Sun and Parks

I walked. A lot. In Perth, I walked. It is a very lovely and walkable city. Mostly flat and beautiful to look at. There is a lot of green space and they take advantage of their river front as well.

I went for a walk in Kings Park. This park is big and at the top of Perth. It is home to a botanical garden, a lot of native plants, and many memorials for various events.

As I was there around Remembrance Day, they were setting up at the State War Memorial. Australia and New Zealand (and a few others, I'm sure) have ANZAC Day in April, which is more in line to what we think of as Remembrance Day. At any rate, they held services on 11 November.

Each of these poppies - and hundreds more - were hand knit by Guides, members of the Returned & Services League (like the Legion), and dozens of volunteers. All told, there were 62,000 poppies made that spread over the memorial and the surrounding areas. The poppies with black centres are for soldiers, white centres are for nurses, and purple are for animals.  I was there while they were setting up and the volunteers were very kind with information and offers to move boxes so I could get a better picture.

 

Boab trees look like upside down carrots.

This structure is called DNA Tower. It has 101 steps and was modelled after a staircase in the Château de Blois in France. There is a sign at the base explaining what DNA is and who discovered it. I was impressed it also noted the work of Roaslind Franklin, a woman who is often left out of the history.

For the first time in a long time, James got to chill with his buddy Queen Victoria!

The surprise of the park for me was the Queen Elizabeth Shell Memorial.
With a name like this, my imagination came up with a couple of scenarios:
- A monument to Queen Elizabeth, sponsored by Shell
- A statue of Queen Elizabeth, made of shells.
- A shell once used or held by Queen Elizabeth that was worth memorializing.

What I did not expect was this:

Shells of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, marking the date of the declaration of war by Britain upon Germany. The monument was placed in 1919. I don't know much about HMS Queen Elizabeth as it looks like they've recycled the name for a new vessel.

Next: River! CBD (which is Australian for "downtown" and has nothing to do with cannabis)!

Out On The Wide, Wide Open Road, Part Two

After Busselton, our journey took us to a cave.
I don't remember reading about a cave in the trip description.

They found some fossils in this cave; it is implied they found evidence of Woolly Mammoths here though there's no placard for this. More likely, the cave is called Mammoth Cave because it's big. We learn it is a misnomer, as there is a larger cave a little further away.

The cave has a self-guided tour, taking you through far more of it than we saw. What we saw was actually well done: the steps are wide and well lit, the guide had a sense of humour. The first platform is even wheelchair accessible which is pretty remarkable.

The cave is James coloured.

Onward to Cape Leeuwin.
Cape Leeuwin is the most Southwesterly point of Australia. It is also the place where the Indian and the Southern Oceans meet!

As I am my mother's daughter, I read all of the signs. There is a sign explaining about a point where you can actually see them meet. Our Scots guide told us that since most people don't read signs, a couple of local artists got together and made a line on the ocean. This is a lie. That does not stop half the group from looking and telling other tourists about it.

The sign explains how the oceans have different current patterns. This spot of white water had very different current patterns on either side.

This spot has such a sense of place. It is natural and wind swept. The tourist areas are well maintained without being obtrusive. The wind is barely a factor; it is windy because you're on the ocean, but it's not going to blow you over or force you back to the car to get a jacket, or cause you to yell to be heard. It is also a lot closer to the ocean - not as high up - than I expected, given my limited exposure to light houses.

James in two places at once!

We drove on to the actual town of Margaret River. Our Scots guide has made it known he's not keen on bringing people here because, in part, by the time we get there everything is closed. It could also be any other town on the map. The entire region we're in is Margaret River and it is remarkable.

The town itself is a two traffic light town. Not much to report. Cute, I guess.

Margaret River, as a region, is home to many wineries both big and small. There are also many breweries too. We stopped for lunch at Bootleg Brewery and sampled some beer and cider. We also stopped at Sandalford Wines for a tasting. We learned that most of the wines from Australia (this region at least) are blends. Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, for example. This isn't for any fancy trendy reason, more out of necessity: they've bred the vines to suit the growing region.

I have drank more on this trip than I have in the past three years combined.

As we headed back, most of us were sleeping. This had little to do with the alcohol and more to do with how exhausting it was.

Next up: Rotto!

Out On The Wide, Wide Open Road Part One

Getting up early on vacation seems to be a thing I do. Usually it is when I am on a group tour but I've seemed to manage it on my own as well. This is balls.

I don't know what time the sun comes up in Perth. I don't think it spends a lot of time being down.
My airbnb is in a wonderful area full of trees which means it is full of birds. Birds, as we all know, sit and wait for the barest trace of light from the sun at which point they erupt into cacophonous song. Non stop. Until the sun goes down for a little while again. Most times I don't mind birdsong but morning birdsong is the absolute worst when I am trying to get just a little bit of a lay in. No amount of googling produced results for "bird in Perth that makes a god awful noise."

