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perhaps 3 or 4 acres extent I noticed a flowering banana plantation, showing the tropical nature of the climate. Going back into the city this way one was reminded a little of Sydney, - only on a small scale.
By the time we got back to the heart it was 12.30 & after thanking the hostess I found a place where I got some lunch, - after a long wait, due probably to the extra rush of soldiers. There was then just time to take a run out to Queen's Park by car, taking perhaps 10 or 12 minutes. It was a matter of straightway changing over into a car about to return to the city, but from the roadway the gardens seemed very beautiful, artificial beds with rockeries & grottoes filling up the space between lagoons covered with lovely water-lilies in full bloom.
It looked a pretty & inviting spot, but there was no time to go in, the return tram landing me at the station just a few minutes before the special train at 5 to 2 left for Freemantle. There was a tremendous lot of cock-a-doodle-doo-ing from all the engines we passed, & they were not a few: our boys cheered lustily in reply, occasionally pelting them with water-melon rinds.
The run back to Freemantle was quite a fast one, landing us there about 2.30. Even then a number of the troops were in a drunken state, 2 or 3 having to be carried on board by their mates: it was scarcely a pleasant