The View from the Other End of the World
When I first planned on coming to Australia many
months ago, I orginally never planned on going to New Zealand, and I only
planned on spending the majority of my time on the west coast, especially Perth.
Now here I was, clear on the other side of the world from the United States, and
I had to figure out what I was going to to with myself.
When I first planned on coming to Australia many
months ago, I orginally never planned on going to New Zealand, and I only
planned on spending the majority of my time on the west coast, especially Perth.
Now here I was, clear on the other side of the world from the United States, and
I had to figure out what I was going to to with myself.
Even before I had seen Perth I knew it was the perfect place for me to sort my life out. Perth is the most remote capital city in the world. It is actually closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney. In fact its cheaper for me to fly to there than it is to Sydney. There is a certain implied isolation that this city gives me that is exactly what I need. Originally, prior to factoring in New Zealand, I planned on arriving in Perth on my birthday, but I arrived in Melbourne instead.
Perth is a relatively new city, and is based off of the Gold and Iron Ore industries that still dot the Western Australia outback. There is a certain similarity to the south in the part of the world. It is a laid back attitude, not to be confused with laziness, things still very much get done but unlike a city like Sydney the hustle and bustle is not a prevalent. I have arrived at the perfect time of the year. With highs in the mid 70s and lows in the high 50s, this is my kind of weather. This being the rainy season, you can get rain sometimes as much as once a week, needless to say its a pretty dry part of the world.
I ventured out on foot this morning with no real plan other than to walk around the city, and possible catch the train to Freemantle. Freemantle was the original city on the coast, where as Perth is about 20 miles inland. Before I left I had my complementary breakfast, at which I was taken by the large number of asian, I mean I was the only caucasian in the whole place. I learned when I left, something that I didn't notice coming in the night and from the other side of the hotel, that I was smack dab in the middle of asian neighborhood. I couldn't really tell if it was Chinatown, or Vietnamese, or Thai, because they all were represented by local restaurants. But one thing was sure, there we no hamburgers to be purchased around here.
One thing that I wanted to do was see if I could make it up to the town Exmouth about 20 hours drive north of Perth. I didn't really want to take the bus or drive that distance but I had been told that flights were really expensive. I found one travel agency for students and backpackers. I actually spent about 30 minutes at this place talking to employees just finding out places to stay and go. They recommended that I rent a car and go up to the Pinnacles, which were about a three hour drive north. However the best airfare they could find was $800. Thats $800 to fly about 2 and a half hours up the coast, where a flight to Singapore in a different country cost about quarter of that. So that was out. They did indorse my idea of going to New Norcia to visit the Benedictine Monastery. They then called around time to find out the best rate for me to rent a car. And finally recommended a place for me to grab lunch. Before I knew it, I had plan for the rest of my trip to WA. (This was because I already knew I was going to the wine country a few hours south of Perth.)
I than went to the Japanese noodle house that the girl at the travel agency had recommended. Like many on this trip this was new culinary experience for me. I had a beef noodle soup. Which in its essence was really a beef stock soup with vegetables and lots of rice noodles, but it was really filling and very cheap, so I loved it. I was there with my lonely planet guide in hand, I was able to book my accommodations for the next two nights including one night at the Monastery in New Norcia.
I left the restaurant and headed further downtown into the heart of the shopping district on Hay Street. As with most things in this city, the market is pretty much all new buildings.
(The state that Perth resides in is "Western Australia" so if you see me refer to "WA" I am not referring to Washington state.)
I made my way after a bit of a walk down to rental car company, where I was greeted by luke warm customer service, but none the less booked my car. Not really needing the car, I told them I would pick it up the following day. I left there and walked towards the city center again. I remembered reading that the oldest building in Perth was within the Supreme Court grounds. After about 30 minutes of walking I came across the Supreme Court Gardens, so I knew I had to be close. I approached to police officers at the gates to the Supreme Court, who once again couldn't have been nicer, they told me that the old building was pretty bland, and then suggested that where I really need to go is Kings Park that overlooks the city, they told me that it was the most beautiful cityscape in all of Australia. That is one hell of a claim when you consider Sydney. I said that I would walk around the building just to glance at this not so wonderful building, and boy were they right. For being such a hallmark of history in the city, you would think they would have either dressed it up a little or torn it down, because the second oldest build had to look better than this. But who am I to judge.
