I don't come to this forum often, but I visited Australia for the first time last November (in fact, Oceania and the S. Hemisphere as well). Went to Perth to visit my elderly uncle for a few days. Here are some pictures I took:

Part I - around Perth to Fremantle, Point Walter, Hillarys Boat Harbour, etc:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/perth111810

Part II - mostly Central Perth:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/perth111910

[Singapore and the flights associated with the trip in the enclosing folder:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/hksingaporeperth1110 ]

Enjoy, and comments welcomed!

Brilliant photos rkkwan, thanks for sharing. You've seen more of Perth than I have and I live here. I hope that salmon salad was good!

Thanks Melnq8. Perth is a really beautiful city. Very much like San Diego, but warmer. Especially the waters, much warmer. Very very nice!

Thanks, rkkwan. Great photos. I definitely need to visit Perth after viewing your photos. In fact, I think I might have to revisit Singapore - it looks so different to the Singapore we visited in 1989.
Just a couple of observations although others may well disagree wth me. In Part 2 photo 77 looks like a pink bottlebrush, Callistemon genus; photo 96 looks more like an agapanthus, also known as the Lily of the Nile.

Thanks very much, dotty. I know nothing about plants, and actually spent a bit of time googling last night for the names of them.

Lovely to see you in our part of the world, rkkwan. Dotty's right - those plants are a pink bottlebrush and an agapanthus, both of which are used in street plantings here.

Agapanthus are often used for median plantings as they're hardy, evergreen, pretty when in flower and not too ugly when not.

Thanks for the links to your great pics - reminded me it's far too long since I've been to Perth.

You mentioned the Bali bombing memorial. Bali's a very popular destination for Australians, and West Australians in particular, as it's only about 3 1/2 hour flight from Perth. And costs eleven & sixpence (said with the green eyed jealousy of an "Eastern Stater" (lol)

As an aside, many Australians contribute to help Bali's people, either through organised donation & volunteering or privately. Lots have been regular visitors since the '70's & '80's and it's not unusual for them and their kids to be involved with projects on an ongoing basis with Balinese friends.

The Rotary Club of Swan Valley has a project to help educate primary school children which has been going for years and runs on 'the smell of an oily rag', with great results. http://www.balischoolkids.com/about.html

Great pictures. Some real variety in terms of their poses etc. salmon salad was good........................

I enjoyed your photos, rkkwan! Loved seeing Singapore again-was there for the first time this summer. The photo of your meal at the hawker center made my stomach growl!

Jack - Yes, salmon salad at Etro is good, but the AUD is so high that I can't afford many of these meals. A$26.5 = US$26.5.

On the other hand, even though the SGD is high as well, food is still more affordable in Singapore. That clay pot rice for dinner costs S$6 or US$4.7.