. This is a picture we snapped of her first plan ride. She was pretty interested in her special baby seat belt.

This is why we love Qantas. Our flight from Melbourne to Perth wasn't full, so they arranged, without us asking, for there to be an empty seat next to us. Immy had her own seat to stretch out and sleep on. That made the flight so much easier! Since we were flying in the late evening it was pretty much her bedtime anyway, so she slept the whole time. Best baby ever.

First stop- Cottlesloe Beach! Here's Bob and Greg getting in the Indian Ocean. Pretty cool. Greg's now swam in three out of four oceans. Watch out Arctic- we are coming for you. But probably in a wetsuit. You probably aren't as sunny and beautiful as this.

Clearly, Bob is enjoying the water. We probably could have left him there for a week and he would have been perfectly happy.

Olivia, enjoying things not so much. In her defense, this was like the eighth picture in a row.

 

The Perth skyline. It's a city of around 1.5 million people, making it the fourth largest city in Australia. About 60% of the population of Western Australia lives in Perth. It's a pretty wide open, desolate country. Perth's climate is very similar to San Diego, it never rains, and while it can get quite hot the strong wind coming off the ocean keeps it feeling comfortable. Bob remarked that it felt a lot like Southern California (in the '80's) as well- it's growing fast, but clearly there is still a ton more to do. Investment alert!

Fun US trivia- Perth is the furthest major city in the world from the continental United States. We've gone as far as we can to get away from you America, everything from here is just working our way back.

This is the Swan Bell Tower which sits right on the water. It opened December 16th, 2000 as Western Australia's Millennium Project. The bell tower is designed so that tourists can go up and view the bells, even while they are ringing. These are the only bells in the world with such a distinction. The bells include those from St. Martin-in-the-Field, the parish church of Buckingham Palace. They've been in existence for over five hundred years and have rung out to announce such historic events as the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the homecoming of Captain Cook. They've also been rung to celebrate the coronation of every British monarch since King George II in 1727. Not bad.

In the early 1980's, an Australian ship won the America's Cup sailing competition. It was a come out of nowhere, major upset, and Australians consider it a major point of pride. Some still feel it is the nation's greatest sporting achievement ever. When the sailing ship returned home from its victory to Perth it became a de-facto holiday, with people everywhere skipping work to celebrate and watch the winning ship come to port. The Prime Minister, famously, had this to say -

While we were walking around we came across some kangaroo statues, and like every tourist ever stopped to get our picture taken with them. Immy is going for a ride.

You may not be able to tell, but this is Olivia's kangaroo pose.

Taking a stroll through the national gardens.

Just a super interesting sculpture in front of a church. I think it's supposed to be the Holy Ghost.

While we were spending a week and a half in Western Australia this was really the only day we had set aside for its biggest city. Really glad we got to see it, and it was a day well spent, but the real star of Western Australia is the ocean and all of the natural geography. More on that tomorrow. Stay tuned.