Arrive in Perth, met up with my Uncle Ricky at airport. It’s nice to see him, although he’s much thinner than I remember. Quite possibly, he thinks the same about me! Perth weather is wonderful, so sunny, and so pleasant… so predictable – you could just say “about 30 degrees, sunny”, and you’d have been right for pretty much every day I was there. The breeze is pleasant and cooling too, so one welcomes the flow of air across face, unlike hot Melbourne days when the hot air tends to be anything but refreshing. We’re soon on the road, Ricky commenting on how heavy the traffic seems to be. I look around, thinking, “what traffic?” for, clearly, he must have been imagining things. Grab a bite, and proceed to house, and then to ice-cream shop that my Uncle owns (New Zealand Natural in Morley Galleria), to meet my aunt Agnes and cousin Val (who was looking as beautiful as I remember her from all those years ago!).
Mmmm - Ice cream!
Mmmm, ice cream is delicious! Part of brain that fears putting on weight is now dreading prospect of free ice cream for next two weeks. But said part of brain is positively silenced by the yumminess of said ice cream, smoothies, fruit floes, juices, practically everything in the shop! (except bananas) Dopamine receptors stimulated presumably by the chocolate part of ice cream, was feeling happy again.
Saw The Incredibles with my cousin, pretty fun movie, tho for kids. Wasn’t in much of a thinking mood, so just the right thing for me! Not a whole lot to comment. Looked around shopping centre, which was quite big for a city where light traffic is considered heavy. Had a nice dinner in Perth city’s equivalent of Chinatown, and after returning back to the house, felt utterly exhausted and in need of sleep – but ended up watching a wonderful match of tennis instead, where the Japanese 207th (or so) ranked player in the world managed to play a really entertaining, skilful match with the world number 1 (no need to name who!). Should have slept much earlier, but ended up finally getting to bed at what would have been 3.30am in Melbourne.
Thursday 20th January – Practically unable to move, but still woke up early in order to catch ride to Morley again. Had lunch at a bustling, beachside array of restaurants, stalls and cafés, some distance north of Perth. Entered into discussion with cousin’s parents (Val was at the shop) about their views on lots of things, including their view of young people’s culture. Discovered they were remarkably similar in their attitudes to my parents!
Afternoon, went north to Yanchep and the coastal township of Two Rocks, hoping to see the caves at Yanchep. The national parkland, though, had been recently devastated by fire, apparently the work of an arsonist. Why would anyone want to set fire to the parkland, honestly? It was one of two attacks in the space of not much more than a week. So the caves were closed, owing to continuing disruption to the power supply to the cave lights resulting from the fire. The landscape was reminiscent of another planet, with the vegetation consumed and leaving only bare skeletons of what was, previously, a feast of green, playing habitat to a wonderfully diverse ecosystem. This is merely another example of what man has been doing to God’s creation since we were given dominion. Quite sad, indeed.
Is this Earth, or Mars?
Bald hill! Fire-damaged, but surrounded by surviving greenery.
The local Indigenous tribes had some interesting legends to tell, as evidenced by a large serpent woodcarving and accompanying plaque.
Waugal monoliths legend - click on the photo, you can read it if you squint!
After passing through the Swan Valley region, dominated by wineries, including Houghton’s, and large fruit plantations, we returned to Perth. Went shopping at Koorong, my cousin’s family were kind enough to buy for me a leather-bound Life Application Bible! Thanks so much, it’s such an awesome present! Dinner was a value-for-money Japanese affair with huge servings of rice, meat/fish done in whatever style, sushi, and miso soup. The meals were almost too generous to finish, and the price makes you wonder how the owners could possibly be making any money. There’s little wonder the place was so popular.
Friday 21st January – Struggle to wake up, this day went to Fremantle. Not far from the house, we wandered around Fremantle, having a peek inside the maritime museum (which had one really great painting of the landing at Fremantle) and the Fremantle prison. The prison is no longer functioning in that role, but is now a historic site and tourist attraction. Some of the artwork produced by the prisoners was quite fascinating, and one could almost sense the hope and purpose that creating the artworks gave to the prisoners. It was as if, through the dots on the canvas and the messages they wrote, they were releasing a voice that had once been repressed and ignored, and there was at once a collective sense of freedom. Ironically, they only found their expression from within captivity. A large proportion of the prison art had been produced by Indigenous Australians, somewhat reflective of the disproportionately high number of Indigenous people who find themselves in custody.
Decided to stroll through the markets, a myriad of colourful stalls selling fruits, clothes, bags, various bits of art. Wistfully looked at some of the stalls selling ornaments, thinking about close friends and family, and wondering whether I should get something. Was almost on the verge of getting something when the shopkeeper, who’s actually quite nice, took it upon herself to give me advice to concentrate on studying hard (seeing I had told her I was doing medicine), and not to worry about other things in my life, like relationships. According to her, that would sort itself out once a stable career was established. This struck a hurting nerve, because it was so similar to what my parents say to me, and completely different to the way I think! I ended up not getting anything from the store. Resolve to keep trusting in God re: everything, and to view things like that under the illumination of God’s word. After all, God is, and always will be, first priority in my life, ahead of everything, including my career/study.
