Perth and Melbourne
Pete Writes: So it was finally onto the bright lights of Perth, but not before we had a fleeting visit to Freemantle which is approx 10km away from Perth although a lot of people think it is a province of Perth. ‘Freo’ as known to the locals is very popular with tourists wandering the streets due to the restored 19century buildings and the fact that on every corner there is a street performer. Whether they were playing the guitar, didgeridoo or just trying to juggle fire (without setting themselves alight!) they were out in force. So we decided to chill out for an hour or so over a coffee in one of the many cafes on cappuccino street. Fully caffeined up it was time to navigate the numerous roads (remember we have been used to a single choice for a while!) to Perth.
We were slowly coming to terms that we had to hand back our house and trying to squeeze the last few kms out of our friend (we managed to cover 9780kms in 5 weeks), so we headed to the aquarium. It had lots of really cool tanks with fish from all along the west coast. I think I was most impressed by the jelly fish displays which seemed to hypnotize as they floated in the water. We did spend a little time wandering the streets of Perth window shopping and purchasing a few warm items ready for Melbourne.
Wow, could we feel the difference in temp once we stepped off the plane at 6am, YES! It must have been at least 5c colder. Melbourne did not hit the mark last time we were there, but it more than made up for it this time. My high light was watching an Aussie rules game at the immense MCG, although I was not 100% clued up on the rules it was a very fast paced game. To top it off the team that we decided to follow won by 12 points!
Chloe Writes: The Aquarium in Freemantle was amazing, the selection of fish was the best I had seen and the displays were mesmerizing. After a fleeting visit to Perth to buy hats and scarves and eat in a couple of restaurants, as you can tell we didn’t do much else, it was on to Melbourne. As Pete said, the last time we were there we didn’t do an awful lot and the weather was grey and raining. This time, even though it was cold, the sun was shining and there was so much to do we had a great time.
The first night we watched a cultural dance performance, which was a first for both of us, about the struggle of the aboriginal people. The next day we visited the Holocaust museum, which is run by survivors of the holocaust, unfortunately in was Friday and I should have know that it would be closing early (for the Sabbath), so we only had an hour to look round and it went by so quickly. Our next stop was the ‘Game On’ exhibition, which was about the history of computer games and had us playing our way through consoles from the Atari to the Wii. That evening we went to a very tacky, Dracula themed dinner/cabaret show, It was a laugh though and the cider, cocktails and 4 bottles of wine made for a very messy night.
After a very long lie in we ventured out for some Thai food and even more comedy, stand up at the comedy theatre. Not a bad night but only 1 really funny guy, might have to do with Pete and I not getting some of the more local jokes. The following day we donned some yellow and brown colors and supported the Hawthorne hawks at the footy. The MCG is a huge ground and must hold in the region of 100k people. The game is a must to watch for anyone visiting Aus, it’s a cross between rugby and football but much more aggressive. There were two fights on the pitch in the first 60 seconds of the game. The players push and shove one another in the scramble for the ball and use any means to get to it, highly entertaining.
And there ends our trip to Aus. Absolutely gutted but hope to come back and visit again soon.
Page Gallery
Perth
Jelly Fish
Lion Fish
Melbourne Central Station
Ferris wheel, Melbourne
Statue on the way to the MCG
The AFL teams walk through the flags before the game
Inside MCG
Melbourne at night
One of the waiting staff at the cabaret
Chloes dinner bowl
Tags: Australia
June 4th, 2008 at 6:31 am
We have enjoyed reading your Australian adventure, and looking forward to seeing your reports from NZ - we look each day for the next instalment!
A comment from someone at work about Chloe’s dinner bowl - I hope that wasn’t brains she was eating!
Hope you are getting used to the cooler climate after all the heat you have endured.
Mum & Dad xx
June 5th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
To be honest I couldnt tell by the time I got my meal.
First NZ report is up & running, it’s a bit nippy but nowhere near the temp of home in the winter so its not too bad, the van is lovely and warm though
Lots of love,
Chloe x