Perth and home

18 Mar (Day 52): Adrian suggested a trip to the Perth Mint, just a short walk away from his place, although he has never been there. We had a relaxed breakfast and then sauntered down the road to the Mint, purchasing one of their guided tours. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, had excellent props to help him explain the history of gold mining and eventually the creation of a Royal Mint in Perth, through to when the Perth Mint separated from the Royal Mint in London and became its own master. He also demonstrated how to create a gold nugget, how heavy an ingot actually is, why it is absolutely impossible to steal and how much we would each be worth if we had our weight in gold. I was worth $8,441,610.00 AUS after all the ice-cream, cake, chocolate and wine over the past 8 weeks!

We wandered off to find a light lunch as we were going out in the evening so didn't need too much. Adrian had arranged a meal with friends in a restaurant. It also included the parent's of one of his friends as he is always invited to theirs each Christmas and thought it would be nice for us to meet them, particularly as Andrew was born and brought up in Shetland. A wonderful last evening in Australia with Adrian and 8 of his friends. A really great event and a bit of a birthday celebration for Adrian too, although I did remind him that he's not allowed to tell anyone his true age if I am with him, he needs to dock at least 10 years or so. 

Adrian gave us a bit of a tour of Perth by night on the way back and the bridge was lit up beautifully - have I run out of superlatives yet? Stopped for photos!

More photos from Saturday 18 March

19 Mar (Day 53): Our very last day in Australia as our flight leaves at 19:00 today. A lovely day so we wander down to the riverside in Perth and manage to blag our way into a riverside café table that is obviously 'THE' place to be on a sunny Sunday morning in East Perth. After a very pleasant brunch we head along the river for a riverside walk and then head back across parkland. A couple of interesting things; trees with their roots going along the top of the grass in order to gain as much water as they can I guess and iron-stained walls where the water sprinkler has stained them from the iron within the water being used for the gardens. The colours are so vibrant here, I shall miss those beautiful sights. We will also miss our family. Rachel video calls during the afternoon as we are still almost in her time zone before we head home to being 9 (BST) or 11 hours (GMT) behind her and 7 or 8 hours behind Adrian. 

I re-pack and re-weigh our bags for the final time, crossing our fingers that we've managed to get it right and that we don't lose anything this time. Adrian drops us at the airport late afternoon, very emotional time for us. Took off that evening for the 17 and 3/4 hour flight from Perth straight back to Heathrow. So sad.

More photos from Sunday 19 March

20 Mar (Day 54): Landed at Heathrow at 05:20 and arrived back to Kylie's just over an hour later. A very lazy day with Kylie and George and then met friends for a meal in a pub early evening before back to try and get some sleep at Kylie's. 

21 Mar (Day 55): We set off for home. Disastrous start as the whole of the Hampton Court roads were gridlocked so I walked to get a coffee and a croissant from a cafe and back to the car to find that Ray had literally moved a few yards up the road. We enjoyed our coffee in the car and eventually made it onto the motorway and home, arriving just before 20:00 and so to bed. 

Goodnight great adventure, we have so thoroughly enjoyed being with you. We can't believe how much we have crammed into just a few months; aided and abetted by our fantastic family. xxxxxx