Arriving in Perth

"We'll let one of the other planes try first, then we'll give it a go." These are not the words you want to hear in the pilot's announcements as you approach the airport. Unfortunately we had timed our arrival in perth with the arrival of cyclonic winds. Shortly afterwards, we commenced our descent. In my head I privately reviewed every episode I have ever seen of "air crash investigators". Then the jet engine roared back into life and we started going definitely upwards again - another squall had hit the airport. When we did land - on the second attempt, the passengers applauded.on our way out of the plane, the crew remarked that if that attempt had not been a success, we would have diverted to Kalgoorlie. Was good yo be in Perth and in one piece! The terminal was awash with discouraged humanity as the storm had played havoc with arrivals and departures. At least there were no concerns with traffic as we headed across town to our hotel after the delayed appearance of our luggage. The streets were pretty much deserted. At our hotel - right across the road from the beach at Cottesloe, we were nearly blown off our feet (really - I have never had that happen before). We watched and listened to the surf pounding the beach and hoped the waves didn't make it off the beach and across the road. Fortunately the next morning saw much calmer conditions. Still a bit windy and a few rain squalls - but nothing to be scared about. We found a great place for breakfast - always a great start for the day then headed off to Fremantle for the Maritime Museum. Must say - very impressed with trains in Perth. The ticket system works really well and the trains are regular and Really nice to travel in. Liked Fremantle - pretty buildings and big ships. Enjoyed the maritime museum. I do like a museum - and as usual, spent ages reading everything. The highlight though was the tour through the submarine. Oberon class. I think the main thing I learnt is that to be a submariner, you should be about 19 years old and very slight for getting through hatchways, sleeping in tiny spaces and basically not taking up too much space. Really fascination to see a submarine from the inside and very informative about how it all works. After the maritime museum, we headed to the little creatures micro brewery for lunch. Areally funky place with a great atmosphere. I eve liked the taste of the beer - although I was glad I had ordered the pear cider. Little creatures brewery for lunch. Extremely cool place. Even the beer was nice. Grant really liked the bright ale, but I was glad to stick with cider. Shipwreck museum in the afternoon. The spectacular thing there was the partially reconstructed hull of the Batavia. Also the story of how they identify the wrecks - it's like a detective story. Luckily cottesloe is a good place to stay. We probably could have done better with picking the weather though.