perth

perth: the capital of WA; the 4th largest city in australia. it is incredibly sprawled, with the 1.54 million people living in approx 90kmx40km (compare london at 8 million, 39kmx39km). and even with such a small population, it somehow manages to have 5 major universities. it is also the most isolated capital city in the world, closer to east timor, jakarta and singapore then to sydney.

for the easter weekend - for any long weekend or school holidays, for that matter- the people of perth migrate south to margaret river. all of them. john and i had planned to migrate further south-east to avoid the crowds. alas, turns out that easter was also the start of (one of the many) school holidays, meaning perthites had migrated anywhere within a 6 hour drive. note- there are not that many places to go within 6 hours...

and thus, john and i decided to buck the trend and went into the city for the weekend. having scored a fantastic online deal on a hotel downtown, or CBD (central business district), we packed our overnight bags and got out of our house. we decided to make a proper tourist weekend out of it and took the ferry in from freo. an amazingly long journey on the river, thanks in part to the incredibly slow cruising speed. luckily, it was sunset and we didn't care.

after we checked in, we ventured down to the waterfront for some dinner. clients and friends had recommended a vegetarian spot for us. it was a "pay as you feel" indian restaurant and it couldn't have been better! we rolled out of the restaurant and spied the "wheel of perth". no, it's not a game. it is a shameful mockery of the london eye, big enough to be shiny on the waterfront but small enough to not be worth the 15$ fee. instead, we strolled about the streets before we realized / were reminded of the fact that perth CBD has no nightlife. none. it's like a ghost town after 5pm. a drink on the patio of the hotel bar had to do.

the next day, in full tourist mode, we hit up the west australian museum. a donation-only entry provided us with a few hours of educated entertainment, though be it said, it was not the most amazing museum i've ever been to. later, a lazy walk through the pedestrian mall (the only street in the city open on sundays) led us back to the hotel for some pool and spa action. realizing that the probability of anything being open on a sunday night was slim to nil, we opted to stay at the hotel for a quite night.

we left the next morning after a scrumptious buffet, satisfied from a weekend away from home. there is so much potential for perth to be a much cooler city, but no one seems to capitalize on it. as such, we're happy to stay in freo instead.
xo