Good morning
So here we are...have turned in our caravan after travelling 25,000 kms in 10 days around south western Western Australia. So we have moved from the Kookaburra Caravan Park in Busselton to the Hyatt in Perth.

Guess what there is wifi here and not there! Also on CNN which we haven't watched since September 25...they are taking down T...R...U....M...etc letters from condo towers in New York. Let's start a petition for the Vancouver hotel of the same name...but probably the licensing agreement won't let the developers do that just yet. Big penalties and probably bigger lawsuits if history is any indication of the future.

Our agenda is a very weak Perth look about in 24 hours. We are both kind of "experienced out" ( as you must be if you have been following along) and need to gather ourselves together for 3 weeks in Myanmar...which will be a big cultural change. Myanmar was always to be for me the most significant part of this lengthy sojourn around the world. I have no idea why but it has been at the top of my travel agenda for years. And for years while the Generals were in charge I wouldn't come. And then finally Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest and we thought the country turned toward democracy...a bit.

Guess what...the Burmese Military (as the western press still call them) have been making continued attacks on the Rohingya Moslem communities using armed helicopters this past week. (Who supplied the arms?) In theory the military is "clearing Rohingya villages of terrorists". Reports are many civilians killed. The Rohingyas who try to escape are stranded at the border because Bangladesh won't accept them as refugees. Where have we heard that before?

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi who doesn't control the military, but who did receive a huge popular vote in the election, has been silent. And so this is why for 20 years we have NOT come to Myanmar and helped support the military with our tourist dollar...and here we are about to go there for 3 weeks and help the economy considerably. What a pickle I feel to be in...too late it is already all paid for.

To return to today...we came into Fremantle (the port for Perth) this morning and had to choose what to see...a drive around to the harbour and a tour of the Fremantle Prison...why? Because it is now a World Heritage Property (I know sometimes I think any port in a storm)...and it tells the story of how Perth got going. It was really a colony going nowhere in the mid 1800's...Swan River as it was called then, because...guess where it is located...you got it on the first guess...Swan River. So the colony fathers got together and begged the motherland, Britain, to send out some convicts to do the labour to get the colony on a solid footing.

Just like that 10,000 inmates aboard. 43 convict voyages who hadn't a clue they wanted to go to the Swan River Colony were transported to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868. They found out job number 1 was to build their own home...the Colony Establishment...later renamed to reflect its true nature, the Fremantle Prison. Fremantle Prison operated continuously as a place for incarnation for 136 years. The saddest part was the one where aborigines were incarcerated and allowed to draw on the walls.

Between 1850 and 1868 Western Australia was a Penal Colony. Besides building Fremantle Prison the convicts built Government House, the Swan River Mechanics' Institute and the Perth Town Hall.

I guess in the long run it all worked, if not for individuals, since Perth is a lovely city on the banks of the Swan River. We spent a few hours on Hay Street..the pedestrian street down town and briefly saw a lovely sunset over the river...but we are tired so tomorrow is another day.

A few images...my personal favourite of my waiter in the Le Boheme...near the train station where all the young guys were stopping for a beer before heading home.

Cheers...and onto tomorrow...7:30 pm and Gary is asleep...so that is how we feel tonight...tired.

Love Doreen

PS already CNN has been on too long...think I will need to go to the moon upon return...I am pretty sure we won't get any CNN in Myanmar...which reminds me why I am writing this...you might not hear from me for a while...not sure what sort of communication is allowed out...perhaps not a blog! To bed...good night.