January 26th - 29th

Jan 26th
Flight took 3 1/2 hrs, arrived 8.30am. It was 26c that early in the morning. Drove to our backpackers lodge, dumped our bags and went into the city. It's Australia Day today, public holiday celebrating the founding of Australia. Walked along Swan River waterfront, lots of concerts today, with the outline of Perth city in the background.
This is Perths Wheel, similar to the Eye , in London.
Perth city from the river.
Went to Kings Park, which is bigger than Central Park, in NY. Beautiful park, with botanical gardens, waterfalls, bridges etc.. This was taken on one of the many look-outs.
A helicopter was flying the flag all afternoon, as were many Australians.
This is a Tudor shopping center, in downtown Perth. Quite exclusive shops though, but very english.
In the evening, we drove to the south side of the river as fireworks were scheduled for 8pm. As did thousands of others. This event was a non-alcohol event, and the place was saturated with police. This is the first year to ban alcohol, due to previous trouble. Everyone was on their best behavoir. Even us, we kept our box wine in the bag!!
Perth, as the sun was setting.
Fireworks were great, and lasted for 1/2 hr. The whole city was lit up, great evening event.
Jan 27th,
Packed our bags, and drove to Magaret River, which is a famous wine area. Stayed at the local YHA. Found a great winery, with fantastic gardens. They net the vines as the grapes ripen, to stop the birds and kangeroos eating them.
Entrance to the Voyager Estates Winery. Great place for a picnic, but as we got there at 10am, it was too early to have lunch, not too early to drink wine mind you!!
The tasting room, build in 1996, but looked like it was built in 1896.
The rose gardens, each row of vines had the usual rose bush at the end.

All the wineries fly the flag.
Jan 29th,
Packed and started driving back to Perth, with a stop at Fremantle. It's a 3 hr drive, so we stopped for lunch at this place. The beach, again, is empty and beautiful. Can't get over the beaches and how empty they all are!
View from the other end. Where do Australians go for their holiday? If you have this on your doorstep, it's hard to imagine paying airfare to go to anyother beach.
Stopped at Fremantle, one of the oldest harbours. Downtown is this beautiful catholic church.
The fishing boats and yachts at the harbour.
Fremantle market in downtown. Very small town, with few shops, but it attracts a lot of tourists.
City hall in downtown. We finished our walking tour of the city within 30 minutes, that shows how small this place is, cute but tiny. Drove into Perth, where we have to waste time because our flight to Bali has a check-in time of 3am! Love these cheap flights!