Events of Friday, 8th February 2013
My last visit to Perth, Western Australia was almost six years ago, on my fourth 'Round the World' trip which you can read about here.
On my return in 2013, our Thai flight made an on-time arrival at Perth around 7.30 a.m. I said goodbye to my friend Captain Myo Lwin in the baggage hall, promising to visit he and his wife in Perth during my visit. My friend Keith was waiting for me in the arrivals hall and we were soon on our way to his home where I'd been invited to stay with Keith and his wife Fhines. Fhines had to go to work but we met later in the day. Keith now has a dog called Sasha I'd not met. Fortunately, we quickly became firm friends.
Later in the morning, we drove to Freemantle and pottered around the remains of the old docks where there are a number of preserved Stothert and Pitt dockside cranes.
Stothert and Pitt electric cranes preserved on the dockside.
The old transit sheds have found new uses, one as a 'shopping experience', principally selling souvenirs to tourists. We'd hoped to visit the nearby Steam Museum which houses various model steam-powered stationary engines including a number actually made by Keith. Unfortunately, the museum was closed but we planned to return later in my visit. We returned to Keith's home, going into 'Subway'on the way to buy a filled roll for lunch.
After the pressures of my tour through Vietnam, I was happy to have a quieter day to recuperate.
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Perth WA - Day 1
Halong Bay - Day 3
Events of 7th February, 2013
My last day on the boat. Early morning tea in the dining room as the boat made its way to Surprise Cave Bay where we anchored and transferred to the shore by tender.
All the Hotel Boats seemed to have sails - either two-masted or three-masted 'Junk Rigs'. However, I never saw them used for propulsion. All our sailing was done under engine power with sails lowered but, whenever we anchored, the sails were hoisted by the crew, presumably as a bit of advertising.
There were quite a few other boats in the bay and we could see their passengers climbing a set of 100-odd steps leading from the landing area up to the entrance of the first of the three Surprise Caves. The path through the caves wound around various impressive rock formations which were quite well illuminated with coloured spotlights to bring out the features.
Surprise Caves.
There was a lot of up and down steps and I emerged at the end of the three caves quite tired but very satisfied by the experience. About 100 steps took us down to the departure jetty (the caves have a one-way system).
Our tender was waiting at the jetty to return us to the Hotel Boat in time for us to clear our bedrooms before taking a buffet full breakfast in the dining room.
The Hotel Boat retraced its outward track from a couple of days previously and returned to our landing jetty on the mainland, passing a number of cargo vessels anchored in the Roads and a different cruise ship, the 'Superstar Gemini' (see the Wikipedia article here). We dropped anchor close to a number of other vessels from the Indochina Sails fleet and, for the last time, boarded the tender which took us ashore. I quickly spotted my car and driver and, within a few minutes, was re-united with my large case, said my final goodbye to Son and set off for the drive back to Hanoi.
My driver dropped me and my hand baggage at the Metropole Hotel a little after 3.00 p.m. and we arranged for the car to return at 5.00 p.m. for my final journey to the airport. I was able to use my computer in the hotel's business centre, allowing me to deal with some e-mails, upload my pictures of the Surprise Caves and re-charge my camera battery. I was so engrossed with these tasks that I failed to have any lunch as I'd originally intended. I walked out of the hotel a few minutes before five, just as my car drew up, so we were soon on our way.
Hanoi traffic is pretty scary at the best of times - on that evening it seemed particularly horrendous. My driver took a very devious route which I'm sure saved a lot of time. The pace seemed to be becoming more frenetic as the Lunar New Year approached and the hordes of motor bikes and scooters, many bearing bonsai cherry trees or fruit trees used as New Year decorations, often gave the appearance of a whole of a forest on the move. We arrived at the airport in good time and I checked in and made my way to the departure lounge for the Thai evening flight to Bangkok.
My flight was right time into Bangkok but the airport was very busy. Just getting from the arrivals level to the departure level involved using a number of moving walkways and enduring another thorough security check. As I approached the departure gate, I was delighted to see my friend Captain Myo Lwin whom I knew was on my flight to Perth. He'd arrived a little earlier on a flight from Yangon. After a few "alarums and excursions" we both made the flight. Thai served a good dinner and I watched a 'video on demand' film, based on real events, about smuggling American Embassy staff out of Baghdad. I managed to get a little sleep during the six-hour flight to Perth.
My pictures
Halong Bay - Day 3.
By road Hanoi - Halong Bay and return.
[Revised 28-Feb-2013]
