Perth, Western Australia

Cook, the ghost town Queen City of the Nullarbor

G’day!

I was in Perth for 3 short days after a very long train trip from Adelaide.  The Indian Pacific train plies each way from Perth on the Indian Ocean to Adelaide to Sydney on the Pacific Ocean once or twice a week.

 

Early WA wildflowers

My journey began in the evening, 39 hours with stops in Port Augusta, Cook, and Kalgoorlie, arriving in Perth in the morning.  While the car road follows the Great Australian Bight, the train tracks are

much further inland.  (The Great Australian Bight is the large open bay on the south side of Australia with a long line of sea cliffs.  I got a glimpse of it during my visit to Streaky Bay during my Kondoolka sheep station stay.)

Seven hours of the second day was spent crossing the Nullarbor Plain, the world’s largest single piece of limestone at 200,000 square km (77,000 square miles). Nullarbor means “no trees” in Latin.  Not only are there no trees, there are no hills, and no curves in the track.    478 km or almost 300 miles of straight track!  

The York Hotel in Kalgoorlie-Boulder

We had an hour stop in Cook, Queen City of the Nullarbor, presumably to deliver supplies.  Cook, is a ghost town with just a tiny souvenir shop, two dunnies (outhouses/toilets), a handful of homes, and an abandoned school.  In its heyday, Cook’s population reached 40; now the population is 2 – 4. I don’t know why that town still exists but it was nice to get off the train and take pix without a window in between.

The Swan Bell Tower on the Perth Esplanade

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of WA which reached a population of more than 200,000 during the 1890s gold rush.  Now, The Super Pit is an open pit gold mine that operates 24/7 producing more than 700,000 ounces of gold annually and supports a large percentage of the area’s 25,000 denizens.

Free Blue CAT transpo in Perth

The Stolen Generation

There was a whistle stop coach tour ($30/ 1.5 hours) of Kalgoorlie and The Super Pit during our 3 hour night stop.  I chose not to do the tour and walked through the CBD with 3 other passengers.  Since our train arrived at 7pm, everything except cafes and restaurants was closed.  But we had a nice stroll down the Golden Mile of Hannan Street, looking at the stately buildings left over from its glory days.

Now, on to Perth.  Perth has three 3 coach (CAT- Central Area Transit?) lines that

Aboriginal painting at the Art Gallery

circle different areas of the extensive CBD and nearby neighborhoods, very convenient since some of the sights are far flung.  Since I only had 3 days in Perth, I enjoyed getting an overview of the sights from the buses and then a lift to inspect some of the attractions close up.

The Perth CBD is modern looking with skyscrapers and bustles with an enormous shopping area.   Over the road from the transit center, the Perth Cultural Center in Northbridge includes the West Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) and the State Library. 

PICA:  Inside "The Cell" - window to the outside

I especially appreciated the Katta Djinoong Aboriginal exhibit at the Museum.  I learned more about how the “Stolen Generation” of Aboriginal and mixed children were taken away from their parents from the late 1800s until the 1970s.  The Evolution exhibit was also exceptional. 

The DNA Tower in Kings Park, Perth

                                          I noticed that the Periodic Chart exhibit “misspelled” Aluminum.  (LOL!)  I investigated the “Aluminum/Aluminium” controversy: Aluminum was discovered in 1807 and isolated in 1827.  During that time, the metal was called Aluminum.  In 1829, the name was changed to Aluminium and used worldwide to conform to the “ium” ending of most other elements.  In 1925, the American Chemical Society changed the name back to the original Aluminum.  And so, Americans are once again the nonconformists.

View of Perth CBD from Kings Park

        The PICA had a very interesting art installation called The Cell.  Visitors don striped hooded jumpsuit costumes and then crawl through a tunnel into a striped inflated jump house.  Each of the 4 inmates gets 5 minutes to do as they like in The Cell.  Weird. 

Australian Ringneck

My favorite place in Perth is the Kings Park and Botanic Garden with its gorgeous views.  The park is huge and includes the State War Memorial, the Kokoda

Track Walk (including 150 steps – puff, puff) the double-helix DNA Tower (another 101 stairs – puff, puff some more!),  the very cool Federation Walkway (a terrific glass and steel elevated bridge suspended amongst a canopy of Eucalypts) and the Botanic Garden.  Sore feet but well worth it.

I stayed at Emperor’s Crown Backpackers which was very conveniently located.  Hostels in general are a great inexpensive place to stay.  They are usually clean, roommates are usually considerate, and they are a great place to meet people. 

Stroll in the tree canopy on the Kings Park Federation Walkway

 The main complaint I have is that the kitchens are often inadequately stocked.  The hobs (stoves) are fueled by gas.  They don’t have pilot lights so each time a hob is used, it must be lit.  (I think it saves fuel as there is no pilot light continuously burning.) The matches or lighters were missing in too many kitchens.  In some kitchens, there were no/dull chopping knives or no bowls.  Very often the pots and pans were missing their handles.  You get what you pay for?

Midnight Jetstar flight from Perth to Sydney... then home!

It’s now been over a year since my adventures began.  It’s been a tremendous year of exploration, discovery and growth. I’m glad that I took this time while I’m still relatively young and physically able to enjoy the more strenuous escapades.  I appreciate the opportunity to WWOOF and meet some wonderful hosts and fellow WWOOFers. And I’m thankful for the support from my blog readers, friends, family and especially, my children.

$40 "new" pack cuz old one was fraying

Cheers!

Cyn