We had time out from the van when we got to Perth. We stayed with a friend Carol, in Bassendean, in the Swan Valley, near the Swan River. We had a lot of fun and met some great people, especially her neighbours Steve and John.
We didn’t do a lot of sight seeing but did manage to have lunch at Cottesloe Beach. I also had a great morning checking out the strip of second hand shops in James Street, Guildford, with the highlight being the Natural History museum of taxidermy. It is a quirky fabulous place, showing the labour of love and commitment of the life’s work of Michael Buzza. According to Michael, absolutely no animals are killed for the purpose of taxidermy…I asked! Most of the stuffed animals were road kill or died while in a zoo or reserve. Animals are bidded for at auction by museums and collectors from all over the world. Competition is highest if the animal is a rare species, because everyone wants them for their collections.
After 3 days with Carol we headed down south to Yallingup (see later post). We spent a week at Yallingup and then left the camper set up, while we returned to Perth, for another couple of nights with Carol. The car needed to be serviced and I got some dental work done. We spent an afternoon in Fremantle hanging out in some very inspiring textile designer shops and café in Wray St. They really got my creative yearnings going because they were so full of fun colour and passionate people. We caught a train out to Cottosloe beach (again) and walked through the suburb looking at all the large old stately houses and gardens….gorgeous. We could easily live there in our dreams. We also visited some other great shops and bars in Leederville and Mt Lawley. While in Mt Lawley it was so good to catch up with friends Gretta and Andrew for breakfast.
Perth is an amazing place, with a great lifestyle, and we could easily hang out there for a couple of years if it wasn’t so far away from the rest of Australia.