At any rate, I am up and waiting for my cab at 0630 and the sun is fully up and heating the world. I don't know how long it takes to hail a cab or how long it takes to get to my destination, so I gave myself an hour. The cab came within 5 minutes. Impressive.

We hit the road for Margaret River.
Along the way, our guide/driver Gordon is very informative. He is Scots but has lived here for 30 years. He is really damn good at his job.

At one point, we pass by a field of bundled hay and I am once again reminded that Perth is Calgary.

There is a lot of agriculture in this area. I don't know why I was surprised by this - people need to eat! I think I figured it was just in another area of Australia.

I was very much Queen Elizabeth on this portion of the drive:

I can at least laugh at myself.

As we continued along, I saw something that brought me much joy.

Marshmallows!! They even call them marshmallows. Their marshmallows are multi-coloured! Sometimes striped! MARSHMALLOWS!
After this whenever someone saw them, it was quickly pointed out.

We carried on down to Busselton. This was a vacation area from early on for the rich. This continues today, but it is also for the middle class. You can do anything here, from roughing it to church camps to "caravan villages" (which I've taken to think are trailer parks and not RV parks) to high end accommodation. It really is a beautiful little area.

Busselton is also home to the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It is 1.8 km long. There is a tourist train that goes on it, though we did not have enough time.

The ocean in this area is something else. The colours blew my mind. There were spots of an almost glowing turquoise, a deep blue, a warm blue, and almost a green. I'm not near good enough to capture it on camera.

James living his best life.

Here I was thinking that Busselton was named after the hustle and bustle that came with all the vacationers. Nope. It was named after the Bussell family. They arrived from England between 1830-1834 and farmed. They struggled a lot and eventually found good farmland in the area. As Australia isn't very old, their descendants are still alive and kicking today. Probably not as farmers.

Next: caves and capes.

Small Bars and Street Art

Perth and Calgary differ as much as they're alike.

Knowing that anything outside of Perth proper is a "suburb", in the early 2000s, Perth's population was 250. This means that the city was filling up during the day and everyone was leaving at night. The city figured they needed to do something about this. Tied in with an economic boom was also a high density housing construction boom. Now, Perth's population stands at about 50,000. Including the suburbs, the population is 1.9 million.

The solution to attracting people downtown seemed to be small bars and street art.
Historically, bar licenses primarily only went to big players. They went to sports arenas, casinos, and government run bars. Somewhere along the line, someone figured out this wasn't working - people weren't drinking,  money wasn't being spent, and no one wanted to spend their time having government sanctioned fun.

Enter small bars. These are spaces in alleys, on rooftops, in store fronts, that can hold no more than 120 people at a time (often far less). Some of them brew their own alcohol, some buy alcohol from the government. At any rate, it is an astounding success!

With more people staying downtown came a lot of the expected social issues, including graffiti. Perth has a lot of blank walls and as such, taggers were using them and leaving unsightly tags. The city decided to commission some of the taggers and artists to make murals instead. There are many kinds of art represented. Some are beautiful. Some are not.

As I went through my pictures from this walking tour, I realized I had only one. It is called "The Conversation". Because Calgary and Perth are alike.

The alleys are very safe to walk through. They don't smell of pee or puke or garbage. There are no (daylight) vagrants hanging about.

Next: let's get out of town!

Two feet and a heartbeat

I walk a lot in Perth. It is an easily walkable city. The weather is ideal, the roads are very well-kept, and it is mostly flat.

Perth is a lot like Calgary - both historically and currently.
Both cities were named after places in Scotland though were initially called something else (Perth was the Swan River Colony, Calgary was Brisebois). Both have Scots as colonist - Perth had James Stirling, Calgary had James Macleod. Both have less than great histories with indigenous people. Perth is slightly older than Calgary; it was founded in 1829, whereas Calgary was founded in 1884. Calgary differs in that we have a history with the railway. We also have no connection to the French or Dutch.

Both cities have resource based economies. Very boom-bust. Perth has mining, Calgary has oil and gas. Oil and gas is slowly starting to become a thing here; I think the houses are heated with natural gas? As I understand it, they get their LNG from fracking. I hope they learn from the lessons that Canada has on that. A recent oil deposit has been found in Western Australia as well.

Perth calls itself a "suburban city" meaning that people primarily live in the suburbs. What they are calling suburbs, I would call inner city. It is a half hour walk from this house to downtown, which is not a suburb in my mind.

Not the street I'm staying on.

As Perth is a state capital, I set out today with the plan to find the legislature buildings.
First I discover that I need to find the proper name of the buildings. Even though Australia is on the same Westministerian system as Canada, this does not mean they have the same words. I remembered in Brisbane, they called it State Buildings. That is not the case here. Apparently it is called Parliament or Parliament House. The actual assembly still seems to be called the Legislature, however.

The building is made out of a Western Australia variety of sandstone, as well as local tile and wood.

