Perth Plants & Animals

Over the last few days, I've had the opportunity to take a break from travelling for a while and relax in one of Australia's truly big cities - and I think I've earned it. For nearly a week, there has been no worrying about having to catch a connection, and certainly no having to phone up bus companies to find out which parts of my route are currently underwater. I am annoyed that the combination of floods and prebooking my hotel in Perth has prevented me from stopping off on the coast as I particularly wanted to go to Monkey Mia and swim with Dolphins, but the coach stops there about once a week and on my schedule, I really can't afford to find myself missing a bus and being stuck for days! Having so much free time in Perth has given me a chance to kick back and properly enjoy the city without feeling as though I'm in a rush to move on, so I've been doing all the things that a world traveller would normally avoid like the plague - stuff that I haven't really had a chance to do since leaving England. I've been to the cinema to see movies that I hadn't even heard about, I've been shopping in huge urban shopping centres and eaten in an international food court that was so international that I was able to buy a full English Sunday Roast dinner of Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roast potato and gravy from the Japanese Store! Perth seems like a young London - busy, vibrant, full of streets of café's and restaurants, but with less of the hustle and bustle and more of the carefree laid back attitude I associate with Australia. I have also been able to smile politely at people as I pass them on the street without having anyone put me down as some sort of freak, which is always a bonus. After a thirty-six hour coach trip from Broome, forced to sit next to a young mother whose child spent the entire trip either screaming or demanding to know if we were there yet, Perth felt like I had somewhere to call home for the first time in months. I literally threw everything into a corner of my hotel room, checked out the moss growing on the wall outside my window, and went out to explore (1). At first I didn't recognise anything from my first brief visit here back in 1995, but after strolling happily for several hours through malls and pedestrian precincts without a clue where I was going, I literally crossed a street and knew exactly where I was. All the memories came flooding back and suddenly I knew just how to get to everything - the train station, the cinema, the harbour front, the nightlife. Perth harbour isn't anywhere near as grand as Darling Harbour in Sydney, but in my opinion is all the better for it. Here, you can spend a relaxing afternoon away from the city center, drinking coffee outside a waterfront coffee shop or browsing the windows of the boutique and souvenir shops crowded around the jetties. The area is dominated by a small square surrounded by the flags of various nations, and stretching away around the harbour are shops, bars and pubs - one of which has the unfortunate name of "The Lucky Shag", which I was under the impression was how some people like to describe a good Friday night out. I took a two hour river cruise to the port of Fremantle, during which I copied everybody else by taking my shirt off and then got so involved in watching the city go by that I ended up getting severely sunburned. I also took the Ferry to Perth Zoo in the south of the city, which is remarkable in that it is open every single day of the year including Christmas Day - I spent a relaxed afternoon wandering around the confusing array of pathways between the environments, and enjoyed seeing all the funny animals I've ever heard about, like Rhinoceros, Tigers, Cats and Mink. Hang on - that's the lyrics to the Pink Panther show! Bears, Giraffes, Elephants, Zebra and Hyena joined the local Australian wildlife and looked well cared for and happy, although I still haven't managed to see a single Duck-billed Platypus, which is a shame.

You can read my complete travel journals at www.offexploring.com/globalwanderer and www.offexploring.com/globalwanderer2

I can't leave more information for Perth, but i talk about Tasmania. Is the best place that i have sow in my life. So prehistoric!!! Nature, green of mauntains, fantastic ranch, animals, all thing gave me a great sense of freedom! i wish to have an house here!

Over the last few days, I've had the opportunity to take a break from travelling for a while and relax in one of Australia's truly big cities - and I think I've earned it. For nearly a week, there has been no worrying about having to catch a connection, and certainly no having to phone up bus companies to find out which parts of my route are currently underwater. I am annoyed that the combination of floods and prebooking my hotel in Perth has prevented me from stopping off on the coast as I particularly wanted to go to Monkey Mia and swim with Dolphins, but the coach stops there about once a week and on my schedule, I really can't afford to find myself missing a bus and being stuck for days! Having so much free time in Perth has given me a chance to kick back and properly enjoy the city without feeling as though I'm in a rush to move on, so I've been doing all the things that a world traveller would normally avoid like the plague - stuff that I haven't really had a chance to do since leaving England. I've been to the cinema to see movies that I hadn't even heard about, I've been shopping in huge urban shopping centres and eaten in an international food court that was so international that I was able to buy a full English Sunday Roast dinner of Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roast potato and gravy from the Japanese Store! Perth seems like a young London - busy, vibrant, full of streets of café's and restaurants, but with less of the hustle and bustle and more of the carefree laid back attitude I associate with Australia. I have also been able to smile politely at people as I pass them on the street without having anyone put me down as some sort of freak, which is always a bonus. After a thirty-six hour coach trip from Broome, forced to sit next to a young mother whose child spent the entire trip either screaming or demanding to know if we were there yet, Perth felt like I had somewhere to call home for the first time in months. I literally threw everything into a corner of my hotel room, checked out the moss growing on the wall outside my window, and went out to explore (1). At first I didn't recognise anything from my first brief visit here back in 1995, but after strolling happily for several hours through malls and pedestrian precincts without a clue where I was going, I literally crossed a street and knew exactly where I was. All the memories came flooding back and suddenly I knew just how to get to everything - the train station, the cinema, the harbour front, the nightlife. Perth harbour isn't anywhere near as grand as Darling Harbour in Sydney, but in my opinion is all the better for it. Here, you can spend a relaxing afternoon away from the city center, drinking coffee outside a waterfront coffee shop or browsing the windows of the boutique and souvenir shops crowded around the jetties. The area is dominated by a small square surrounded by the flags of various nations, and stretching away around the harbour are shops, bars and pubs - one of which has the unfortunate name of "The Lucky Shag", which I was under the impression was how some people like to describe a good Friday night out. I took a two hour river cruise to the port of Fremantle, during which I copied everybody else by taking my shirt off and then got so involved in watching the city go by that I ended up getting severely sunburned. I also took the Ferry to Perth Zoo in the south of the city, which is remarkable in that it is open every single day of the year including Christmas Day - I spent a relaxed afternoon wandering around the confusing array of pathways between the environments, and enjoyed seeing all the funny animals I've ever heard about, like Rhinoceros, Tigers, Cats and Mink. Hang on - that's the lyrics to the Pink Panther show! Bears, Giraffes, Elephants, Zebra and Hyena joined the local Australian wildlife and looked well cared for and happy, although I still haven't managed to see a single Duck-billed Platypus, which is a shame.

