It's one of the world's largest inner city parks with 400 hectares, where over 3000 of our State's unique flora is displayed.
Because of its location on Mount Eliza, the park overlooks the Swan and Canning Rivers, as well as the city skyline and South Perth.
We just walked around the main area of the park, as we had a full day of sightseeing planned.
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| The city and Swan River, War Memorial, View of South Perth and the red roof of the Old Swan Brewery, |
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| Kings Park |
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| Kings Park |
Back in the car, we drove to the Perth Mint (310 Hay st), on the east side of the city.
We paid our entrance fees and were just in time to join a guided tour group.
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| Perth Mint |
The highlight of the visit is to be able to watch a traditional gold pour in the original 1899 melting house, during which pure gold is heated to molten temperatures and poured into a mould to make a solid gold bar (or a star in our case).
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| Melting gold which would be poured into a star mould |
Established in 1899, the Perth Mint holds the Guinness World Record for a 1 tonne gold coin and the second largest natural nugget in existence.
The gold coin is 99,99% pure gold, 80cm wide and 12cm deep, and the most valuable bullion coin in the world, with an estimated worth of more than Aud50 million.
One side of the coin depicts a red kangaroo and the date 2012, and the reverse side is the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the denomination 1 million dollars.
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| Gold nuggets, the 1 million dollar coin |
You could also try and lift a gold bar, read about the various uses of gold in technology and medicine, and at the end we had fun getting a printout of our weight in gold with the monetary value of the day.
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| Find out my weight in gold |
Lunch time was approaching and we drove to the new Optus Stadium area, but were unable to park due to an upcoming match later that day, and were directed to park at one of the car parks at the nearby Crown Casino.
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| Perth Crown Casino |
We've had lunch there a couple of times, the food is good and the atmosphere is great too.
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| Crossing from the Casino to the Stadium area, Optus Stadium and Matugarup bridge |
After lunch Karina and Jose walked back to the Casino car park to get the cars and they drove into the city, while I and the other 4 walked across the Matagarup bridge, past Victoria Gardens into the suburb of East Perth, a former industrial area, now a popular chic apartment area bordering Claisebrook Cove inlet with riverside cafes and restaurants.
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| Crossing the Matagarup bridge, with Isabelle and Max sitting at one of the cement planter/benches |
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| Victoria Gardens in East Perth |
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| Claisebrook Cove with the city in the background and the lovely apartment blocks |
On the way there, we stopped to take photos at London Court, an open roofed shopping arcade designed to look like a Tudor castle, we crossed inside the State Buildings, we photographed the Christmas decorations in the city centre...
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| Inside London Court arcade |
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| London Court |
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| The State Buildings |
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| Christmas lights in the city and Stirling Gardens |
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| Christmas Kangaroos at Stirling Gardens in front of Perth's City Council and the kangaroo statues |
And when we finally reached Elizabeth Quay we found a very grumpy Jose and Karina as they had been waiting for us for a long time!
A drink at a nearby bar was in order to placate their bad moods, and they did cheer up!
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| Elizabeth Quay, with Spanda (orbit statue), the Swan Bells and the new highrise buildings |
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| Prancer, the reindeer at Elizabeth Quay |
Time to get back in the car to drive across the Swan river to South Perth to have dinner at the South Perth strEATS food vans.
We admired the new statues by the South Perth foreshore - the Numbat and the Frilled Neck Lizard were imposing, and the group of meerkats just too cute.
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| Statues - Frilled neck lizard and Numbat, dinosaurs?, Meerkats and leaves |
With the best views of the city skyline as a background the StrEATS food event runs from October to April.
The event appeared to be popular, with live music, lots of people eating either sitting down at the tables by the vans or otherwise sitting on the grass next to the river.
One of my former colleagues and her husband had their waffles van - Wicked Waffles - there too, and we ended our meal by sharing a couple of delicious waffles.
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| Picnicking on the grass, a musician played while we ate, the food vans, the night views of the city |
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| The Numbat and the Frilled Neck Lizard at the South Perth Foreshore |
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| One of the few photos with the 7 of us - in South Perth with the city lights across the Swan River |
After dinner we got back in the cars and returned to the city centre, parked our cars and walked around admiring the Christmas lights display. I loved it, it all looked so magical!