I left the Supreme Court and head back to the hotel. Instead at the last minute I decided to take the bus around the city. I travelled down to the bell tower which held a little area that you could look out onto the river with the city at your back. Also was the strange looking bell town built in 1988, the controversial building houses the Bells of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, given to Perth by England.
Even before I had seen Perth I knew it was the perfect place for me to sort my life out. Perth is the most remote capital city in the world. It is actually closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney. In fact its cheaper for me to fly to there than it is to Sydney. There is a certain implied isolation that this city gives me that is exactly what I need. Originally, prior to factoring in New Zealand, I planned on arriving in Perth on my birthday, but I arrived in Melbourne instead.
Perth is a relatively new city, and is based off of the Gold and Iron Ore industries that still dot the Western Australia outback. There is a certain similarity to the south in the part of the world. It is a laid back attitude, not to be confused with laziness, things still very much get done but unlike a city like Sydney the hustle and bustle is not a prevalent. I have arrived at the perfect time of the year. With highs in the mid 70s and lows in the high 50s, this is my kind of weather. This being the rainy season, you can get rain sometimes as much as once a week, needless to say its a pretty dry part of the world.
I ventured out on foot this morning with no real plan other than to walk around the city, and possible catch the train to Freemantle. Freemantle was the original city on the coast, where as Perth is about 20 miles inland. Before I left I had my complementary breakfast, at which I was taken by the large number of asian, I mean I was the only caucasian in the whole place. I learned when I left, something that I didn't notice coming in the night and from the other side of the hotel, that I was smack dab in the middle of asian neighborhood. I couldn't really tell if it was Chinatown, or Vietnamese, or Thai, because they all were represented by local restaurants. But one thing was sure, there we no hamburgers to be purchased around here.
One thing that I wanted to do was see if I could make it up to the town Exmouth about 20 hours drive north of Perth. I didn't really want to take the bus or drive that distance but I had been told that flights were really expensive. I found one travel agency for students and backpackers. I actually spent about 30 minutes at this place talking to employees just finding out places to stay and go. They recommended that I rent a car and go up to the Pinnacles, which were about a three hour drive north. However the best airfare they could find was $800. Thats $800 to fly about 2 and a half hours up the coast, where a flight to Singapore in a different country cost about quarter of that. So that was out. They did indorse my idea of going to New Norcia to visit the Benedictine Monastery. They then called around time to find out the best rate for me to rent a car. And finally recommended a place for me to grab lunch. Before I knew it, I had plan for the rest of my trip to WA. (This was because I already knew I was going to the wine country a few hours south of Perth.)
I than went to the Japanese noodle house that the girl at the travel agency had recommended. Like many on this trip this was new culinary experience for me. I had a beef noodle soup. Which in its essence was really a beef stock soup with vegetables and lots of rice noodles, but it was really filling and very cheap, so I loved it. I was there with my lonely planet guide in hand, I was able to book my accommodations for the next two nights including one night at the Monastery in New Norcia.
I left the restaurant and headed further downtown into the heart of the shopping district on Hay Street. As with most things in this city, the market is pretty much all new buildings.
(The state that Perth resides in is "Western Australia" so if you see me refer to "WA" I am not referring to Washington state.)
I made my way after a bit of a walk down to rental car company, where I was greeted by luke warm customer service, but none the less booked my car. Not really needing the car, I told them I would pick it up the following day. I left there and walked towards the city center again. I remembered reading that the oldest building in Perth was within the Supreme Court grounds. After about 30 minutes of walking I came across the Supreme Court Gardens, so I knew I had to be close. I approached to police officers at the gates to the Supreme Court, who once again couldn't have been nicer, they told me that the old building was pretty bland, and then suggested that where I really need to go is Kings Park that overlooks the city, they told me that it was the most beautiful cityscape in all of Australia. That is one hell of a claim when you consider Sydney. I said that I would walk around the building just to glance at this not so wonderful building, and boy were they right. For being such a hallmark of history in the city, you would think they would have either dressed it up a little or torn it down, because the second oldest build had to look better than this. But who am I to judge.
I left the Supreme Court and head back to the hotel. Instead at the last minute I decided to take the bus around the city. I travelled down to the bell tower which held a little area that you could look out onto the river with the city at your back. Also was the strange looking bell town built in 1988, the controversial building houses the Bells of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, given to Perth by England.
Posted: Sat - September 6, 2003 at 12:17 AM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:38 PM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:38 PM