Hello, I promise this is the last post on WA. Here are some observations from my trip...
Bibbulmun Track
The track was amazing and is underrated. It exceeded my expectations. The section I did was the best coastal walking I have ever done. The biodiversity in flora and fauna was amazing. Infrastructure (based on the Appalachian trail in the US) is great but the track is largely unknown in the east. The locals say this is because it's so far for easterners to travel to WA. Well, NZ is the same distance and Australians flock there. In fact a lot of WA reminds me of NZ - the quiet roads with small towns and stops and the great variation in scenery. On the track we only saw five people during the whole five days. Two of these were doing the whole 1000 km, which is a real commitment.
Near our accommodation there was another section of the track which we didn't do, so I explored it. I have never seen a walking track go through the middle of a skateboard park. It took some investigation to work out that the concrete structure the track traversed was actually a small skateboard park.
The south coast of WA is a great place and it's usually a lot cooler there than in Perth. It's well worth a visit even if you don't do walking (they have a great Chocolate Factory [with a great garden and resident unidentified nectar eating marsupial], a woodwork place and a winery/brewery, all near Denmark). Rottnest Island is also a great place to visit. I think they need to promote WA better.
Accommodation
In Perth, I stayed in the same hotel before and after my trip south. It was reasonably good for the price apart from a bit of wear and tear like the rusty bath and stains on the carpet. The bed was on wheels too, which caused the whole bed to move down the room when I moved. Although I did find a cheaper place down the road, it was only $38 a night, at what they called a "lodge". I didn't see that one on Booking.com. When I was waiting to collect my key one day, there was an old man in front of me that obviously was going to be a needy guest. He was checking in and the first thing that troubled him was that the check in form didn't indicate that the room was for two people, then he had a query about wifi. The receptionist anticipated further issues and so went through the whole one page letter with him which they give to guests giving those sort of details. When I was leaving one day, an optimist was trying to check in at 7am.
The accommodation in Denmark was very good in a forest setting and the five of us had a very large house/cabin to ourselves. Although I think I broke the shower as hot water was intermittent and we did have the incident of the coffee plunger disintegrating on hitting the floor and I won't mention the slight bump, with our minibus, into a tree in the driveway. One day when we were leaving we even saw a dog bringing back a carton of milk (in its mouth) from the shops. I am not sure whether it was for its breakfast or the owner's.
What was interesting in Denmark, was that rather than seeing cockatoos grazing in the fields, you see ibis.
Perth TV Newsreaders
They are an interesting bunch. On one station the newsreader was so bored with her job she managed to deliver the news monotone with a completely expressionless face for the whole hour (a robot would have shown more emotion). On another station the newsreader looked like a body builder who was about to bust out of his suit.
Out and About in Perth
Perth is a very modern city more, with few old buildings, and directed more at business than anything else, so I was not taken with it (Fremantle looked a nicer place, although I didn't spend much time there). It has some interesting residents though, particularly in the malls at night. One person I saw was in jean shorts (stylishly ripped of course) and furry coat with the hood up. Early one morning I went past a Salvation Army shop and at the front door I saw an opened suitcase with clothes strewn all over the place. People must have been checking whether there was anything in their style or size.
One thing they do well in Perth (and even in smaller towns) is ice cream. There are many more ice cream shops there than in Melbourne. The orange and choc chip ice cream on Rottnest Island was excellent.
Public transport is quite good and the buses appear to go everywhere. They also have a number of free bus routes around the Perth and Fremantle CBDs. They aren't so committed to the trains. They only have four carriages, seats down the sides (facing each other) and seem to run the same timetable whether it's peak time or not. That means at times they are very packed. They also seem to have a lot of Transit officers, at least on the Fremantle line. On one trip a lot of school kids were on the train. A couple of teenagers were seated opposite me: one appeared to be suffering from verbal diarrhea (I thought that's what social media was for) and the other was doing her hair.
Then there are the street signs, they tend to put them up before intersections, which is very useful if you are in a car but not always if you are on foot. They also have Puma petrol stations in WA. I am not sure whether Adidas or Nike are considering entering the petrol station market too.
Signs
I came across a number of stupid signs on my trip to WA (or signs for stupid people, I'm not sure which). The first sign was in a public toilet in Albany and the second one was in a Bibbulmun walking track shelter in a spot that it would be just impossible to ride a bike to - however, there obviously was some knucklehead that did just that.
Then there was this interesting sign and door to keep quokkas out of the Rottnest Island general store. I'm not sure they can read but they would need some strength to push through those plastic half doors.
Soccer
Coincidentally, when I was in Perth, the Matildas were playing Thailand in a friendly match and so I took the opportunity to see the Australian team (ranked 4th in the world). It was a great game and atmosphere. The NIB stadium is a great venue to watch soccer. There were a few issues: the person behind me discussing her gut issues (loudly), the Thai fans that started screeching every time their players touched the ball (which was rarely) and fans walking out when there was still a good 10 minutes to play in the game. In Melbourne fans walk out when your team is losing not when you are winning 5-0.
Umbrellas
They have a thing about umbrellas in WA. I was not allowed to take my umbrella into the soccer game. Then, at the airport, umbrellas seem to be a security risk. I had to take my umbrella out of my carry on luggage and put it separately to be scanned. Must be concerned about exploding umbrellas. So now it's not only tablets and laptops, its umbrellas (at Perth airport anyway) that pose a security risk. Soon we will have to take everything out of our bags to get scanned separately. Clearly, security technology is going ahead in leaps and bounds.