Saturday 22nd January – Found a wonderful ally in my cousin, who thinks very similarly to me! She taught me a lot, about patience, about endurance, about prayer and submission, as we dined on a scrumptious lunch at the Blue Duck Café over the beautiful Cottesloe beach. Once again, the servings were massive, and we could barely make it through our mains, let alone the thin fries and chilli! Took a lazy stroll on the beach, and found Perth sand much to my liking, not coarse like Melbourne beaches generally are.
Beautiful scene at Cottesloe!
Went to Subiaco, more markets, bought some fruit to chew on slowly as a jazz duo transported us to lazy New Orleans for a little while with some classics. They were so talented, their crooning voices were woven in effortlessly with thrilling trumpet countermelodies and sublime sax solos. A dad and his little kid were dancing, their eyes sparkling as though lost on another planet with nobody to watch and not a care or worry to think about.
King's Park - view of Perth
King's Park - the glorious rays of sun shine through the canopy!
The rest of the afternoon was spent taking in vistas over Perth and the Swan River from the vantage of King’s Park. If Melbourne only had parks so beautifully maintained, and beaches and water so pristine as Perth, it would indeed come very close to being the perfect place to live!
Sunday 23rd January – Went south to Busselton and Mandurah. Armed with two thermoses of double-strength espresso, and energised by the preaching of a pastor from New Creation Church in Singapore (about righteousness through faith – brought miraculously to our car by cassette tape), we travelled all the way from Perth to one of the longest jetties in the world (if not the longest) at Busselton. Imagine a jetty so long that most people rather take a train from end to end rather than walk! In any case, we decided to walk – whether to save money or to work off the obscene amounts of food we’d been eating, it doesn’t matter – twenty minutes or so to cover the almost 2km from beach to jetty tip. The end of the jetty had an underwater observatory. Schools of fish and divers were seen hovering around near the glass panes.
Panorama of Busselton Jetty
A column of smoke was to be seen rising up from the land just across from the jetty, begging the question, “was this the work of yet another firebug?” Fortunately, this was just a small fire, and within a couple of hours, fire-fighting vehicles were seen heading towards the fire. Not much more was heard of it over the following few days, so presumably it was controlled and extinguished before it had time to cause too much devastation.
Around sunset (which happens much earlier in Perth than in Melbourne, about 7.30pm), we found ourselves waist deep in an estuary near Mandurah, scoop nets in hand and plastic basin floating behind, to catch crabs! The blue manna crabs to be found at the southern end of Western Australia aren’t as big as the huge mud crabs normally seen in restaurant tanks, but they’re far more active and quick to run. It’s cute just to see a skittering of movement on the sea floor, and watch the crabs scurrying around, scared for their lives (rightly so), only pausing to contemplate their next move. The males are distinguished with bright blue across their claws, while the females bear no such resplendence. Crabbing is something that anyone able to wade around in the water can learn in a matter of minutes, and it’s a whole lot of fun! Success, though, requires many of the qualities that take you far in life. Patience, for example, is essential. If you scoop too quickly without waiting for the crab to lie still or move into your trap, you’ll do no more than knock its shell and allow it to run far, far away. Practice and perseverance are also vital for catching crabs. It takes some time getting used to visualising the depth of the water properly, and it’s a little disappointing to those who take pride in their hand-eye coordination when those first few crabs get away. But as with all things, simply treating the experience as a lesson and enjoying the failures as well as the successes makes crabbing a fun sport!
Destined for the dining table - Crabs scooped off the ocean floor at Mandurah!
On return to Perth, we feasted on the seven crabs we caught (we actually caught many more, but the rest were not large enough and were to be put back in the water – probably to be caught again and eaten once they grow to legal size). The crab meat was nice and sweet, but not being used to eating so much, a small battle was being fought between my complaining stomach and my brain, which was given to politeness in front of my relatives who kept on insisting on feeding me more. Note to self to rectify excess consumption by eating less from now on.
Monday 24th January – Trip into South Perth to eat at the Boatshed with Val. The restaurant overlooked the south bank of Swan River, and outside were surf catamarans for hire. Only one pair were out on the river at the time, but the river later became busy with a whole busload of tourists turning up to go on the river with the surf cats! Meals were nice, mine being juicy chicken breast (which turned up with wing as well) with mango sauce, avocado and salad. It was a delightful combination, and balanced well with the acerbic taste of the Balsamic mushroom dish my cousin ordered.
With my cousin at South Perth!
After relaxing a while and observing the opulent dwellings that seemed commonplace this side of the river, we headed to city and spent the afternoon shopping.
As if the crabs from the previous night weren’t enough, crabs were again to be our big meal for the night! This time we travelled not nearly so far, just down the road to Fremantle. The night was chilly, and we had to (for the first time) wear thick jackets to brace ourselves against the stinging cold wind at the jetty. We rigged the nets with baits of lamb neck and fish head and cast them out, waiting a few minutes at a time before hauling them in and examining the catch. In the meantime while waiting, we baited and cast our rods, hoping for some fish as well as crabs. Though quite a passive affair compared with scooping crabs in waist-deep water, this was still fun, more for its relaxation value than anything else. Another group were there, and they had to keep borrowing our measure to work out whether their crabs were legal or not.
