The weather hasn't improved much so we decided to book into a caravan park in Perth so that we can have a bit of comfort while we do some business and get the car and the truck serviced.
We booked in to the caravan park, dumped the black water, settled in and had a cosy evening.
The weather was overcast again but we had to do the laundry. As it happened, it fined up and the washing was hung out to dry.
We went into Perth to pick up Jean's airline ticket which happened without any drama. Being in town, we visited Kings Park. Both of us were surprised as it wasn't at all like we remembered from our brief visit in 1968 on our way from Southampton to Sydney.
We had plenty of time and needed somewhere to have lunch so we went on to Perth Zoo. This is a very sad place because there is obviously not enough money to do even the basic things like keep the weeds at bay. Many of the bird cages had the wrong or non-existent signs.
There were some really good bits. The fairy Penguin exhibit is very charming. The reptile house was the highlight of our visit. This is reasonably new and has been done very well. The central enclosure with low glass walls contains six or seven species of blue tongue, bearded dragon, and frill necks and one get a really up close experience of the animals. The Perentie exhibit, with two animals at about eye height and only a metre or so away, is very compelling.
We returned to Midland to do the shopping and got back to the caravan park in time to get the laundry in before the chill of the evening brought the damp to the clothes.
The Little Motley was booked in for service at Midland, a few km from the caravan park. I decided to take the Motley as well to give us freedom of movement.
While Jean was in Spotlight, I enquired at Bob Janes T Mart about tyres for the Motley. His price seemed OK so I booked it in for the afternoon to replace the four rear tyres which were close to the end of their life.
When we collected the Little Motley, they said that there was a fault in one of the Engine Management System modules and they had requisitioned a replacement and would fit it under warranty whenever I wished. I planned to do it after lunch and after the tyres were fitted to the Motley but here the plan got into trouble. Eventually we went back to the Holden Service Centre leaving the Motley at Bob Janes. After a long wait, we got the Little Motley back and returned to Bob Janes to pick up the Motley just before closing time.
It was a long day but at least we got a lot done.
Up before sparrowfart to get the Motley to Cannington 20 km away for an 8 am start of a day long service. We took the Little Motley so that we could spend the day doing whatever turned up.
We decided to go to Fremantle and I stopped on the way for breakfast at Macas.
The town of Fremantle is a nice place with plenty of old buildings but with the traffic problems typical of a modern city.
We had lunch of fish and chips in a park near the fishermans wharf tourist trap.
Back to Cannington to pick up the Motley and drive back to Caversham. Something I had eaten had not agreed with me so I skipped the evening meal.
We have to move money from Sydney to Perth so we sought out a Bendigo Bank branch in nearby Bayswater and opened an account. We will have the Credit Union transfer funds electronically to the new account so that we can buy travellers cheques for Jean to take to San Francisco.
Late in the evening one of the curtain rails collapsed into my lap. I tried to fix it but it is so difficult to get at the screws that I left it for tomorrow.
I fixed the curtain before breakfast and then decided to have a totally work free rest of the day. There was motor racing from Mt Panorama on the box all afternoon which helped.