Well, as promised, they arrived in Perth in mid November and Allan drove up from Esperance to meet them. We had a lovely couple of days with Manijeh and Adel Reyhani, looking around Perth - first stop the beach at Cottesloe - Barbie wanted to dip her feet into the Indian Ocean! A bonus was seeing this sailing ship.
The weather was great and we took our time relaxing in the sun.
A feature of Perth is the large park right in its centre - Kings Park. Here we saw Kookaburras - a very special native Australian bird with a most unusual "laugh" - it is right above Barbie's head on the branch.
In case you can't see it immediately - here is another view.
And it was joined by a mate.
From Kings Park you get a wonderful view out over the Perth foreshore, as well as the Swan and Canning rivers.
It has a treetop walk as well so you can imagine what it feels like to be a Kookaburra sitting up on the branches.
This tree is called a Boab tree - it actually looks like it is upside down, with its distinctive swollen trunk. You see them growing wild in the northwest of the state of Western Australia.
After Kings park we celebrated Manijeh's birthday with lunch at a Japanese restaurant.In the evening Mike and Allan walked around the river foreshore of Peppermint Grove.
On our way to Perth - second stop is Wagin to see the giant ram. The first stop was a delightful morning Devonshire tea at a town called Williams.
Some wildflowers were still out, even though they are best in September/October.
After doing the Ocean Tourist Drive on Friday, we set out for Cape LeGrange national Park on Saturday. On the way is a most unexpected site - a fully constructed replica of the original Stonehenge. I posted some photos on Facebook, but here are more details:
An entrepreneur from Margaret River wanted to build it there from pink granite stones quarried in Esperance.
He ran out of money and so a local farming family bought the stones and had Stonehenge constructed near Esperance - same dimensions as the UK original.
There are 137 stones, and the 10 Trilithon Stones in a horseshoe pattern weigh between 38 and 50 tonnes each, standing with the 18 tonne lintels to a height of 7.7 metres (about 25 feet for our North American friends). They are heavy!
The alter stone weighs 7 tonne and lies in front of the tallest Trilithon stone.
The structure is aligned with the summer solstice, 22 December, which is the longest day of the year in Esperance. Sunset on the winter solstice (21 June) is also aligned.
Peoples response is varied - as myths and mystique of the original Stonehenge abound. We found it amazing, well worth the AUD $10 entry fee.
Too many photos for you to peruse - but the structure really is unique.
Muna was not sure which way was east.
In the reception area there is a scale model built by one of the "Men in Sheds" gang. Great job Dave.
No doubt we will visit again with our next lot of overseas tourists! Barbie and Mike will not be back as the flies at Stonehenge were horrendous - the site is near a working cattle farm and the fly season was in full swing, or should I say full swish. They quickly learned about the "great Aussie wave". Fortunately near the beach and in town the flies are less abundant.
Cape LeGrange is a large national park about 50km from Esperance - with many bays, beaches and lots of places to camp and many kilometres of trails to walk. Lots of tourists were staying there in either caravans or tents.
We had the beach to ourselves - the specks on the sand are Muna and Barbie walking towards Esperance.
Mike and Allan climbed the hillside to get some panorama shots.
And because of unusually heavy October rains, there were still plenty of wildflowers around.
These plants are quite unique - after being burnt they come alive.
The sand really is white and it is very fine - so much so that it squeaks as you walk.
Mike was looking for company, but he had only Allan and the gentle sea breeze to accompany him.
The water is cold - around 17 C, as there is nothing between Esperance and Antarctica!!!!! But that will not stop Allan swimming in the coming months.
Allan thought of Mark Baker when we reached Frenchman's peak - we will climb this when Mark and Carolina visit.
More bays, endless beach, sand, and sun.
On the day we saw some other distinctive Australian birds and animals - this one is a flightless bird called an emu.
And here is a kangaroo (or wallaby) with a joey in its pouch - both are feeding.
This kangaroo seems to have taken a liking to Australian barbecues - or "barbies" as they are affectionately known here.
Lucky bay - yet more gorgeous scenery.
By this time Mike and Barbie really did believe we live in a paradise.
OK - a no standing sign, but this means cars, not Mike!!
I leave you with some more photos of this lovely visit by Barbie and Mike. We played lots of cards and had some nice walks around town as well. Next stops for this intrepid duo were Gold Coast, the Sydney Baha'i Temple, Melbourne, then on to the Temple in Samoa to help out with maintenance there.
Barbie went walking on the seashore, determined to step foot in most of the oceans circling Australia.
Oh, and this is where they stayed - our house in Esperance.