The baits seemed to be working wonders this night! Not infrequently, a net would be hauled in with more than one crab quivering and struggling. Most were too small and had to be freed from the net and thrown back in. But some were quite large, one even ferocious enough to claw sharply and deeply through my uncle’s flesh. But that was just an act of desperation on the part of a crab doomed by its size to be taken home, cooked and eaten. All in all, fourteen crabs of legal size were caught, and made for another tasty meal! My thought to eat less never stood any chance. Instead, resolve to exercise furiously on return to Melbourne!
Fourteen crab feast!
Two male crabs among the crustacean harem. Males have a vibrant blue streak to distinguish them.
Tuesday 25th January – Shopping again today. Spent some time looking and very nearly being tempted by chocolates in the many chocolate shops in the city. Came across a really pretty alley, known as London Court, mostly white-coloured but decorated with coats of arms and flags, cobblestone paving and small boutique stores on either side, bustling with activity. The scene takes one back to 19th century London, and all that was needed were the horse-drawn carriage, bearded men with canes, top hats and suits to complete the time warp.
London Court!
While randomly entering shops around the city (and spontaneously buying things, as one of you will know), came across a clearance bookstore, where amongst all the unsold books and this year’s calendars was a treasure of a book called The Peoplescape. Based on the event of the same name that happened four years ago on the grassy slopes of Parliament House, the book had photographs of all of the thousands of montages put together to celebrate the lives of remarkable Australians. My brother’s cross-country coach from school featured among them, and so decided to buy it, remembering my brother’s key involvement in making the montage. Hopefully another thing to add to his growing memory box!
Wandering around the north side of Swan River, found several nice parks and walks to wander around. Took some pictures of the Glass Tower, a futuristic, but quite purposeless curiosity.
Perth's glass tower!
Nice meal of “violin duck” for dinner – the name was far more intriguing than the cuisine, though. I still wonder why it’s called what it is. If we were in a restaurant, perhaps its presentation would give the name some meaning. But since this was take-away, the duck had further been sliced into numerous little pieces, leaving no semblance to a violin. Thought of my own violin being sliced and eaten had to be fought off. Missing my violin heaps at this stage, sitting in its case all lonely and unplayed for eight days now.
Wednesday 26th January – Visited the monastery town of New Norcia. Long drive to get there, and felt completely paralysed with tiredness – meanwhile Switchfoot kept blaring in my ear, “dare you to move”. By the time we arrived, I’d had quite a long nap! Formed in the mid 19th Century, the monastery settlement readily took in indigenous people to learn and to work. The abbey would have housed a quite a number of monks, and there were a couple of lodges for lay people. Alongside the chapel, it was quite interesting to see a shed full of farm equipment and wine presses.
One of the college houses at New Norcia.
The museum was the highlight of the town. There was an upstairs art gallery, which contained so many interesting depictions of various facets of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Evidently, many of the paintings had won competitions before ending up in the gallery. I was filled with awe at the glory the depictions gave to God, and the many ways in which each painting identified at once both the complete humanity and complete deity of Jesus.
The neighbouring room was filled with splendid regalia that once adorned the monks during services, all very elaborate, in stark contrast with the simplicity of the settlement’s buildings. But some treasures were to be found, including several violins and related instruments made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The configuration of the instruments suggests that they were updated for modern playing during the 19th century. Music books (hymn books) were also on display and contained some original compositions by the monks themselves. It strikes me as odd though, how they could make music books so large, with each side about A3 size, or perhaps even larger.
The violin exhibit in the monastery museum!
Downstairs, more historical musical instruments were to be found, as well as agricultural tools used to manage the surrounding farmland. An apothecary cabinet from the period was also on display, with everything from gut sutures to strange elixirs. Although some of the bottles appeared half full, their contents were probably nothing like what the label proclaimed must have been inside a century or so earlier.
After a meandering drive back to Perth, we took our dinner at the Sizzler (haven’t seen these around Melbourne for years!) and taking an early night’s sleep.
Thursday 27th January – Back to Melbourne! Must say, there’s loads of stuff I have that I hadn’t anticipated I’d be bringing back home, including things such as badminton racquet, extra toiletries bag, a couple of bottles of eau de cologne, chocolates etc. Spent the flight back watching and snapping photos of a gorgeous sunset from well above the clouds, and mused about the impending storm in Melbourne (this was about 5-6 days before the storm arrived in Melbourne – presumably the storm we saw from above was a precursor to the freak storm, or perhaps it was the southerly system that mixed in with the west wind to form the storm that eventually arrived to wreak havoc). From above, the system looked almost cyclonic, but so calm and fluffyTM at the same time. Once again, I was in awe of the sheer beauty of God’s created nature, at once both unnerving and seductive, and forever unparalleled by anything made by man.
High above the clouds, where the plane doth fly...
Really, it was quite a beautiful closure to my trip west, to a beautiful city. Would love to visit again, and must say so much thanks to Val, Ricky and Agnes for making my stay there such a great experience!
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