Bike-Ride to Australia Tuesday 20th-March-2012. In Perth. I went to book another night in the hotel, they were full and couldn’t extend my room. And so it seems is every other hotel in Perth. I spent nearly an hour trawling the internet, and at eight pounds an hour, it wasn’t cheap. I did find a couple of hotels, but the cheapest of those wanted £500 for one night! (welcome back to the west!) Apparently, there’s a shortage of hotels because of all the mining around here. And what hotels there are can charge what they want! I even looked at hostels, but thankfully they were all full. I eventually found a guesthouse about twenty miles away.
After sourcing my new accommodation, I went for a walk. There are plenty of things that I need to do on my laptop. But I’m not paying four pounds every half hour to go online! Perth is a pleasant city, very clean. The architecture of the place is fascinating. There are random old buildings in between the new modern highrise towers.
I found an outdoor store in town and bought some gas for my cooker. I was also looking for a map shop, but there wasn’t one. The nearest one is in Freemantle. On the way back to my hotel, I stopped off for a drink in Fenians Irish bar. After talking to the barmaid and telling her that I had cycled here from England. She took a bit of persuasion, which I’m not surprised. What idiot would cycle all that way! But after persuading her that I wasn’t lying, I got my drink for free!
Familiar Faces
I went to see Jodi and Grant this afternoon. Friends from back home who had moved out here with their family last year. I was going to get the train to their house, but Jodi insisted on picking me up. It saved me from getting lost! After having a cup of tea at Jodi’s, we went to the local school to pick the children up.
The schools seemed to be a lot more relaxed here. They were more open. The schools in England seem to get more and more like prisons, with their high fences and locked gates. This school had a low fence and no lock on the gate. It was also nice to see mum’s turning up on foot, rather than their big 4x4s. After picking the children up, we returned to Jodi’s, where Jodi and the children prepared supper. Grant came home around five o’clock. It was his job that had taken them to Australia.
It was nice to see some familiar faces, and they all looked well. They came across as enjoying their new life in Australia. I detected that they are all picking up a bit of an Aussie twang! More so in the children and only the odd word from Jodi, particularly when she says “sweetie.” Grant seems to be the one that hasn’t picked up any accent! It was good to see them all enjoying their new life.
Subscribe to Garry’s blog and follow Garry’s journey around the world. Plus, you’ll receive news and updates on future tours.
