Wednesday, January 26, 2005 (Perth - Australia)
Caged birds roam freely. Going after the goanna.
Desert creatures on display. actually, it's us that are in captivity here. Ten
minutes in Perth and we're already in trouble with the police. Setting rumours
in motion and watching the sky light up.
Day 324 (134). We awoke this morning to the
sound of hundreds of small Zebra Finches flying around the trees outside our
cabin. Many of the birds we might typically see caged as pets back in Europe,
such as finches, parrots, parakeets, cockatoos and cockatiels, can be found
roaming free all over this country – a much better way to see them, in my
opinion.
We checked out, took back
possession of our AU$10 (€6,10) key deposit and set off through the desert
back to Yulara. At around the halfway mark, we saw what looked like a goanna
scurrying across the road so I slammed on the brakes to get a better look. By
the time I backed the car up a few meters, it had already lost itself deep in
the underbrush along the side of the road. Still, it was another new animal
species that we’ve now seen roaming in the
wild.
We still had some time to kill
before making our flight so we had a look around the information centre in
Yulara. They have a very well presented exhibit of desert creatures and we got
to learn all about how both Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) were
formed. We managed to kill about forty-five minutes in the information centre
before hunger kicked in and we went in search of food. Our visit to Yulara has
been a good one but if there is one annoying thing about visiting a small town
in the desert in the middle of nowhere, it’s the fact you are a captive
audience and pretty much at the mercy of whatever the proprietors choose to
charge for goods and services. The only option we had for food was a small take
away cum cafeteria, although I did manage to convince the woman behind the
counter to allow me to bring in a chair for my pregnant wife. I’m now also
looking forward to parking in all those pregnant woman parking bays at shopping
centres too.
The last chore of the
morning was to top off the car with fuel and hand it in at the airport. We were
over our five hundred Kilometre allowance by about twenty and this raised the
total bill charged to my credit card to AU$108 (€65,88) for the two
days.
At check-in, I asked about our
strange upgrade on the previous flight but the check-in agent had no explanation
for us. It could have been one of any number of reasons, such as not enough
meals being available in economy, for example. We’ll never know. I was
cautiously optimistic about being upgraded again on this flight but no such luck
this time. The flight into Perth on Australia’s west coast took just about
three hours and was uneventful. I kept eyeing all the business class seats. All
of them were empty
Upon landing at
the domestic terminal, I went to collect the car whilst Sandy went for the
luggage belt. This time we got the category car that we paid for but it’s
a very nice little run-around and will suit us well for the next eight days here
in Perth. I don’t know how far out of Perth we will venture but at least
we have unlimited Kilometres just in case we do wish to venture farther out.
Once we were in the car, I cracked open the Lonely Planet guidebook to shop
around for backpacker accommodation. Unfortunately, most of them were booked to
capacity and beyond for tonight due to it being Australia Day. The going rate
for a night’s budget accommodation here in Perth seems to be around AU$50
(€30,50), give or take a few dollars. We arranged to go and check out the
rooms in the one hostel that had availability and, with a few directions from
the proprietor, we left the airport. He assured me that it should take us no
more than about twenty minutes to get into the city and to their establishment
but it wasn’t more than about thirty seconds out of the airport before we
were totally lost. We did eventually make it into the city but one particular
junction gave me a bit of trouble and we ended up on the other side of the road
going back out of the city again. I found a place to do a U-turn but somehow
managed to end up in a bus lane and we drove straight towards a group of waiting
police officers. In near unison, they jumped out into the road to stop me and I
had to wind down the window and plead ignorance. Not ten minutes in Perth and I
was already staring a traffic violation fine in the face – no better way
to get your blood pumping, let me tell you. As it happens, pleading stupidity
and ignorance seemed to be the best tactic, as they immediately went into
helpfulness mode after it was apparent that we were new in town and had
unintentionally went down the bus lane. They directed me back into the correct
flow of traffic and even gave us directions to where we were going so I
can’t say better than that.
We
eventually found the backpackers hostel but the staff there seemed none too
friendly so we wandered around a bit to find an alternative. There were several
other places within walking distance with a really nice one just around the
corner. Not listed in the guidebook, this one had a really nice room with
en-suite bathroom, a big kitchen and comfortable lounge. At AU$55 (€33,55)
per night, it’s a little more than I would have liked but still close
enough for our needs. At the very least, we have a nice room for tonight and may
yet remain here for longer.
For
several days now, I’ve been pestering my brother Paul David to try to find
out for us the contact details of the sister of a family friend here in Perth.
He finally came through with the necessary Information (thanks Paul!) and we
left a voice mail. Hopefully, we will hear back from here tomorrow and we can
make arrangement to go and visit her at the convent. I had a very interesting
exchange of text messages with Paul David about some news that we will be
conveying soon. He badgered me persistently about what this news might be and
even asked at one point if it was that sandy was with child. We’re not
ready to spill the beans just yet and I’m not sure if I was able to throw
him off the scent or not so it will be interesting to see just how the rumour
mill churns over the next week or
two.
Having checked in to our
accommodation and made ourselves comfortable, we wandered into the city to have
a look around. Half of Perth seems to be out on the streets and making their way
down to King’s Park for the Australia Day celebrations this evening. The
central business district of Perth is very much like Melbourne but most of the
shops were either shut or shutting due to the public holiday and celebrations.
Sandy was by now starting to get tired so we made our way back to the hostel via
a quick detour into a nearby KFC. We also found the doctor’s clinic where
we will go tomorrow to talk to someone about any pre-natal care that sandy will
need in the coming months. Tomorrow, after the doctor’s appointment, we
will find a supermarket and do some shopping to keep us fed over the coming
days. From the balcony of the hostel, we watched a truly amazing display of
Australia Day fireworks that lit up the Perth skyline for nearly half an hour
before turning in for the night. I put on a DVD but Sandy was off to dreamland
not long after her head hit the pillow. We will need to acclimatise ourselves to
the time difference here in Perth.
Posted: Wed - January 26, 2005 at 12:05 AM