Day 6: 15/5/2007

A new day, and we wake up late.

What happened was that my mom and I woke up several times during the night and so ended up sleeping over the time. We initially planned to wake up at 6.30am and go for breakfast at 7am. However, we ended up waking up at 7.30am.

Still, catching bus 37 to King's Park was a relatively trouble-free experience. By readint the sign, we found out not all bus 37 went to King's Park. It only ran at certain times. With some queries my mom and I managed to figureo ut which bus to take.

King's Park is huge. It features a bontanical garden, memorials and huge rolling fields among others. As we were there early we saw a lot of birds. We even heard kookabura. There were lorikeets, magpies, and a new bird with red neck patches, black spotted chest on white, yellow underbelly and brown everywhere else. The scenery was also excellent. From the top of the hill, a wonder view of the city, Swan River, and another river whose name I can't remember could be seen. The park is a lovely place to just walk and relax.

We joined a guided tour at the Visitor's Centre and the guide told us a lot of tidbits about eucalyptus and acacia. The eucalyptus is so named as the petals are hard, and the 'cup' of the bud will fall out to reveal the stamens and pistils. And the acacia is similar to the ones in Singapore, only that the leaves fall off, leaving the stems behind to make food for the plant.

Sadly, we had to cut our tour short as it was growing closer to lunch time. To head back, we went across the Lotterybank bridge. This bridge goes through the treetops and lets you get a panoramic view of the landscape. It was very lovely.

After leaving King's Park, we headed for lunch. Initially, we planned to eat at Carnegie's, but the lunch speciial didn't tempt us. We then had to go the restaurant about 4 stops earlier. A dilenma faced us: should we take the bus the long way aaround, or walk?

With trusty map in hand, I navigated our way to an earlier bus stop. It was then an easy matter to get to The Oyster Grill. We decided to get the Surf 'n Turf, steak with prawns, and a dozen oysters. The steak was awesome except for the burnt outside, but it was incredibly juicy and tender. The oysters were pretty awesome, though smaller and less slupry than the usual.

The lunch was filling, and we decided to explore the Yellow Cat route, as well as check out Harbour Town Outlet Centre. The Yellow line is considerably less exciting than the other lines, but it leads to the government centre and passes by a cemetery. We went to the Outlet Centre but weren't impressed.

I'm surprised to learn that today is my second last day in Perth. The week passed surprisingly fast. Last day tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.