Perth City

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Entry by Jules

On Friday morning we arrived in Perth, Australia, after an overnight flight from Hong Kong with Qantas (I wouldn’t admit it to any Aussies but Qantas is better than BA). Having collected the car and checked into the hostel we disposed of our warm clothes, threw on shorts and t-shirts and headed out for a wander around.

The first thing that struck me about Perth (and probably Australia I assume), other than the warmth and sheer scale of the country, is how much it feels like being in the States; the road signs, freeways and highways, space, zones of types of uses and architectural styles. What is vastly different from the States (and also the UK come to think of it), however, are the people (very friendly and genuinely so), the slower pace of life, stress-free driving and lack of crowds.

Having managed to purchase some obligatory surf clothing items in the City, we headed to the waterfront and the Swan Tower. The tower houses the bells from London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields which chime on the quarter hour, creating a strange feeling of being back home.

In the afternoon we went up to Kings Park, just to the west of the City Centre. Much of the park is given over to a range of memorials dedicated to the men and woman of Perth killed during the various wars and the 2002 Bali bomb. The centre piece of the park is an eternal flame; lest we forget.

That evening we listened to the local radio. It seems that no matter where you go in the world, the locals will always complain about the weather! Regardless of the fact that the weather was nice and warm with cloudless blue skies, one man who called into the phone-in show was complaining that there hadn’t been a summer yet!

On Saturday we had a cultural morning taking in the Western Australian Art Gallery and the Museum. The former houses a variety of art from WA, including a lot of aboriginal works. Part of the gallery is housed within the former Magistrates Court which is an extremely interesting colonial building, designed and constructed by a local architect and comprising local building materials. One part of the gallery was taken over by the 2008 Aboriginal Art Awards. This was interesting as the exhibits on display included not only the more traditional pieces of aboriginal art but also more contemporary pictures and those making a political statements about the settling of the country.

The Museum is located adjacent to the gallery which, combined with the City’s Library, make up what is known as the Cultural Centre. Inside the Museum is a section dedicated to the ‘Stolen Generation’. This refers to the period of time during the last century when the Government actively encouraged the removal of aboriginal children from their families and placement of them with ‘white’ families so that they could be ‘assimilated’ into society. Such policy has since been abolished and the actions defined as genocide.

In the grounds of the Museum you can visit Megamouth. This is a type of shark which was discovered washed on the shores near Perth. Only a handful have been discovered in the world, largely washed up on a beach dead. It’s name is fairly logical…

Perth has three bus routes around the City which are completely free, in addition to the Art Gallery and Museum (can you imagine anywhere in the UK offering this?), one of which we took to get us to the WACA - the Western Australian Cricket Association Sports Ground, home of the WA Warriors. Luckily for me there wasn’t a match on :o)

On the way back to the hostel after a meal I noticed the moon. Not particularly extraordinary I guess but I hadn’t realised that it would be upside down!

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Comments

[Jon]

Go to Cottesloe!
It is Wednesday tomorrow (or today if you are where you are) and so that means a pool comp at the Ocean Beach Hotel. Do it.