Bibbulmun Track
The track was amazing and is underrated. It exceeded my expectations. The section I did was the best coastal walking I have ever done. The biodiversity in flora and fauna was amazing. Infrastructure (based on the Appalachian trail in the US) is great but the track is largely unknown in the east. The locals say this is because it's so far for easterners to travel to WA. Well, NZ is the same distance and Australians flock there. In fact a lot of WA reminds me of NZ - the quiet roads with small towns and stops and the great variation in scenery. On the track we only saw five people during the whole five days. Two of these were doing the whole 1000 km, which is a real commitment.
Near our accommodation there was another section of the track which we didn't do, so I explored it. I have never seen a walking track go through the middle of a skateboard park. It took some investigation to work out that the concrete structure the track traversed was actually a small skateboard park.
The south coast of WA is a great place and it's usually a lot cooler there than in Perth. It's well worth a visit even if you don't do walking (they have a great Chocolate Factory [with a great garden and resident unidentified nectar eating marsupial], a woodwork place and a winery/brewery, all near Denmark). Rottnest Island is also a great place to visit. I think they need to promote WA better.
Accommodation
In Perth, I stayed in the same hotel before and after my trip south. It was reasonably good for the price apart from a bit of wear and tear like the rusty bath and stains on the carpet. The bed was on wheels too, which caused the whole bed to move down the room when I moved. Although I did find a cheaper place down the road, it was only $38 a night, at what they called a "lodge". I didn't see that one on Booking.com. When I was waiting to collect my key one day, there was an old man in front of me that obviously was going to be a needy guest. He was checking in and the first thing that troubled him was that the check in form didn't indicate that the room was for two people, then he had a query about wifi. The receptionist anticipated further issues and so went through the whole one page letter with him which they give to guests giving those sort of details. When I was leaving one day, an optimist was trying to check in at 7am.
The accommodation in Denmark was very good in a forest setting and the five of us had a very large house/cabin to ourselves. Although I think I broke the shower as hot water was intermittent and we did have the incident of the coffee plunger disintegrating on hitting the floor and I won't mention the slight bump, with our minibus, into a tree in the driveway. One day when we were leaving we even saw a dog bringing back a carton of milk (in its mouth) from the shops. I am not sure whether it was for its breakfast or the owner's.
What was interesting in Denmark, was that rather than seeing cockatoos grazing in the fields, you see ibis.
Perth TV Newsreaders
They are an interesting bunch. On one station the newsreader was so bored with her job she managed to deliver the news monotone with a completely expressionless face for the whole hour (a robot would have shown more emotion). On another station the newsreader looked like a body builder who was about to bust out of his suit.
Out and About in Perth
Perth is a very modern city more, with few old buildings, and directed more at business than anything else, so I was not taken with it (Fremantle looked a nicer place, although I didn't spend much time there). It has some interesting residents though, particularly in the malls at night. One person I saw was in jean shorts (stylishly ripped of course) and furry coat with the hood up. Early one morning I went past a Salvation Army shop and at the front door I saw an opened suitcase with clothes strewn all over the place. People must have been checking whether there was anything in their style or size.
One thing they do well in Perth (and even in smaller towns) is ice cream. There are many more ice cream shops there than in Melbourne. The orange and choc chip ice cream on Rottnest Island was excellent.
Public transport is quite good and the buses appear to go everywhere. They also have a number of free bus routes around the Perth and Fremantle CBDs. They aren't so committed to the trains. They only have four carriages, seats down the sides (facing each other) and seem to run the same timetable whether it's peak time or not. That means at times they are very packed. They also seem to have a lot of Transit officers, at least on the Fremantle line. On one trip a lot of school kids were on the train. A couple of teenagers were seated opposite me: one appeared to be suffering from verbal diarrhea (I thought that's what social media was for) and the other was doing her hair.
Then there are the street signs, they tend to put them up before intersections, which is very useful if you are in a car but not always if you are on foot. They also have Puma petrol stations in WA. I am not sure whether Adidas or Nike are considering entering the petrol station market too.
Signs
I came across a number of stupid signs on my trip to WA (or signs for stupid people, I'm not sure which). The first sign was in a public toilet in Albany and the second one was in a Bibbulmun walking track shelter in a spot that it would be just impossible to ride a bike to - however, there obviously was some knucklehead that did just that.
Coincidentally, when I was in Perth, the Matildas were playing Thailand in a friendly match and so I took the opportunity to see the Australian team (ranked 4th in the world). It was a great game and atmosphere. The NIB stadium is a great venue to watch soccer. There were a few issues: the person behind me discussing her gut issues (loudly), the Thai fans that started screeching every time their players touched the ball (which was rarely) and fans walking out when there was still a good 10 minutes to play in the game. In Melbourne fans walk out when your team is losing not when you are winning 5-0.
They have a thing about umbrellas in WA. I was not allowed to take my umbrella into the soccer game. Then, at the airport, umbrellas seem to be a security risk. I had to take my umbrella out of my carry on luggage and put it separately to be scanned. Must be concerned about exploding umbrellas. So now it's not only tablets and laptops, its umbrellas (at Perth airport anyway) that pose a security risk. Soon we will have to take everything out of our bags to get scanned separately. Clearly, security technology is going ahead in leaps and bounds.
