back on Australian soil!!
as i started walking around Perth, i started getting a little nervous: i really wanted to do Australia proud with the photos i took, because i wanted to be able to show all my non-Aussie friends in Dubai just how great this country is that i've been raving about for the past three months
but in the end, it was Australia who did ME proud
now, i would
never be able to forget just how beautiful Oz is, but it was pretty intoxicating being back in this country -- the cruisey, laid-back feel of the whole place, the smiling faces, the perfect weather, and that massive clear blue sky that i have just not seen anywhere else in the world
i'd never been to Perth before -- i think it's kinda odd that i've lived in Australia my entire life but it wasn't til i moved to The Middle East that i actually ventured to the other side of my home country!
any of my friends who have spent time in Perth have told me that while it's a real nice place, it's also a bit of a sleepy town, but i was determined to have fun -- and after all, i grew up in Newcastle, Australia: it's hardly a bustling metropolis, but i've always managed to have a great time there!
my adventures in perth:
attempt to sing along with a busker in Hay St. Mall, but only receive a harsh glare from him for my services (i think i was scaring off his crowd) . buy an Australian flag, and carry it around all day with you -- because obviously that's what we Aussies do (and spend the rest of the day having guys screaming: "YEAH!!! GO AUSTRALIA!!! YEAH!!!!" out of car windows at you) . visit a Woolworths Supermarket, and leave with eleven bags of lollies from "Allen's" and "The Natural Confectionery Company" because you just can't get that kind of gold in Dubai (and pass off some lame validation to the checkout girl: "uh, yeah, it's uh, for a party, yeah i'm throwing a party" -- but secretly you know these lollies are just for my private consumption) . go and see "Perth's premier tourist attraction": The Swan Bells -- and wonder if there's any method to the madness of all these bells in a tower, randomly ding-dong'ing constantly . have a drink at The Lucky Shag Bar, and spend thirty minutes there before you realise that the name of the bar is in actual fact a reference to some fortunate bird, and
not a guarantee of improving one's sex life . take a Captain Cook Cruise boat on a 90-minute-long cruise along perth's Swan River to Fremantle -- and ask the Captain if you can steer the boat for a bit, and be flatly refused: apparently it makes no difference if one is well-versed in the Safety and Emergency Procedures of both Boeing and Airbus aircrafts, it still doesn't mean you get to drive the boat . at the Fremantle Docks, approach a sailboat and ask the Captain if you can climb up to the crow's nest, and receive a blank stare in response (i'm
still waiting for an answer -- September 11, 2001 obviously tightened the security on sailboat crow's nests as well as aeroplane cockpits) . walk past The Western Australian Maritime Museum, and consider going in, before a row of shops catches your eye, and you get distracted -- will the novelty of shopping
ever wear off? (after contemplating my mother's shopping habits, it's likely that the novelty
won't ever wear off) . purchase the obligatory fridge-magnet for the collection . go to a Psychic Fair, and have your palm read -- relax folks, the future's looking swell . catch the train from Fremantle up to Cottesloe Beach . consider playing a quick nine holes at the golf course -- but really, if i play a round of golf, and there's no one there to point and laugh at me, have i actually even played a round of golf?? . walk around barefoot and shirtless and truly appreciate the fact that doing so in Australia is both socially-acceptable and
legal . eat fish'n'chips beachside, and wonder if it could possibly get any better than this . get back on the train to perth, and after another quick stop to Woolworth's for the requisite jar of Vegemite and tin of Milo, go to your hotel room and pass out from the kind of exhaustion that only comes from a day spent in the Australian sun
here are the photos:
-- editor's note: after a torrent of emails from well-informed sources, i've learnt that there actually IS a method to the madness of the Swan Bells tower.
stay tuned, next week: BANGKOK AND SYDNEY!!! i'm coming home, folks!!
let the good times roll!!
