Perth

Day 192

After a restful morning, time to head into the city in the afternoon and get on a train to Subiaco, Perth’s ‘West end’. As it happens, tonight is the Subiaco street festival but we arrive a bit early and so have a walk up and down the street browsing in all of the posh shops.

Whilst we are here we take a short walk and look at the site for the competition I was involved in winning in my previous life as an Architect in Sydney. Not much has happened on the site as yet but it was good to see it in reality and in its context within the city.

Still a little early for the festival (they were still setting up) we decide to kill some time and have a drink in one of Subiaco’s landmarks, the ‘Subi’. Quite a nice little boozer (and they serve pints!) and once our drinks are drunk it’s time for the festival.

Have a stroll up and down a few times, listening to the live music and browsing the stalls but it seems more like a market than a street festival and we have soon had enough browsing and call it a night.

After having been quietly impressed with Perth’s public transport system during the day, trains and busses running on time and fast connections in and out of the city. The night is a different story completely. Fair enough the train back into the city and our connection out to Gwelup was painless enough but when we get there the busses seem to have stopped for the night. We have to wait half an hour for a bus that doesn’t really take us anywhere near our home and so after 5 minutes on the bus we are faced with a 40 minute walk home along roads with no footpaths!

Day 193

Up and out early this morning as Polly is booked in for her new windscreen which, thankfully is completely free on our insurance!

Find the place pretty easily (with Tom navigating for us) and whilst it is being fitted have a stroll across the road to Bunnings. We have a good look around but can’t think of anything we need and so (for the first time ever) leave empty handed.

Back across the road and the windscreen is fitted and we are good to go. As we pull away and I change gear the bloody knob comes off in my hand again! Straight back into Bunnings for Allen keys (I knew there would be something) and after a quick tighten we are off and as it is a nice afternoon head down to Scarborough beach for a swim.

The beach is pretty busy and we are straight in but the water is freezing (in a good way) and so (after a quick swim) we are straight back out again and warming up in the sun. This process is repeated a few times and once we have had enough of both cold water and hot sun we head back to the campsite for a little liquid refreshment and an early night.

Day 194

Carmen is excited this morning as her dad arrives for the weekend. We get the spare room ready for his arrival only to find that instead of the luxury annexe he has opted to rough it in a hotel in the city!

Luxury annexe

We head in to meet him and pay a visit to his hotel (I still think he would have been better off in the annexe!) and after Carmen and Richard’s city orientation walk we all jump on the free bus up to Northbridge. After a stroll around and some dinner we decide to go to the cinema and see ‘we need to talk about Kevin’.

Both Carmen and I were in the enviable position of not knowing anything at all about this film (John had read the book) and so found the whole thing enthralling and would suggest that if you (like us) haven’t read the book that you go and see the film.

We all stroll back into the city and after bidding John a good night we are faced with the needlessly long journey home again and spend the whole (considerable) time cursing Perth’s (lack of) night time transport.

Day 195

A day trip to Freemantle (or ‘freo’ as the locals call it) so we meet up in the city again and walk down to the river to jump on a boat and enjoy a leisurely cruise (with commentary) down the Swan river. The driver points out all the flash houses on the foreshore and entertains us with a bit of Perth’s history as we go and we all enjoy the trip.

For some unknown reason the ferry drops us miles away from Freo itself and so after waiting for a bus that only came once we had decided to walk (typical) we arrive having already covered quite a bit of ground. As luck would have it Freo is hosting the 2011 sailing world championships at the moment and so arrive on the foreshore to see an ocean full of boats and windsurfers.

In a previous life I was actually quite a good sailor (if I do say so myself) and so was excited to be here and even thought about approaching the British team in case they were in need of a standby. But with the current World and Olympic champion (Ben Ainsley) on our team I thought I wouldn’t take the wind from his sails (if you’ll pardon the pun (Ray)) by showing him up and so kept quiet.

