Perth

Well here we are in Perth and with free internet. We are staying as guests of YWAM Perth for a week and taking some easy day tours for a change. Yesterday we hiked to Perth's highest point in Kings Park. It was a 15k hike to this highest point but we had to laugh at 'highest', it was basically a mild incline compared to the stiff hikes we did in New Zealand. Australia, so far, is very different from New Zealand. Queenstown has an average of 7 meters of rain, yes meters, a year and Perth has rain rarely and the soil is non-existent. The soil here is sand and it is everywhere in Perth, gardens, lawns and of course beaches. The temperature is wonderfully warm, never below 25 so far and the humidity is low, yesterday it was 25 degrees with 38% humidity, but the sun is very intense. Despite these conditions the vegetation is lush and beautiful. Kings Park, a 1000 acre park in the middle of the city, has numerous botanical gardens divided by the growing regions of Australia. They even have sections where they are preserving endangered species of Australia. Downtown Perth is wonderful with tunnels of shops going from street to street and at the same time malls crossing a level above and the shops a second story above with catwalks connecting these shops. All this without traffic! We have been pleasantly lost on several occasions. Well that's all for now as Terry is calling for second coffee and I am looking for elevensies, very tricksy, so we will post later. We are having a wonderful time!
Wes
PS. no pics for a bit, our camera went down, some world wide chip defect. The repair is free but no camera for two weeks. Interesting how this happened while we are in one place for a while!