Western Australia that is. I like Australia, the world 7s series was there end January and my son lives there. All good reasons to visit so I did.
I flew in overnight from Mauritius (see previous post), I was first off the plane and after a long walk I was through immigration, customs and biosecurity in a matter of minutes. The perils of Nothing to Declare were not for me! Time for a good Aussie breakfast.
It was a trip of three parts, part 1 was centered on the 7s, part 2 was an Albany centred road trip on the south coast and part 3 was a wind down.
It was mid summer and I arrived just as one heat wave was ending and left as a second was just firing up. And that meant temperatures in the high 30s. We experienced that on my first full day when we took a trip to Guildford, an ‘historic town with colonial charm, arts and local flavours’. Fortunately the temperature dropped in the evening and we enjoyed an excellent dinner at La Luna in Fremantle.
The 7s started on the Friday of that week and we went on day 2 when it was just about cool enough to sit in the sun. It was a great experience, the rugby was good of course but there was a tremendous party atmosphere which was good humoured and infectious.
Sunday was Australia day and that meant fireworks which we watched from Langley Park in Perth. There were lots of food trucks and we opted for paella which we enjoyed sitting on the grass whilst waiting for the action (see below for the knock on effect of this). This started with a rather mediocre drone display before the fireworks themselves which built up to a superb crescendo criss crossing the sky. Equally impressive perhaps was the way that the Perth public transport system easily handled the large crowds that all wanted to go home at the same time.
Monday was the start of our Albany trip but unfortunately I woke up with a twisted knee, the consequence I guess of standing up from sitting on the floor. Given that a part of our trip would be walking that meant we might have to change our plans. However repeated application of a cold pack and it seemed to improve and after a day exploring Albany itself and the adjacent ANZAC museum I was optimistic.
False hope; on the Tuesday my knee was much worse so we paid a visit to A&E at the Albany Health Campus. Whatever we might have expected it wasn’t Addenbrookes. We were in and out within 40 minutes after triage and the diagnosis of a soft tissue injury necessitating taking it easy facilitated by wearing a supportive sock.
So: no hiking. But nonetheless we explored Albany, we visited the superb beaches along the coast (Conspicuous Cliff, Salmon Holes, Emu Point etc), we walked high in the tree canopy at the Valley of the Giants and we visited local winery Rockcliffe for tasting and pizza. We also enjoyed good food at Lime 303, Majuba Bistro, Rock Salt, Rustlers and The Earl of Spencer.
We took the scenic route back to Perth via the Stirling Range. That was an experience in itself but it also highlighted the problem of an electric car when there are few charging points. When we started the battery told us that it had plenty of charge to get us to the next charging point. Unfortunately a rolling road and a modest headwind meant that we were using more charge than it had assumed. And so it was that we rolled into Kojonup with less than 5% remaining.
Australia is a surprisingly cultural place with art galleries, museums, theatres and concert halls along with its legacy of Aboriginal art and so Saturday was concert night when we went to the Heath Ledger theatre for an evening of Cuban music. It was a super evening made even better by the easy purchase of a glass of Vassa Felix Shiraz in the interval which I was able to enjoy at my seat.
In the last few days we spent time in again in Perth, in Fremantle, including an excellent lunch at Benny’s, and Leederville. If ever you need to understand what the famed laid back Australian attitude to life is you should visit one of these.
Come the end of my stay I was exhausted. I think the combination of the heat and my injury just did me in. However that’s not to say it was in any way not an exceptional trip. It was and here are my five highlights:
- The Perth public transport system. I used it on five days this time and got really impressed. It’s clean, fast and integrated. It’s generous to its customers, free travel over the holidays if you’ve got its travel card and to major events;
- The climax to the Australia Day fireworks. It took some time to build up but when it came the finale was extraordinary;
- The Spanish flamenco and Cuban music fusion at the Buena Vista Social Club concert. Not only was the music special but the respectful interaction between the musicians was good to see;
- The amazing beach at Conspicuous Cliff, miles of golden sand with no-one on it. The intensity of the colours, beach, sea and sky was powerful; and
- Number five would of course be South Africa winning the 7s but they didn’t being edged by Australia in the semi-final … I’ll have to reconsider to this one …
And finally here’s number five:
- … Aussie pale ale and all its variants. This has been my big discovery of this trip because beforehand I’d regarded Aussie beer as being Fosters and the like. I’d always avoided pale ales etc because I equated them to a variant of the pale ales you get in the UK. Big mistake. Aussie (and US for that matter) pale ales are light beers with lots of flavours and the ones I’ve drunk in the last ten days or so especially those from Wilsons Brewery in Albany have been super.
The rugby world cup will be in Australia in 2027 which is also a significant birthday year for me. Maybe that’ll be a good time for my next visit.
There are more photos at https://adobe.ly/40Qup8z, https://adobe.ly/41bK6bu and https://adobe.ly/42S9i8h.
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