Day Twelve: Mint

I am feeling a little homesick today. It's halfway through the trip and it's been very cold and rainy and I'm a bit tired and travelworn.

Had a bit of a fright this morning. A few days ago, Jarrah woke up with a mosquito bite on her eyelid. Each day, it's been progressively puffier, until this morning she could barely open that eye. She was cheery, but I was wigged. Joan quickly got us an appointment with her doctor, which was somewhat of a relief. He was a sweet guy and didn't seem concerned, prescribed an over-the-counter antihistamine to bring the swelling down. We're not sure if it's working yet. Fingers crossed that we see some change for the better by tomorrow.

After seeing the doctor, we drove into downtown Perth--all the Newmans and me--and stopped for lunch at a DOME cafe. This small chain started in Perth and is absolutely delightful. You can hang out and drink fabulous coffee, but if you want a yummy meal, they seem to have everything. I was especially thrilled by my lemon granita.

From there we headed to the shop where my father-in-law shows and sells some of his Jarrah wood pieces. I wish we had thought to take photos in there, because they are spectacular. Also, it tickled me that the label on everything in the store, all the tables and cabinets and wine racks, said "JARRAH."

Next we headed to the Perth Mint, which was so cool. It's a beautiful building, composed of Cottesloe stone and Rottnest limestone, and we took a tour led by the charming and adorable Luke, who seemed awfully hip to be hanging out at the mint, even if he did describe himself as a "gold nerd." From the diamonds and pearls and commemorative coins in the swanky retail cases near the entrance, we were led to a dirt yard featuring replicas of the largest nuggets ever found (Western Australia has more gold than anywhere, hence, the need for a local mint) and a room with an actual giant nuggie and an opportunity for us to try to lift a massive gold bar (couldn't do it.) The highlight was watching Luke melt and pour the molten gold to create a gold bar before our eyes--he instructed us to "ooh" and "ahh" a lot but I would have done it anyway.

Seeing all that money made us peckish, so we headed to East Perth where I fondly remembered a waterfront cafe from our last trip--it was closed, but a lovely if chilly walk along the river led us to another one with (I'd wager) equally good cake and coffee. The whole day was a reminder of what a beautiful city Perth is, and I'm so happy to be back.

Jarrah went down quickly after our dinner of take-out Thai, so I'm hoping she'll be feeling good for our planned trip to Rottnest tomorrow. I'm hoping the weather cooperates, too, though something tells me we won't be snorkeling this time.