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Published: December 2nd 2007
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Perth
Viewed from Kings Park. It’s amazing to think that back home a two and a half hour flight can get you to any number of countries in Europe, yet here we still remained in the Western Territory.
It was late when we arrived back in Perth and although we still had that open invitation to Tina’s, a couple of confusing emails back and forth left us wondering whether they were still expecting us or not. We didn’t really want to wake them up in the early hours of the morning by knocking on the door, but with no other accommodation booked we didn’t leave ourselves with any other option. So we caught a cab out to their house with fingers crossed and were relieved to see a note on the door welcoming us back. There were new towels placed on the bed and a note telling us that we could help ourselves to a shower if we needed one. To add to that, the room was perfectly air-conditioned, a refreshing change to the heat we’d experienced in our mobile microwave.
The next morning we made the most of being back at Tina’s by washing all our clothes and using the internet to arrange some accommodation
The delightful Hudson
Always ready for play.....................but will happily sleep on command!! and flights for later in the trip. Between this, we were entertaining Hudson out in the garden as the temperatures once again reached the high thirties. Tina and Heath had organized a barbeque for our last night with them. Although we’d be seeing them the in a few days to return their car which they’d kindly given us the use of once again, we would be spending our last night in Perth at one of the cities hostels so as to make the most of our last day.
In the afternoon we took the train into the city and had a wander around, stopping for some lunch. We grabbed a few bottles of wine to take back with us, and Heath picked us up from the train station when we arrived back. I was excited about having my first authentic Aussie Barbie, and Heath’s brother Brett and his girlfriend Sofia had also been invited. While Heath cooked the chicken kebabs, prawns, and steak to perfection, Tina produced enough delicious food to both silence, and satisfy an army of food critics. During the evening we were joined (as predicted by Heath) by some resident bandicoots. Having only ever seen them characterized
Heath 'the chef' Donald
Throwin' another shrimp on the barbie!! on game consoles, I half expected them to turn up on little buggies, racing each other whilst dropping miniature bombs and oil slicks behind them. The smell of the food brought them in close and we rewarded them with a few morsels. As I mentioned in the last blog, the sunsets on the west coast have been just incredible, but on this night we were treated to the best I’ve ever seen as the sun set behind the city in the distance, turning the sky a deep salmon colour, and making the city itself look like it was completely ablaze.
Before returning the car we drove to Fremantle on our last full day, or ‘Freo’ as the Aussie’s refer to it. We upped our caffeine levels with a stroll down the portion of South Terrace more famously known as ’Cappuccino Strip’ so called for it’s abundance of cafes, coffee shops and alfresco dining establishments that line this particular part of the street. We followed this up with lunch in a local brewery called ‘Little Creatures’ who have won several awards for the ale they produce. The café/restaurant is open to the public and is set amongst the large brewing vats
Cappuchino Strip
A caffeine lovers paradise. giving it an industrial canteen type feel. The building was formally used as a boat shed and crocodile farm, but the name Little Creatures actually comes from the lyrics of a Talking Heads track, referring to the live yeast cells that turn the sugar to alcohol.
That night with our backpacks now reloaded and moved to our hostel, we took a walk through the empty city down to the Swan river in order to have a few drinks at a bar eloquently called ‘The Lucky Shag’ nestled beside the waters edge. Perth it’s said, for a city its size is the remotest on the planet. It somehow feels more like a large town than a city, and it felt like there was a curfew in the centre on that night, or maybe we were in the wrong place. That was a good thing though as we sat and talked about our recent road trip and my excitement about our immanent flight to one of the world’s most famous natural landmarks, which Sam having visited before was trying not to talk up too much in case I’m disappointed.
We dropped the car off at Tina and Heath’s offices in the
The bar at 'Little Creatures'
Black and white..............even the bar staff!! morning and said our goodbyes. We thanked them for their generosity and they wished us the best of luck for the rest of our adventure. For no real reason we managed to just about make our flight with only minutes to spare. Luckily we didn’t keep too many people waiting as the plane was practically empty. I reckon we could’ve sat next to the pilot if we’d have asked nicely.
“Right Bruce! Take us to Ayres Rock!!”………………………....
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