Mark is having a rest day in Perth today in preparation for the start of Leg 4 tomorrow. However, as he is now nine hours ahead of GMT and it is 7.15 am on the 7th in Australia, it is entirely possible that he has already hit the road as I type this. Hopefully the GPS tracker will start to pick him up again soon.
Mark's stopover in Perth is very brief, and there is simply not enough time to write much about about the city which is the state capital of Western Australia. If you follow the link, or click on either of the images, there is ample to read on this beautiful city. However, here is a random trivia fact which appealed to me....."Perth has a population of 1.5 million. The nearest city to Perth with a population over one million people is Adelaide, which is 2,104 km (1,307 mi) away, making Perth the most isolated city with a population of more than one million in the world. "
Apart from the changing landscapes of his journey, one of the fascinating aspects of following Mark has been the climatic zones and changing weather along his route. Mark commenced Leg 2 in the Mediterranean climate of Turkey at the end of the hot, dry, summer season there. He then entered the interior deserts of Iran and Pakistan with their year round drought and temperatures ranging from very hot in summer to positively cool in winter. India was classic monsoon territory and Mark was passing through at the end of the wet season. Most recently, he has experienced the wettest months of the tropical climates of Thailand and northern Malaysia followed by the convection rains which are a daily occurrence at the equator.
Now in the southern hemisphere, Mark is back into higher latitudes and is in the Mediterranean climate zone surrounding Perth. Remember that the seasons there are 'reversed' and so November is in late spring. The humid, warm months of 'winter' will soon be giving way to a long hot summer ahead. Ahead of Mark lie some 3750 miles across Australia. It is a very long way but the route and the geographical learning journey will be fascinating. (I know because I've cheated and had a little Google Earth preview! )
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