Our final stop on the Cessna Semi-circumnavigation is Perth, in southwestern Australia. What a welcome Elder G and I received!
Perth Welcomes Us
The city was more than welcoming.
Original picture: Perth Stadium hosts cricket and Australian rules football, Perth’s most popular spectator sports. By Photographs by Gnangarra…commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY 2.5 au, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65712348 Enhancements by Elder G.
Original picture: St Mary’s Cathedral By File:St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth. Exterior of the new side from the north west.jpg: Michal Lewiderivative work: Georgfotoart – This file was derived from: St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth. Exterior of the new side from the north west.jpg:, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151719134 Enhancements by Elder G.
Original picture: Built by convicts in the early 1850s, Fremantle Prison is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By Frmir – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2742580 Enhancements by Elder G.
Perth – The Nuts and Bolts
Perth (Nyungar: Boorloo) is the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth as of 2023. The world’s most isolated major city by certain criteria, Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of Perth’s metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp.
Ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities, Perth was classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a Beta global city in 2020.
Perth CBD skyline from State War Memorial Lookout, August, 2023 By File:Perth CBD skyline from State War Memorial Lookout, 2023, 04.jpg: Kgboderivative work: Georgfotoart – This file was derived from: Perth CBD skyline from State War Memorial Lookout, 2023, 04.jpg:, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150324506
The Noongar name Boorloo is sometimes used to denote the central business district area, the local government area, or the capital city in general. […] Ludwig Glauert posited that Lyon may have misunderstood his sources and that “boorloo” or “belo” (now transcribed as “bilya”) is simply the Noongar word for “river”. Another source has interpreted Boorloo to mean “big swamp”, describing the chain of lakes where the central business district and Northbridge are situated.
Left: Perth Town hall. By Gnangcomapp – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147104259 Right: Swan Bell Tower (“The Bell Tower”), Perth, Western Australia, Australia By Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83981461
Archaeological evidence attests to human habitation in the Perth area for at least 48,000 years; according to Noongar tradition, they have occupied the area since “time immemorial”. Noongar country encompasses the south-west corner of Western Australia, with particular significance attached to the wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain, both spiritually (featuring in local mythology) and as a source of food.
In 1850, at a time when penal transportation to Australia’s eastern colonies had ceased, Western Australia was opened to convicts at the request of farming and business people due to a shortage of labour. Over the next eighteen years, 9,721 convicts arrived in Western Australia aboard 43 ships, outnumbering the approximately 7,300 free settlers.
Religion 41.8% of the 2021 census respondents in Perth had no religion, as against 38.4% of national population. In 1911, the national figure was 0.4%.
Catholics are the largest single Christian denomination in the Greater Perth area at 19.5%. Perth is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth. The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross claims over 2,000 members. Anglicans are 9.9% of the population. Perth is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Perth.
Elizabeth Quay Bridge By Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83865847
Culture A number of cultural events are held in Perth. […] Perth also hosts annual music festivals including Listen Out, Origin and St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. The Perth International Comedy Festival features a variety of local and international comedic talent.
Who is Elizabeth Quay? Turns out she’s not a person, but a community in Perth.
Elizabeth Quay is not a person, but a popular waterfront precinct, entertainment, and mixed-use development project located in the Perth central business district (CBD) in Western Australia. Opened in 2016, it was named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II to mark her Diamond Jubilee.
Gemini
The Bridge
For the Structural Engineering Nerds Among Us
The Elizabeth Quay Bridge in Perth is a 110-meter-long, 22-meter-high, cable-stayed pedestrian bridge featuring a complex, curved dual-arch design designed by Arup. It uses high-grade structural steel for the arches, supporting a deck suspended by cables, with critical structural support from reinforced concrete piers and 6.5-tonne steel base plates.
Key Structural and Engineering Features:
• Design & Modelling: Arup utilized parametric, algorithm-driven modelling (Grasshopper) to define the complex, non-linear shape of the arches and deck, ensuring structural integrity while achieving a “sculptural” aesthetic. • Structural System: The bridge is a cable-stayed, dual-arch structure. It consists of two 45-meter spans that connect in the middle, creating a 110-meter total length. The arches are inclined, requiring precise structural analysis to handle torsion and bending forces. • Foundation: The bridge rests on three major underwater piers supported by piled foundations. These piers contain high-strength reinforcement to handle marine environment loads. • Materials: The structure utilizes 400 tonnes of steel, with extensive use of polished stainless steel for durability against corrosion in the salt-water environment. • Construction Methodology: The arches were fabricated in sections, transported, and welded on-site. The structure was assembled using a “giant jigsaw puzzle” approach with high-precision survey, and then lifted into place. • Clearance: The bridge provides a 5.2-meter vertical clearance for recreational vessels navigating into the inlet.
The bridge was designed to be a “trafficable sculpture” rather than a conventional bridge, requiring advanced analysis to balance its aesthetic, curved form with necessary load-bearing capacity.
Gemini
The Elizabeth Quay Party
The City of Perth granted WLBOTT access to the Elizabeth Quay bridge for a 24-hour celebration of twine.
First we let the energetic kids dance.
Move over, youngsters! It’s the seniors’ turn!
Relax and Recreate
Time to relax and recreate. Elder G and I took a short ferry ride over to Rottnest Island to visit with the quokka.
Quokkas
The quokka is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. It is the only member of the genus Setonix. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.
Quokkas have a promiscuous mating system. After a month of gestation, females give birth to a single baby called a joey. Females can give birth twice a year and produce 17 joeys on average during their lifespan. The joey lives in its mother’s pouch for six months. Once it leaves the pouch, the joey relies on its mother for milk for two more months and is fully weaned around eight months after birth.
Quokka selfies In the mid-2010s, quokkas earned a reputation on the internet as “the world’s happiest animals” and symbols of positivity, as frontal photos of their faces make them appear to be smiling (they do not, in fact “smile”; the resemblance to a human smile is due to a coincidental facial structure). Many photos of smiling quokkas have since gone viral, and the “quokka selfie” has become a popular social media trend.
Quokkas have little fear of humans and commonly approach people closely, particularly on Rottnest Island, where they are abundant. Although quokkas are approachable, there are a few dozen cases annually of quokkas biting people, especially children.
Rottnest Island, nicknamed “Rotto”, is a 19-square-kilometre (7.3 sq mi) island off the coast of Western Australia, 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of Fremantle.
With Garden Island, Rottnest Island is a remnant of Pleistocene dune ridges. Along with several other islands, Rottnest became separated from the mainland when sea levels rose around 7,000 years ago.
The island is a popular recreational and tourist destination, with daily ferry services from Perth, the state’s capital and largest city. It has a permanent population of around 300 people, with around 780,000 annual visitors. – Wikipedia
Update to our “Fine-ish” Art Gallery
Back at WLBOTT HQ, head management commissioned a group of local artists to recreate the day of celebration on the Elizabeth Quay pedestrian bridge in Perth.
Way Back
During the last Ice Age (around 20,000–50,000 years ago), the Western Australian coastline was significantly different, with sea levels up to 120 meters lower than today. This exposed a vast expanse of the continental shelf, extending the coastline far westward, particularly in the Kimberley region, where a large, shallow, and fertile plain existed.
Gemini
And a little fun… Australian Comedy Festivals
Rahul Subramanian | 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala
(and a bit PG-13) He Huang | 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala
He Huang | 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala
Why Are You Single? – Kitty Flanagan | Melbourne International Comedy Festival
