A trip down under
It was hard to believe that it has been almost 10 years since I have been to Australia, and I was quite happy to have the opportunity to return to Perth ~ home of one of my favourite places ~ Cottesloe!
As I prepared to head down, I realized just how far it is from here. The bum in seat time was close to 24hrs with flights from Vancouver to LA to Brisbane and then finally over to Perth. Shockingly enough, the sniffer dog had sniffed out my bag ~ damn tiny twigs ~ and left me missing my flight to Perth. Good thing the next flight was only 2 hrs later. Time enough for a flat white.
I arrived in Perth on Friday and managed to have the weekend to adjust to the jetlag and also make my way to my favourite places.
The first stop was a bit of a trip down memory lane as breakfast out was a common excursion while I lived in Melbourne. This reminded me of many a Sunday spent...
I spent the afternoon checking out the pier and taking a cruise down the Swan River to Freemantle.
Views from the pier:
Some shots from the 2hr tour and a peek at the birds the river was named for...
We arrived in Freemantle where I walked the streets and remembered how much I enjoyed the outdoor cafe culture.
After strolling through the streets, I made my way to the water. LOVE the water and it just felt good to plant my feet in the Indian Ocean. Brought back memories of the time I spent on Rottnest Island.
Having strolled and felt the waves at my feet, I made my way to one of the local fish and chip joints. While I'm not a seafood person, I seem to make the exception when it is battered and consumed with tartar sauce ~ don't know why, but I do. Gotta love it when it comes in paper!
I managed to make it to Cottesloe the following day, however having spent a lot of time in the sun, it wasn't the relaxing day at the beach, rather a quest to enjoy the surf and avoid the sun. It was fantastic to spend some time walking the beach. LOVE LOVE LOVE it there.
The rest of the week was filled with work and jetlag as I found myself up at the crack of 4:30am and needing a bed by 7:30 pm. The weather was fantastic and I couldn't have asked for a better time to be there. The food was great and it made me realize just how much I do miss the great food there. Some additional shots that show you really are in Oz ~ who else could get away with calling a bar the Lucky Shag??
My trip home was a bit of a schmozle as the trip began with a red-eye flight from Perth to Melbourne. So I spent Saturday wandering the river and taking in the last of Perth and visiting the first location of the Swan brewery. Unfortunately it is no longer a working brewery and I had to settle for a Swan lager. I know life is tough. The flight from Melbourne to LA was as one would expect ~ the challenge came when I arrived in LA. With an hour to clear Immigration and Customs, it was again my bad luck that once I made it through Immigration, the line for Customs took about an hour to pass through. Bye-bye connections. The shocker was that the next confirmed flight I could get on to Vancouver was 10 hours later. WHAT? So I booked that, and was on standby for all possible flights in between. It became the LONGEST day after spending over 24hrs awake prior to arriving at LAX ~ needless to say, this is my least favourite airport EVER. And go figure, with warnings like this, why would you want to stay?
As I prepared to head down, I realized just how far it is from here. The bum in seat time was close to 24hrs with flights from Vancouver to LA to Brisbane and then finally over to Perth. Shockingly enough, the sniffer dog had sniffed out my bag ~ damn tiny twigs ~ and left me missing my flight to Perth. Good thing the next flight was only 2 hrs later. Time enough for a flat white.
I arrived in Perth on Friday and managed to have the weekend to adjust to the jetlag and also make my way to my favourite places.
The first stop was a bit of a trip down memory lane as breakfast out was a common excursion while I lived in Melbourne. This reminded me of many a Sunday spent...
I spent the afternoon checking out the pier and taking a cruise down the Swan River to Freemantle.
Views from the pier:
Some shots from the 2hr tour and a peek at the birds the river was named for...
We arrived in Freemantle where I walked the streets and remembered how much I enjoyed the outdoor cafe culture.
After strolling through the streets, I made my way to the water. LOVE the water and it just felt good to plant my feet in the Indian Ocean. Brought back memories of the time I spent on Rottnest Island.
Having strolled and felt the waves at my feet, I made my way to one of the local fish and chip joints. While I'm not a seafood person, I seem to make the exception when it is battered and consumed with tartar sauce ~ don't know why, but I do. Gotta love it when it comes in paper!
I managed to make it to Cottesloe the following day, however having spent a lot of time in the sun, it wasn't the relaxing day at the beach, rather a quest to enjoy the surf and avoid the sun. It was fantastic to spend some time walking the beach. LOVE LOVE LOVE it there.
The rest of the week was filled with work and jetlag as I found myself up at the crack of 4:30am and needing a bed by 7:30 pm. The weather was fantastic and I couldn't have asked for a better time to be there. The food was great and it made me realize just how much I do miss the great food there. Some additional shots that show you really are in Oz ~ who else could get away with calling a bar the Lucky Shag??
My trip home was a bit of a schmozle as the trip began with a red-eye flight from Perth to Melbourne. So I spent Saturday wandering the river and taking in the last of Perth and visiting the first location of the Swan brewery. Unfortunately it is no longer a working brewery and I had to settle for a Swan lager. I know life is tough. The flight from Melbourne to LA was as one would expect ~ the challenge came when I arrived in LA. With an hour to clear Immigration and Customs, it was again my bad luck that once I made it through Immigration, the line for Customs took about an hour to pass through. Bye-bye connections. The shocker was that the next confirmed flight I could get on to Vancouver was 10 hours later. WHAT? So I booked that, and was on standby for all possible flights in between. It became the LONGEST day after spending over 24hrs awake prior to arriving at LAX ~ needless to say, this is my least favourite airport EVER. And go figure, with warnings like this, why would you want to stay?
posted by Carrie @ 4:44 PM
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