The way to history learning - Perth Museum

Day 5 in Perth welcomes us with Spring shower from early in the morning. The thing about the rain is, it comes and it goes. One minute you saw blue sky, then the minute after you'd see dark clouds followed by drizzled of rain. And that happened throughout the day. So, we didn't do much except doing in-door tour. We decided to visit Perth Mint as well as the State Museum. Both are in the city centre and within walk. But with weather like that, we sure wouldn't want to get freeze in the cold.

So, we took the Perth Red CAT bus heading to Perth Mint first. But like many tourist attraction, there's fee for the tour to the Mint, which is still operating till now. The attraction at this site is that you can actually see a 200oz molten gold being poured to form a solid gold bar. You can also experience the 'I'm a rich person' moment by touching $400,000 worth of gold bullion. Not sure if they allow photos inside though since we didn't get on with the Mint Tour. However, if you wish to go, the fee for adult is AUD15. (http://www.perthmint.com.au)





We just get to take photos in front of Perth Mint building.


Using the same Red CAT bus, we hopped in and stopped at James Street to visit the Western Australian State Museum.

At the time of our visit, an exhibition by the title 'A Day In Pompeii' is on going since May 2010. They charged fee for the exhibition so we didn't get onto that. We just went on with the normal museum tour - FOC.

Most people especially when traveling with kids will opt out museum tour from their itinerary because it is kind of boring for the kids. I am not a museum person myself but since we have a lot of free and easy time while in Perth, we decided one of the place to visit would be the museum. Of course, I did have my doubts of going to enjoy it as much as we enjoyed our wine tour. But, the Australian Museum has its way to spark interest even on people who are not keen on historical facts or the like. And that includes me.

It's amazing how they make the museum an interesting place to visit. This place has 9 different sections that displays exhibits from the T-Rex era to the world today.






The Discovery centre where people can learn facts about animals and insects as well as people.





The Wa Land and People section tells about the people and animal before pre-historic time.





Diamonds to Dinasours section - tells about how the earth is made and the many types of minerals found in this universe. A sure heaven for all the geology enthusiasts.


The human evolution and that's the Homo Sapiens today; Us!




The Mammal Gallery and the Bird Gallery

We also went to the Katta Dijnoon Gallery that houses the artifacts and stories of the first people in Australia - the Aborigins. We were not allowed to take photos there as it would steal the spirits of the Noongar (according to the Museum attendant). Whatever the reason is, it's kind of refreshing to be able to know the history and see the original inhabitants of this 6th largest country in the world.

After the museum tour, we went back to our hostel to re-fresh ourselves and getting ready to head for Murdoch. Tim, who treated us drinks the night before is treating us for dinner at his work place in Cockburn. We took train to Murdoch Station which is on Mandurah Line. FYI, Perth Train Station has 6 lines comprise of Armadale/Thornlie Line, Fremantle Line, Mandurah Line, Joondalup Line, Midland Line and Transwa Australind. If you want to go anywhere using train, just look at which lines does the place falls and purchase ticket according to that line.


Tim brought us here, Cafe Nocello, the place where he works. The owner, Lorenzo, is a very friendly and funny guy. He even opened a bottle of wine for us at the end of our meal although to be honest, after our main course I felt so full I couldn't occupy even a sip of wine.


Our entrees; Antipasto Plate - a combination of Italian sausage (yum), Prosciutto, smoked salmon, fetta, olives, dips and crisp flat bread (top L), Chilli Mussels serve with garlic bread which is a two thumbs up (R) and our dessert Profiteroles (bottom L).


Our main course; mine was Osso Bucco ala Milanese which means veal shanks serve with risotto and seasonal vege (L), hubby had Grilled Lamb Rum (top R) and Tim had Braise Beef Cheeks (bottom R).They are all in big portion and for tiny stomach like me, I can only eat so much. What more when I've indulged too much on the entrees. Add that with few glasses of red wine...let's just say, no more rooms for the dessert.


I told Lorenzo that I'm gonna feature his restaurant here in my blog and would like to have some photos of him and the staffs. Here they are.

Bloated and satisfied, we went home with hearts singing of happiness.


Day 5 itinerary

• Breakfast - I forgot where we had breakfast today. No photos. Our bad.
• Perth Red CAT bus to transfer between places - FREE
• Perth Mint - entrance fee for tour AUD15 per pax (adult). http://www.perthmint.com.au/
• Western Australian State Museum - entrance fee FREE except for special exhibition. Go to http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/museums/perth for on goings exhibition.
• Train tickets to Murdoch Station from Perth Train Station - AUD3.70 per pax. This ticket covers up to 2 zones so you can use the ticket for 2 hours to transfer between services. http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au
• Dinner at Cafe Nocello in Cockburn (about 5 minutes drive from Murdoch Train Station) - total expenditure unavailable as it was a dinner treat by our friend. You can check their website here for the menus and pricing. http://www.cafenocello.com.au/