Perth

Last weekend, I flew across Australia to the city of Perth. I arrived on Friday night, and Claire met me at the airport. Since it was dark out as we were driving to her apartment, she gave me the rundown on the area as best as she could. We got to Claire's apartment, which was in Perth's suburb of Wembley. Her apartment was really nice with a balcony view of center city Perth. She shared with one other girl, Nikki. I dropped my bags off, and we decided we were both hungry, so we walked down the road to a pub and grabbed a bite to eat and caught up.

We got back to Claire's apartment and watched the end of a footy game and some TV. It is weird, but I have not watched much Australian television, but their commercials and advertisements are very corny. It was nice to relax on a comfy couch and watch TV. I felt like I have not done that in a while.

The next day we woke up for an early breakfast on the beach. Claire works for Nova radio, which is a big Australian top 40 radio station with multiple locations throughout Australia. Nova hold a lot of events at this restaurant on the beach in the town of Cottesloe, so Nova actually paid for me and Claire's breakfast, so we splurged a little and got a really nice breakfast. We sat at a table overlooking the ocean, and after we were done eating we walked down to the beach to feel the water and walk a little to kill some time. Claire is a gymnastics coach in Perth also, so we headed to her team's gymnastics meet. It was different levels competing than what Clair coaches, but she knew all the girls. It was nice to watch gymnastics again, even though I nearly had a heart attack fifteen times because of scary tumbling passes, or vaults that girls threw that they shouldn't have. Claire warned me about this though, but for the most part the girls were about 13 and really talented.

We went to the grocery store after the meet to pick up food for dinner. This is where Claire realized I apparently have not experienced enough Australia food yet, so we bought meat pies for dinner, Jaffas (chocolate and orange candy), Burger Rings and Chips Ahoy. Claire was so excited to see the Chips Ahoy and she insisted on buying them. We headed back to the apartment and started watching the movie, Paul that just came out in Australia while we ate our meat pies. I actually enjoyed my pie, and as ironic as it is, it was a little too meaty though towards the end. Jaffas were also really good in small quantities, but I loved Burger Rings.

The next day, we woke up, Claire made some breakfast and we headed down to the harbor area of Perth called Fremantle, but Aussies call it Freo. We wandered around this area and it was pretty nice. It had a historical feel to it, but because it was a Sunday morning, there were lots of people out and about. Around lunch time we met up with Lindsey and her boyfriend, Wes at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat and catch up. Wes wore a West Coast Eagles jersey (Perth's footy team) to Freo, which was basically a death trap because that day was the Derby, a annual footy game between the Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, and we were in Docker's territory.

We then headed our separate ways to get ready for the night. Lindsey's friend, Claire, not to be confused with my Claire, won a contest where a limo would pick us up and we would get dinner at this restaurant in Perth. After getting ready, Lindsey picked up Claire and I and we met at the other Claire's house to wait for our limo. It was pretty nice getting all dressed up, and taking a limo to a nice dinner. After dinner, Claire and I took a cab back to her apartment and watched some TV before bed.

The next morning we woke up to do touristy things around Perth. Our first stop was Kings Park. This is a really pretty park, with great views of the city, war memorials, and a lot of aboriginal art. We walked around the park for a while, then headed into the city to walk around the main, busy streets. We then met Nikki at this restaurant on the 33rd floor of an office building that actually turned, so it gave 360 degree views of Perth. The food was really great, but the people who worked there were a little snobish, but overall it was a nice day to observe the city from above. We then walked down town more towards Parliament and these famous kangaroo sculptures to kill more time before we drove to the mall to meet up with Claire's parents. We walked around the mall for a bit, then sat for some coffee. After, we drove back to Claire's, lounged around then headed to the movies to see the new Pirates movie. Claire's radio station was giving away free tickets to see the movie before it came out, so we hand to hand in our cameras and phones before entering the movie. The movie was not bad. It was entertaining, not as good as the first, but still good. I enjoyed it, so that's all that matters. Once the movie was over, we headed to the airport where I boarded to head back to Melbourne. I was exhausted from traveling over night, but I got back safe and sound.

My time in Australia is quickly coming to a close, sadly. I am excited to go home, but I will be sad to leave Oz and will be sure to come back. I am definitely making the most of these final weeks, while studying for finals of course.

 Cottesloe Beach

 Claire, Julia, Lindsey

 Lindsey outside the limo

 War Memorial, Kings Park

 Perth

 Kings Park