Drinking coffee in a quiet cafe opposite Smellie & Co, we were struck by the name. The Treasury Building, Old Government House and The Mansions (with stone cats at either end of the top balustrade) are some of the few remaining older buildings.

The Parklands area between our hotel on the main road and the river was a beautiful leisure area. The pool was a man-made beach which was used mainly by children in the day and by adults in the evening. Even on Friday night there was no litter, no rowdyness, just people of all ages enjoying the area.
The Brisbane river is spanned by many bridges.

There were many apartment blocks close to the river and also many houses with moorings. The whole area is very pleasant without being spectacular.

The boat trip was not quite as upmarket as in the Galapagos. The on-board photographer had lived some time in South America and was interesting to talk to. We were also chatting in the sea to a UK girl doing her first medical job New Zealand to discover she was from Derby!
Just after this the light worsened but the top view is apparently the most photographed anyway.

For about 30 mins at dusk, the sky in Hervey Bay was full of hundreds of thousands of fruit bats which had left their daytime roosts to go in search of fruit, mainly to be found in fruit farms in the locality. Farmers have nets draped over the trees but the number of bats is truly astounding.
We heard the Kookaburras whilst we had a picnic and spotted one close by. The yellow faced bird has yet to be identified.

We had a most enjoyable evening. The food and wine were good and we had a beautiful view of the stars with the Milky Way and Magellan clouds clearly visible. An astronomer gave us a guided tour of the heavens and we can now use the Southern cross and other stars to find due south!

The various markings on the rocks have significance to the different Aboriginal tribes, and not necessarily the same to each tribe. In the last 10 years or native people have started to regard photographing certain parts of the rock as damaging to the rock.

We were so pleased that we had our face nets - the flies were intolerable. They look for moisture and hence target eyes and ears. Bad for 5 months of the year, they are worst at this time!
The rock is actually on its side and goes 4km into the earth. In places the layers can clearly be seen to be vertical.

There is water in at least 2 different pools, and this was clearly significant to native people. Everything is just very red - and the colours change with the different light. It was in the high 30s by the time we finished and it was easy to understand why people die every year, particularly if they walk up. This is only allowed 2 days per week and only if the temperature is below 36°. The walk up is just a trek holding onto the rail and down again - deliberately not made interesting other than for the views.

Sundown, sunrise and daytime, plus Ian defending himself from the flies in the reception area of the hotel - note the camouflage fabric on top!
Ayers Rock resort is a group of hotels and shops of various levels, all owned by one company. It would benefit from some completion.

The old dockland area. The tunnel was excavated in 1837 by the Fremantle Whaling Company to afford easy access to the harbour. It is underneath the Round House, the original town prison (more info).

We really did not expect such a good tour. This prison was built in the year that the Tasmanian one we visited was closed down. Cell arrangements from the different eras plus the rules and regulations of the times, made provoking and depressing reading.

In the last era of the prison it was decided that prisoners should be allowed to paint their cells and the walls of the exercise yard, to reduce violence. Most of the pictures are of outside openness and freedom. The exercise yard was a prisoners' jungle and prison officers only watched from behind iron gates.
The hanging cell was quite chilling; apparently no failures.

Farming

Perth is a modern city with some old buildings remaining. Note the brass monkeys on the Brass Monkey Hotel. The clock in the Jacobean fronted building has figures on horses above it which go round when the clock strikes. The fire service building is very grand. It's a statue not a street artist - a difficult pose to hold for any length of time!

The mint is in an imposing building, now really just a museum with interesting coins and lumps of gold. No cameras, presumably to avoid security systems being photographed.

We initially thought we had rats in front of our room but their kangaroo-like jumping showed that they were marsupial. They were nocturnal and voracious feeders. Best conclusion is that they are a dunnart, which lives in the woodland in the area, but are under threat.
Our 90 min walk out of the town was then along an old railway line before going through the wood to walk along the Margaret River back to our apartment.

The food belongs to the Voyager Estate restaurant - two tasting platters to share. Vasse Felix food was very creative but spoiled by the slow delivery and particularly poor waitress service.

This is South Africa transplanted into Western Australia. The building and estate layout is recent, and looks superb. Australia's largest underground barrel store is below the flagpole (60m x 30m x 6m).

Across the bridge and down there are many former British Navy buildings that have been converted to other use, including the restaurant we were introduced to. Lots of piers and scuba activities in the area.

The Harbour Bridge is clearly visible from the gardens. A dead tree is being sculpted and the upper design can be seen. There are lots of birds and ducks, feeding on the vegetation.

We had no trouble finding the bats in the park - still destroying the valuable trees and reluctant to move to an alternative location. It was a bit early for much activity, but a few had woken up for the nighttime feeding on fruit trees. Wing span 1m.