a Walk through the Park

Got a late start today since we didn't get to bed until after 3:30 a.m. Tried to figure out the bus system but ended up just hoping on a bus and as soon as it got close to something, we hoped off. It dropped us at the entrance to King's Park which is a large park overlooking the Swan River and the different sections of Perth, the major part and South Perth on the opposite bank. Right now the buses are free. Pretty nice to just hop on and go. So into the park and we walked past some of the great huge trees and past some restaurants and a wedding in one of the pavillions and found the WWIi memorial overlooking the river. This also have a 'whisper wall" where if you sit at one end and whisper, the curvature of the wall will carry your voice to someone sitting on the other side. We did not test this as we've been at whisper walls before and they work. There were plenty of people sitting there who weren't sure or just happy to whisper at each other from such a distance.
One of the things I love about Australia is the abundance of flora and fauna that you can't find anywhere else in the world. While they have removed most of the fauna from this area, the park has gardens representing many of the area of Australia. We wandered down the paths taking photos of banksia, kangaroo's paws, and boab trees. Walked through the water garden where I spied a lizard and it took me 5 minutes to figure out it was just a sculpture. Finally over the walkway in the trees and then caught a tram into the city.
As we attemted to get down to the waterfront, we ended up in an outlet mall. All the way to Australia and spend our first day at an outlet mall. Ah well, it was easy to find some lunch there and then work out way down to the river. Our experience in Australia has always been that places close rather early to our way of thinking. So while we finally hit the river around 4 p.m., it was too late for any river cruises. When we finally got across the river, it was too late to go to the zoo. When we finally started working our way back to our hotel, it was too late for the circle buses to be running.
All and all, it was quite a nice day. it was a lot cooler than we expected so we carried our coats with us and needed them after about 5 p.m. Tomorrow we are better organized and have a tour scheduled to get out of town and see some of the sights to the south of Perth

Pictures
boab tree
scarlet banksia
kangaroo paw
crow