GFE Stumpes: Perth, AU I (8/21/2025)

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Early five-hour flight from Sydney to Perth, the capital of Western Australia on the Indian Ocean coast.

Took the train to the Perth CBD Station

Fabric-covered seats only survive in civilized cities

Walked a block to our apartment hotel

Fortunately the room was ready so that
we did not have to store luggage

Adina Apartment Hotel desk and kitchen

Bathroom

We gained two hours when we arrived in Perth, so began our walking tour.

Old Central Fire Station Heritage Centre (1901, by
by Michael Cavanagh in Romanesque Revival style)

Kirkman House (1909, by Hilson Beasley as
the nurses' quarters for the Royal Perth Hospital)

In front stands the "kissing tree," a
Ficus macrophylla/Moreton Bay Fig Tree
where nurses said goodbye to their sweethearts
before returning to their rooms

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary aka St Mary's Cathedral (1862-1865, in
Academic Gothic style with additions)

St Mary's Cathedral interior

Lunch was at Hifumiya Udon Noodle House

Noodle bowls

Hifumiya Original Bowl

Spicy Miso Pork Bowl

At this point, we did not realize that most of our eating options in Australia would be Asian.

Perth Mint (1896-1899, by George Temple-Poole
in Federation Romanesque style)

The Strike (1991, by Greg James) depicts the discovery of
gold in 1892 by prospectors William Ford and Arthur Bayley,
which led to the Gold Rush in Western Australia

The gift shop has gold bars on sale

The One Tonne Gold Coin (2011) is the world's largest,
heaviest and most valuable gold coin (KSS)

The reverse of the one tonne coin (KSS)

The Karratha Queen, the largest silver nugget found in
Australia weighs 145 kg/320# and is 85 cm/33.5" across

King Henry is the largest gold nugget still
in existence and on public display;
weighs 93 kg/205# and is 58 cm/22.8" tall

We were given a "gold" medallion to put
through this stamping machine

Our stamped medallion

Liquid gold demonstration included melting a gold bar,
and with the lights turned off we saw it poured into a mold

Liquid gold:

Voila! ... another gold bar

Cygna (2020, by Jon Tarry) is a nod to the Swan River in Perth

City of Perth Library (est 1851, 2016)

Perth Town Hall (1867-1870, by
by Richard Roach Jewell and James Manning
in the Victorian Free Gothic style)

The Art Gallery of Western Australia (est 1895, 1979
by Charles Sierakowski in Brutalist style)

The Near Breeder (2022, by Yhonnie Scarce) features
600 hand-blown glass yams (traditional Aboriginal food)
hung is the shape of the cloud resulting from
British nuclear bomb tests on Aboriginal land

Narbiny nguluk nidja doorntj baarniny, moorditj dooytj-
doornt / Rakyat Bersatu tak bisa dikalahkan/Care
together/Strong together (2024, by Taring Padi, Sharyn Egan,
Yabini Kickett, Ilona McGuire, and Tyrown Waigana)

We took a free CAT bus to the Barrack Street Jetty

Memory Markers (2025, by Anne Neil) in Stirling Gardens

The Bell Tower (2000, by Hames Sharley)
was custom-built to house the historically
significant bells from Saint Martin-in-the-Fields
Church, the parish church of Buckingham Palace

Four Bronze Swans (2000, by
Sue Flavell and Gina Moore) Yes,
there are actually only three of them!

We were very fortunate to see the lighted art installations
at Elizabeth Quay, including Edge (2024, by Stuart Green)

Bessie (2016, by Jon Tarry) honors social activist
Bessie Rischbieth, remembered for a symbolic protest
against the reclamation of Mounts Bay in 1959 when she
entered the river at the age of 85 and prevented the
bulldozers from commencing their work