It was a very long day of sightseeing, I would say about 10 hours on the go, and it was about 11pm when we returned home for some well deserved rest.
...Sami, you better hurry wrapping up your wonderful December, soon it will be time to wrap up January. Where does the time go?
ReplyDeleteNot much to go Tom, lol. I've hardly done anything worth talking about in January, compared to December :)
DeleteI've always wanted to spend Christmas in a warm place. I need to do that. How fun and you took some great shots too.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. Big hug. ♥
Christmas in Summer is quite different, you should try it :) Maybe Australia?
DeleteHave a great week.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rue :)
DeleteOh my gosh..10 hours on the go! You must have been exhausted Sami. You certainly packed a lot into that day. Always enjoy your wrap ups. I was a bit surprised last week in the city that the Christmas lights were still up but really enjoyed seeing them here at night. Looking forward to catching up xox
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace, looking forward to next week :)
DeleteThe lights still up, that's surprising, they must be busy.
That would be so cool to watch the gold pour. Those decorations and lights are just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeanie, I love the Christmas decorations, they make me feel like a kid again :)
DeleteGreat photos and what a long day. I didn't know the area of Kings Park is called Mount Eliza. The mint sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew, Kings Park is one of my favourite spots in Perth, the views are fabulous. The Mint was interesting.
DeleteA lot of walking in that day. The Mint would particularly fascinate me.
ReplyDeleteI had visited the Mint once a long time ago, but I found it more interesting this time. Thanks William
DeleteI am a very big fan of botanic gardens. They are inherently interesting and always both entertaining and educational to visit. Birds are at home there and, having become accustomed to people, are generally more confiding that their wild cousins.
ReplyDeleteThanks David. There are quite a few species of birds that either live or visit the Perth botanic gardens.
DeleteDearest Sami,
ReplyDeleteWow, that was a full day of sightseeing and experiencing some Australian culture.
That Record Breaking Coin is quite something - https://www.perthmint.com/1-tonne-gold-coin.aspx
Loved seeing its making.
Haha, your husband and daughter are not very appreciative of you being an avid and excellent photographer! One cannot fly and chase people off in order to capture things...
But glad you met up and finished off in a perfect Christmas setting as well. Double bonus as it is summer and looking magical.
Oh, I know that feeling of such a long day... the bed feels SO good in the end but you cannot do it in two parts either and so what?!
Hugs,
Mariette
I just saw on tv recently a documentary about that coin, and in July last year it was displayed at the New York Stock Exchange to promote Australian gold. I can get a bit carried away with photos and showing off our city to visitors, lol. Thanks Mariette.
Delete😉
DeleteEsses parques públicos muito bem cuidados e espaçosos fazem inveja.
ReplyDeleteKung Hei Fat Choi!
Sim, sempre bem cuidados Pedro. Bom Novo Ano Chines!
DeleteAhhh, Kings Park, I love it.
ReplyDeleteThe traditional gold pour sounds interesting! Yet... hot...
Fun idea with your weight in gold.
Oh, the hot air balloon must look awesome at night! As the roos.
Hmmm, food events! I get hungry by the thought of it.
Thank you for bringing back Christmas lights, as I look to the left I see the neighbour´s roof covered in a thin layer of icey snow.
What a marathon day you had, it must´ve been a load of fun :-)
The gold pouring was far away from the public and he was well kitted out :) That hot air balloon was very pretty. It was a marathon day, I think we were all exhausted by the end of it! Ummm snow, too cold. Thanks Iris.
DeleteMy weight in gold. Now there's a thought! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Revrunner :)
DeleteI remember you showing us King's Park and the War Memorial before. It looked different without the poppies.
ReplyDeleteLOVED seeing the gold being melted and smelted. That would be a fun place to visit. Our mints are free to visit, though, so I was surprised you had to pay. But ours are run by our govt., which may be why you had to pay.
Really enjoyed the Christmas decorations and loved seeing all you did that fifth day out and about.
Thanks Elizabeth. That area of Kings Park does look different with all the poppies in bloom.
DeleteThe Perth Mint is owned by the Western Australian government, so State owned, but we still pay to visit. They also have a shop where they sell commemorative coins and jewellery.
I do like the photograph of the seven of you :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan