Saturday and Sunday

Well, they always say: 'save the best till last,' and they certainly have. 

Saturday saw us taking the bus into Perth to avoid all the parking costs and problems in the city. 

The main reason for going into Perth was to visit the Bell Tower. 

The Bell Tower has a 16 bell peal and is one of three such peals in the world. Twelve of the bells came from St Martin-in-the-Fields and were donated to the State of Western Australia as part of the 1988 Australian bicentenary celebrations. So, for us, a visit there was a must. 

The tower looks a bit like a spaceship! It is fully equipped with a lift, sales area on the ground floor, bells and ringing chamber behind glass so that visitors can watch what's going on, and toilets! At the top there is a viewing platform where you get a full panoramic view of the Swan River and the city. 

The platform can also be used as a wedding venue. 

Here we are in the ringing chamber just chiming 10 of the bells. 

Every Saturday visitors are invited to chime the bells just to get a feel of what it's like. 

Here I'm peering through the glass to see the bells. 

A monitor in the ringing chamber to show what's going on up top. 

When we told the tutor that we rang in England we were immediately invited to go back and ring properly with them on Sunday. Wow, no begging on our part, just, you're here in Perth, come along, you must ring on 16 bells. 

Follow that! 

Well, strangely enough, we did. On Sunday morning we went to Lesmurdie church again and were welcomed in as if we'd been going there all our lives. Ron's sermon included lighting four candles and he referred to dear old Ronnie Corbett who died last week. It surprised us how much English programmes and comedy are appreciated over here and the four candles, or fork 'andles, got laughs all round. He then brought in a deeper significance using the candles as his visual aid. A wonderful sermon. But, at the end of the service he called Brigid and me forward and invited the congregation to pray for Brigid and her ministry at the Chapel. A unique end for our time in Australia. 

We then went along to the Bell Tower and made ourselves known to the team. 

I managed a touch of Grandsire Doubles and then we all rang rounds on the 16 bells. Amazing! 

The band were very friendly and send their greetings to the UK. They also commented on the fact that there were enough visiting ringers in the tower for all the bells to be rung. 

Afterwards, a celebratory lunch on the quay. 

Lamb for me. 

Barramundi for Brigid. We followed that with creme brûlée and cheesecake. Yummee. 

After that (we really were trying to cram in as much as we could) we set off to listen to Linda's orchestra playing at an outdoor concert. Unfortunately we just got there as everyone was packing up to go home. A great shame but at least we were able to say goodbye properly to Chris and Lynda. 

Apart from the one hiccup, a memorable last day in Australia.