Australia reloaded: Perth

Perth

After more than a year in Asia, we were craving for a change. We love Asia, its constantly puzzling cultures and friendly people, but we were looking forward to a quick escape to the Western world. So we flew to Australia. I had been down under the year before, travelling to Sydney, up the coast to Brisbane and finally to Melbourne. We chose a different part of this huge country for a five week road trip.

We found cheap flights with AirAsiaX into Perth and out of Adelaide, but as the later route got cancelled, we finally flew out of Melbourne. Including luggage, we paid less than 500 EUR for both flights for the two of us. Leaving Kuala Lumpur, we were excited for our first long haul flight with a low cost airline. The journey to Perth took us six hours and the flight was reasonably comfortable. Soon, we landed in one of the remotest cities in the world.

Lisa, Crystal and Daniel in a park in Perth

Entering Autralia is always a bit of a hassle. Long lines for immigration, even longer lines for customs and biosafety. Given the horrid consequences invasive species have in large parts of Australia, the very cautious treatment is understandable. But more than one hour from gate to parking lot is way too much. Lucky us, our friend Daniel was waiting patiently at the arrivals. We immediately noticed a change from humid to dry heat.

The drive from the airport was quick and soon Daniel introduced us to his wife Crystal. After a shower and a little rest, we all ventured out to discover the city, check out the local art festival and find some nice food. We enjoyed a nice evening with friends, talking and laughing.

Bushland north of Perth

Early the next day, at 6am, Lisa and I started our new sports program. We wanted to start every day in Australia with a quick morning run. And the eucalyptus scented morning air reminds you with every breath that you're in Australia. In the afternoon, Lisa and I walked through Perth by ourselves, exploring roads, parks and alleys. The weather was very pleasant, not too hot and not too cold, and so we started to like this city more and more.

On Friday, we spent the morning lazily at home, gathering some information for our road trip that would start on Monday. In the afternoon we went to the city with Crystal to meet Daniel after work. An art show called the giants was in town, and we followed the impressive statue of the "little girl" around for a while. After, we enjoyed some delicious Korean food. The variety and quality of food is definitely something we enjoyed in the bigger cities in Australia.

At the pinnacles

On Saturday, we ventured out of the city. About two hours to the north of Perth, we went to see the pinnacles: large fields of sharp rocks standing on the flat sand. We enjoyed our visit very much, this is defintely something neither of us had seen before. As a matter of fact, the pinnacles are remains of petrified corals who rose with the sea bed thousands of years ago. In a nearby village, Lisa and I devoured a large fishermans basket. A dish of fried fish, shrimps, clams and oysters. With full bellies, we went back to the city to explore some more sights. In the evening, Crystal treated us with some delicious home made sushi. We're still dreaming of that!

Early life forms

The next day, our last one, we went to Fremantle, a popular seaside suburbs of Perth. We some tasty snacks and good beers in a local bar, strolled through the scenic beachfront roads and along the beach. We had a great time in Perth, not least thanks to our great hosts Daniel and Crystal and we could very well imagine returning to Perth to start or end another road trip through yet another part of Australia. But now it was first time for the southern route from Perth through the Nullarbor to Adelaide and on to Melbourne. Five weeks and a lot of road were ahead of us.

More pictures from Perth and surroundings