A very monarchical day today, apparently. Our first stop was Kings Park, which is Perth’s large Central Park. Within it is the Rio Tinto Naturescape, which looked amazing. It had all sorts of climbing structures and areas for kids to play. Unfortunately when we got to it we were faced with this sign:

Nick and I talked about how it feels like we’ve come up against many of these closures. The Ghibli museum was closed the one week we were in Tokyo, the tramway in Penang was closed the week we were there, the central square in Chiang Mai, and so on. It might just feel this way since we have gone to so many parks, museums, and attractions this year.

We continued walking through the park to find a playground. It wasn’t quite as magical as the naturescape would have been, but it didn’t stop Millie from playing for a couple of hours. Since it was midday on a weekday, the crowd skewed young. Millie dragged some toddlers around for a while and then pretended to be a queen on a throne.

We had lunch at the cafe right next to the playground. Once again I will ask: why aren’t there more in-park dining options in the US? It would make a killing.

The bravely climbed all the way to this thing. Then we left and walked back towards the car. We walked through a grove of oak trees memorializing western Australian soldiers who had died in various 20th century wars. Nick and I read them carefully and Millie asked lots of questions. “Why don’t they use swords anymore? Why are guns better? How did they get their bodies?” Nick is better at answering these quizzes than I am.

There were a few groupings of what I assume were brothers. Can you imagine? I thought of everyone’s moms.

Our next stop at the park was a giant baobab tree that had been transported here from 2300 km away. Somehow it is still alive, but barely. All these pockmarks are injuries that happened when it was moved.

We admired the view of the city from here, and then again as we drove toward Elizabeth Quay.

We keep talking about how similar it feels to Cape Town here. It’s geographically isolated, has a similar climate, the plants all look the same, and culturally isn’t too far off. Lots of good wine and barbecued meats.

We arrived at Elizabeth Quay and sold a kidney to pay for parking. Then we walked along the water. It was full of people (despite my photos that make it look apocalyptic), a mix of corporate folks on their way to happy hours, people jogging, and families out and about.

We walked the loop and found another playground with a cafe overlooking it. We sold one more kidney and each had a beer while Millie played. She ran up to every kid who was roughly her size and said “hi! Want to play together?” It will be interesting to see if she continues to be this outgoing and confident at home, or if it is out of necessity here.

We stopped at the grocery store for some simple dinners and to refill our snacks. It has felt great to have all our comforts from home: hummus, baby carrots, veggie chips, etc.

I’m now on my third cup of herbal tea. I have some sort of head cold and am hoping it doesn’t get worse. We have definitely been more sick on this trip than I predicted!