World cruise 24

February 21

This morning we docked at Freemantle, Australia which is the deep water port for Perth and a very early settlement in its own right.

The weather was fine with highs in the low to mid-80s forecast for today and tomorrow, but rocketing up past 100 the day after we leave. We are all glad that our itinerary did not take us up the east coast with 2 cyclones, i.e. hurricanes, headed that way. Hopefully those storms won't catch up with us in Indonesia.

This morning Margaret went ashore to take the free shuttle and check out Freemantle. I was going to go, but decided to be lazy instead.

Late this afternoon we went on a tour. First we passed some beautiful beach areas . At one there were a lot of kite surfing which is akin to wind surving, but higher and probably less controllable and hard to photograph well.

On out to the wine country past Perth, we went to a corroboree where we had a lovely reception and "bush tucker" dinner. As we got off the bus, we received a glass of champagne with a flower in the bottom.

As we settled at tables on the lawn under huge trees, young ladies came around with appetizers including bush tomato mousse in pastry cases, barramundi skewers with lemon aspen syrup and balsamic glaze, and wonton prawns with lemon myrtle and chili dipping sauce. I tried one of the prawns (without the chili sauce) which promptly dripped all over my shirt. *sigh*

Next was the entree of emu three ways: smoked emu on baked sweet potato topped with native spinach leaves; grilled spicy emu, pepperberry and pork chorizo served on mashed potato; and an emu meatball flavored with bush herbs and drizzled with bush BBQ sauce. I apologize (especially to Nancy H) for not getting a photo of this very attractive course. I ate everything but the spinach leaves.

Also on the tables were pitchers of a punch made with quondongs and, I think, sparkling water or maybe ginger ale. Quondongs are sort of like peaches. Anyway, it was refreshing. Here's Judith pouring for Margaret.

During that entree course, Dale, who owns the place where we were and is an aborigine, welcomed us and introduced us to some of aboriginal culture. We were welcomed by another aborigine from another country (each clan has its own territory or country...over 800...each with its own language). As dinner progressed, several young men demonstrated the didgeridoo and some dances.

Next was the main course which you can see below. It consisted of kangaroo stew with quondongs and dried bush tomatoes, rice with wattleseed and macadamia nuts, and a salsd. I enjoyed everything, but skipped the salad as I was completely full by this time.

Dessert was a sort of compote of chocolate, roasted wattleseed, coconut creme and chia seed served with Australian bush fruits in syrip and whipped cream. I tasted it, and ate a few of the berry-like fruits, but didn't have room for the whole thing. Along with the dessert came hot tea for which I was grateful as by then the sun hal gone down and the temperature had dropped. If this was how the Aussies brew tea, i was amazed. It was as thick and opaque as any thrice-boiled Turkish tea I've ever had. Not bad, just different.

After dinner, we visited the gallery that Dale runs that features aboriginal art and spices. On our trip back, after dark, we were routed around a bunch of different sites that we mostly couldn't see before finally getting home about 10:30 p.m. I say "home" because when we're in port, there is a sign near the gangway that says "Welcome Home," and the security guys that check us back aboard by scanning oour keycards always say, "Welcome home,"

February 22

Up early and off on yet another bus. This time we saw many of the same sights that we went by in the dark last night. The main street of Freemantle was a whole lot quieter on Sunday morning than it had been on Saturday night as it is called "Coffee Row" for all the cafes and coffee shops lining both sides.

Next we passed by and around the Freemantle Prison dating from the days went convicts were transported from England. Most were not locked up when they got here but were put to work on farms and building things like roads, public buildings, the port, etc.

We saw a lot of pricey real estate along the Swan Rivver which goes through Perth and Freemantle. We even caught a brief glimpse of some of the black swans for which the river is named. Our driver put the bus through its paces as we toured lovely residential areas in both Freemantle and Perth.

The best part of this trip was a nice long visit to Kings Park and Botanical Garden. It's high on a bank of the Swan River with a panoramic view of downtown Perth.

There is a nice coffee shop with outdoor seating under umbrellas where we had a fine mid-morning tea break. There's a gift shop that carries exquisite high end merchandise from jewelry to books to artwork and crafts. All things that I appreciated but did not buy while Margaret went off walkabout photographing interesting plants.