We enjoyed a Fish and chip lunch at Bathers beach overlooking the sailing and after, rounded a corner to see one of Freo’s main attractions. A life-sized statue of the rocker Bon Scott (from AC/DC)!  Well I say life-sized but maybe it should be pint-sized as he is a shortarse (although he did seem to have a big package).

After we had recovered from the excitement we walked into the town centre and immediately were struck by how many (relatively) old buildings there were. Freemantle was built on gold rush money at the end of the century (19^TH) and fortunately it seems that just about every building has been kept (apart from the odd eyesore) and the whole town retains its original grandiose feeling.

We sit in the main street and enjoy the view and a well-earned rest (we must have walked miles already) and notice that there is no traffic. Then we realise that it is the last day of Freemantle festival today (how many festivals?) and the roads have been shut accordingly.

We have a stroll through the markets which are nice and jump on the free bus to do a lap of the town (good these free busses) before getting on the train back to the city.

A final stroll through the cultural precinct to have a look at the urban orchard and we are all absolutely cream crackered and so call it a night and head home just in time to catch a lovely sunset over lake Karinyup.

Lawbreaker

Day 196

Still tired from yesterday’s marathon (and the prospect of another hot day looming) we all decide to take it a bit easier today and so ride the free bus up to Kings Park for a (short) stroll and a look around at the botanic gardens and the view of the city.

We also walk along the much hyped but ultimately disappointing ‘tree top walk’, which does give you some nice views of the river and city but certainly no better than from the park itself.

Back on the free bus network and decide to sit (in the air con) and do the complete loop. The busses take you right through the city centre and out to such landmarks as the WACA (West Australian cricket Association) in East Perth and to the edge of Subiaco in the West. Far more enjoyable than walking we all agree and once the whole network has been covered we further escape the heat by going to the cinema and watching ‘Anonymous’. The conspiracy theory that Shakespeare wasn’t the real author of any of the plays, sonnets etc and that it was in fact a nobleman. Quite good and worth a look (if you have seen ‘we need to talk about Kevin’ that is).

Time for John to leave and head back to Brisbane (and ultimately the Gold Coast) and so we walk him back to his hotel and pack him off in a taxi for the airport.

Day 197

A red letter day today (another one!) as it’s my Birthday. Unfortunately no one seems to have mentioned it to Perth and soon after getting up the heavens open (accompanied by thunder and lightning) and they stay open all day!

I do get a visit form the Birthday bunny (not Carmen dressed up) in the morning but most of the day is spent sitting in the van watching films, playing my new game (Mario 3D) and staying out of the weather.

It does finally brighten up in the evening but it is too late to go anywhere, especially faced with the prospect of having to walk bloody miles to actually get anywhere (the nearest pub is 40 mins away!) and so we postpone the celebrations until the weekend (when it will really kick off) and take comfort in the Christmas pudding birthday cake in the evening instead.

Day 198

Up well before the crack of dawn this morning as it Carmen’s first day of work and Polly is in for her major service (210,000 KM). I drive Polly to the garage and Carmen heads into the city on the bus. Seems a bit weird saying goodbye as we have not spent this much time apart in months and although I will miss her more than words can say I know she will be safe and I will be seeing her again tonight, once the mechanics have finished with her!!

Rather than hang around at the garage all day I get the train into the city and make a bee line for the State library, where I sit and read my way through the weekend papers and have a browse of an exhibition on the history of news reporting in Australia (rubbish).

Stop in to have a look at the foyer for the state theatre which has an interesting façade of hanging brass tubes and jump on the free bus again to the WACA.

As I am strolling around the ground the phone goes and it is the garage. Surprise surprise they have found loads of things wrong with Polly and it is going to cost double the original estimate to fix them all! What can you do in this situation but bite your lip (swear profusely under your breath) and agree to the work?

Head back into town to meet Carmen after work (it was only a 5 hour shift) and we both get the train back to the garage to pick up Polly. After paying the equivalent of the deposit on a small house we jump in and drive off. She does seem to be running a lot smoother (I should bloody well hope so) and so it seems that it was money well spent after all.