You can read my complete travel journals at www.offexploring.com/globalwanderer and www.offexploring.com/globalwanderer2

I can't leave more information for Perth, but i talk about Tasmania. Is the best place that i have sow in my life. So prehistoric!!! Nature, green of mauntains, fantastic ranch, animals, all thing gave me a great sense of freedom! i wish to have an house here!

Over the last few days, I've had the opportunity to take a break from travelling for a while and relax in one of Australia's truly big cities - and I think I've earned it. For nearly a week, there has been no worrying about having to catch a connection, and certainly no having to phone up bus companies to find out which parts of my route are currently underwater. I am annoyed that the combination of floods and prebooking my hotel in Perth has prevented me from stopping off on the coast as I particularly wanted to go to Monkey Mia and swim with Dolphins, but the coach stops there about once a week and on my schedule, I really can't afford to find myself missing a bus and being stuck for days! Having so much free time in Perth has given me a chance to kick back and properly enjoy the city without feeling as though I'm in a rush to move on, so I've been doing all the things that a world traveller would normally avoid like the plague - stuff that I haven't really had a chance to do since leaving England. I've been to the cinema to see movies that I hadn't even heard about, I've been shopping in huge urban shopping centres and eaten in an international food court that was so international that I was able to buy a full English Sunday Roast dinner of Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roast potato and gravy from the Japanese Store! Perth seems like a young London - busy, vibrant, full of streets of café's and restaurants, but with less of the hustle and bustle and more of the carefree laid back attitude I associate with Australia. I have also been able to smile politely at people as I pass them on the street without having anyone put me down as some sort of freak, which is always a bonus. After a thirty-six hour coach trip from Broome, forced to sit next to a young mother whose child spent the entire trip either screaming or demanding to know if we were there yet, Perth felt like I had somewhere to call home for the first time in months. I literally threw everything into a corner of my hotel room, checked out the moss growing on the wall outside my window, and went out to explore (1). At first I didn't recognise anything from my first brief visit here back in 1995, but after strolling happily for several hours through malls and pedestrian precincts without a clue where I was going, I literally crossed a street and knew exactly where I was. All the memories came flooding back and suddenly I knew just how to get to everything - the train station, the cinema, the harbour front, the nightlife. Perth harbour isn't anywhere near as grand as Darling Harbour in Sydney, but in my opinion is all the better for it. Here, you can spend a relaxing afternoon away from the city center, drinking coffee outside a waterfront coffee shop or browsing the windows of the boutique and souvenir shops crowded around the jetties. The area is dominated by a small square surrounded by the flags of various nations, and stretching away around the harbour are shops, bars and pubs - one of which has the unfortunate name of "The Lucky Shag", which I was under the impression was how some people like to describe a good Friday night out. I took a two hour river cruise to the port of Fremantle, during which I copied everybody else by taking my shirt off and then got so involved in watching the city go by that I ended up getting severely sunburned. I also took the Ferry to Perth Zoo in the south of the city, which is remarkable in that it is open every single day of the year including Christmas Day - I spent a relaxed afternoon wandering around the confusing array of pathways between the environments, and enjoyed seeing all the funny animals I've ever heard about, like Rhinoceros, Tigers, Cats and Mink. Hang on - that's the lyrics to the Pink Panther show! Bears, Giraffes, Elephants, Zebra and Hyena joined the local Australian wildlife and looked well cared for and happy, although I still haven't managed to see a single Duck-billed Platypus, which is a shame.

You can read my complete travel journals at www.offexploring.com/globalwanderer and www.offexploring.com/globalwanderer2

I can't leave more information for Perth, but i talk about Tasmania. Is the best place that i have sow in my life. So prehistoric!!! Nature, green of mauntains, fantastic ranch, animals, all thing gave me a great sense of freedom! i wish to have an house here!