Tag: Perth

$5,000,000 man

Perth mint, which until 1970 was part or the Royal Mint of Britain. In 1970 ownership passed to western Australia.

On our recent visit to Perth we took a tour of the old mint. The ‘Mint’ in the city of Perth is now mainly a museum with the ability to sell and market coins etc. The ‘real’ mint is near the airport and under very tight security.

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During the tour I had the opportunity of being weighed to find out how much I was worth in today’s dollars. If only . . . .

As part of the tour we watched the pouring of gold to create an ingot. The lights were switched off so as to see the pouring in a more dramatic way.

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The furnace was opened to extract the container that contained the gold.

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Wearing protective clothing the worker withdrew the gold container. This is how it used to be for many years.

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The light on the left is the start of the gold leaving the container and being poured in to a mold.

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The flow of gold has started.

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The pour is complete in to the ingot mold, which is then thrust in to a bath of water to cool the block quickly.

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Within minutes the ingot is cool enough to be handled, but only by the operator. We were not allowed anywhere near the gold :-o)

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More of the real stuff. . . .

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We also saw the above coin, which has a legal currency value of $1,000,000 – but it weighs 1,000 kilos and the gold value (as against the currency value) is in excess of $60,000,000.

In addition to the above we saw a million dollar coin with a gem stone embedded in the paws of a kangaroo. There is only one of these & I believe it has been sold to someone in Dubai.

DSC06689rIt weighs one kilogram and has a 0.54 carat gemstone

 

 

What goes around comes around.

While in Perth we arranged to meet our friends for lunch, and they were kind enough to book a table for four at C Restaurant on the 33rd floor of one of the city’s taller buildings. It was a revolving restaurant and it must be nearly thirty years since Maureen and I had eaten in a revolving restaurant – the last time being in Sydney – Sydney Tower.

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We arrived just on noon, after a fast ride in the lift.

Our reception was very pleasant and the staff friendly and helpful – and one particular waiter was very entertaining.

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We are off and running – the Swan River below.

DSC06635rPart of the city framed.

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The Swan again – the circus below is the same one that we could see from our bedroom window.

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Government House below.

DSC06664rGovernment House from street level.

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I never got tired of the view of the river.

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Later in the afternoon Maureen I walked across the bridge that can be seen with the two ‘loops’.

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I had to take this picture, which shows the Bankwest building reflecting the image of a mining company building on my left, but out of camera view.

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Besides meeting our friends, the point of lunch time was for a meal. Lovely food, well presented and not too expensive considering locations etc.

Perth, W. Australia.

A few days away from Sydney in an effort keep warm – Perth is the transit stop to Broome, which is a two hour flight north of Perth. I can’t blame Perth for its coolness of weather nor could I complain about our hotel – Novotel. Using Accor points we secured a large corner room on the third floor.

As we moved along the corridor to our room I had concerns that it would not be what I’d hoped. We passed two blank service doors before we reached our room and entered – what a pleasant surprise!

A large bedroom containing two armchairs around a coffee table, a work desk, large TV and the normal fridge. In the corner was a walk in wardrobe area. The bathroom contained a Jacuzzi!

 

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     Two sets of windows gave us some great views across the Swan river  DSC06611e

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Couldn’t have asked for better,

and they had an Irish Bar

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For those readers in the UK, when the lady behind the bar (not shown) spoke to us, I asked if she was from Merseyside, because she had a definite ‘twang’. It turned out that she was from Chester and was on a working holiday. Talk about a small world.

The other odd thing was that one of the assistant managers spoke to us with a strong Irish accent. Only later did I find out that he was French, the hotel being in the Accor group, which is a French company. First time I heard the blarney from a Frenchman. :-o)

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