Perth
G’day, mates! Time to talk Australia…
THE GOOD
When I visited WA, everyone I met was interested to know what I, the first-time visitor, thought of Australia. After some thought, I gave everyone the same answer: In a word, Australia is very civilized. Which is funny, because vast swaths of the continent are not only uncivilized, but entirely uninhabitable. Anyway, the places we visited were characterized by a notable cleanliness, gorgeous natural surroundings (cheers for the Aussies building their cities along water!), and an abundance of gourmet caffeine-delivery systems (short black, long black, flat white, chocolate-topped cappuccino…the list goes on). The air was fresh, the skies were clear, the food and wine were excellent.
One afternoon, Chris and I poked around the downtown area of Subiaco, ducking into artsy little shops. I was dwelling on all the perks of Australia—the schools, the health care, the cheery accents—and was just about ready to move when we nearly knocked over a shelf full of china. Luckily, nothing was harmed, but I don’t think we can move to Subi now.
A cute shop in Subiaco peddles "pre-loved" books, not "used"
The best part of our visit was, of course, seeing family. We made stops in both Perth and Albany, packing in lots of activities, from picnicking to an Aussie-themed movie night. We got in quality time with both grandmas (I met the lovely Grandma Gordon for the first time), and we spent Christmas with the extended family. Even though Christmas falls the Australian summer, the festivities still felt homey to me. There was table tennis and gingerbread, and there were new Aussie traditions like Christmas crackers and seafood.
Picnic with Grandma in Albany
Did I mention the food was excellent? Also, there was a lot of it. We didn’t throw any shrimp on the barbe, but we DID throw a lot of other stuff on there, and it was all delicious. Thank you, family and friends, for feeding us exceedingly well during our visit.
THE BAD
Unfortunately, I had an awful cold for part of our Australian adventure. But what a great place to be sick! Feeling stuffy? Look, there’s a pharmacy right around the corner, with a friendly pharmacist who, European-style, interviews you about your symptoms and helps you find the correct medication. “The bad” wasn’t that bad, after all.
THE DEADLY
OK, this was a tease. We didn’t actually meet any deadly creatures in Australia, but there are plenty of things there that can kill you. During the trip, I was reading this:
which catalogs a number of the continent’s dangerous critters, from the taipan to the redback spider to the infamous box jellyfish. Due to Bryson’s (understandable) fear of death Down Under, there isn’t terribly much space devoted to Australia’s gentler species, so here’s a peek at the ones I saw.
At Caversham Wildlife Park, I finally got to meet some marsupials. I got to pet and feed kangaroos and touch a koala.
Me feeding 'roos
Yup, I touched this koala
Later, in Albany, we got to see wild kangaroos, too. Chris’s uncle Ian took us to the perfect ‘roo-spotting point just before sundown one day. We pulled over to the side of the road and watched a group of Western Gray kangaroos munch grass. Kangaroos aren’t really novel to Australians (they’re kind of ordinary, like deer in America), but I couldn’t stop marveling at them and contemplating their evolution.
Wild 'roos
I also loved that even the everyday birds were really beautiful. Instead of pigeons hanging around the park, we’d see a flock of pink and gray galahs in the mornings.
Galahs (to see their vivid colors, go here) Again, not deadly, but distinctly Australian and worth a mention.
THE END
Our time in Australia went by all too quickly. There’s so much I still want to see—namely Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef. The landscape changes so much from place to place, so we got just a small slice of all that Australia has to offer. Luckily for us, a large part of the family happens to live there, so we will be back. Hear that, Oz? We. Will. Be. Back. (…and that dishware shop in Subi is already locking its doors.)