These gargoyles representing the national arms, figures of the unicorn and a lion, formerly occupied positions on the historic Waterloo Bridge in England.

A short walk from here is Jacob's Ladder. This is an amazing viewpoint! It is 86 metres above most of the city

Also an amazing workout if you're in to that sort of thing. There are two sets of 242 stairs. I chose to take them down.

I realised today that while I broke in my sandals, I did not break them in for walking in heat. I also was unaware there is a difference until today. Frigging blisters.

Next: let's do a walking tour!

Four airports, three continents

AKA the boring video one.

I didn't take pictures for this portion. Whoops.
I did, however, have my passport and Aussie visa and that's all I need. I don't need things like locks for my backpack because why would they be in the same pocket they've always lived in? Who needs to lock check bags anyway?!
As I start contemplating how much work it would be to turn it in to a carry on bag (not much), my brain helpfully remembers that there are shops at the airport! One of those shops is sure to have a lock. Turns out my brain helped for once!

It is Hallowe'en! Kidlets are about, in their costumes and seeking candy. We had 10 or 11 kids before we left Ernie's house for the airport.

The itinerary is as follows:
Calgary-Vancouver
4h 55min layover
Vancouver-Hong Kong
7h 55min layover (initially planned so I could have a day in Hong Kong. Given what's going on there at this moment, I made the wise decision to stay in the airport.)
Hong Kong-Perth.

Calgary to Vancouver was exactly as uneventful as you would think.

There are so very many duty free shops in the Vancouver airport. I've been to a lot of international airports and I've never seen this many. The airport itself looks like someone gave the architect the direction, "Can you make it look like a cabin but not one you could afford to stay in? And make it airy too! We're going to need lots of room for way too bright duty free shops!"

Our flight was delayed by about 4 hours. Good times.
This was also the time my brain chose to let me know it did not pack my air mattress or power bar. Thanks brain.

Hong Kong airport is very, very, very long. It is also very narrow, less than 200m across. There are no people movers to get people from Gate 1 to Gate 80. At the very least, this time we were parked at the actual terminal and didn't need to get bussed in from or to the middle of the runway.

Perth!
On my landing card I ticked the "yes" box to having been in the wilderness in the past 30 days because I couldn't remember when we'd been out hiking last. It was a quick and simple process with no dogs this time.

From here, things went minorly down hill.
My cards chose not to work in the cab. The driver took me to a bank machine where they also chose not to work. There was a lot of panic on my part (while trying to seem like I'm not panicking). It was about midnight at this point and all I wanted to do was get in and sleep. The cab driver agreed to come back the next day and get the cash.

When he did come back, he tried to make me feel guilty; he didn't have any other fares that night and hadn't had any that day either. None of these  things are my fault, dude. You're not going to guilt me in to giving you more money. Have a nice day, improve your outlook and get more fares.

Next: Well I thought I broke in these shoes...

Beating Like A Drum

While searching last minute plans, I thought about going to Loch Lomond. I did not do enough research on this and took it out of contention as an option, thinking it was too far away.

After meeting my cousins it was decided we were going to Loch Lomond!
Again, I thought this was too far and was very appreciative of the offer. I thought it was a Calgary to Jasper kind of a drive, which is a bit much to do there and back in a day. Turns out, it's more Calgary to Turner Valley kind of a drive. Not bad at all.

What an amazing place.

I had no expectations for this place. I really only knew it from song - and I really only knew the song because of John Barrowman's verison of Loch Lomond (warning - glitteriest kilt EVER), which is how I learned that River of My Heart used the same tune and it blew my ever loving mind.

I'm glad I went into it knowing nothing. It is a beautiful spot and I am eternally grateful we went.

After learning what a hairy coo (pronounced "hoory coo") was, I made it a goal to see them. The original plan was to go to a tourist farm inside Glasgow on my birthday, but I slept in. Whoops.
When we got into the Loch Lomand area, coos abounded!

This Alberta girl was surprised that many of them were pregnant in the fall.

There is a hilarious video that should be here of me walking amongst the coos but alas, when my computer died so too did the videos.

We almost got taken out by a lorry on the narrow roads but Danielle managed to avoid it. Good thing, as I didn't have travel insurance!

We stopped for lunch and had fish and chips. No mushy peas. We had tea with it too, which was a bit odd for me (as tea isn't something you normally have with fish and chips here). Very good!

Later this evening, I meet with another batch of cousins. I don't think any of us thought to get pictures. Again, the resemblance was uncanny! Michael and Elizabeth have both been to Canada - Elizabeth was born here. His children have not though there is a standing invitation.
Meeting family like this is out of this world. Listening to them, hearing their stories, making the connections, all of it was probably the best birthday present I never expected.

Next: leaving.

Lioness Among Lions

And we're back!
As I was updating, my computer decided to up and die. I'm very lazy and it took me this long to recover the photos from my memory card. Here we are.

Actual birthday in Glasgow!!

While wandering around the night before, I'd found a Tim Horton's. I was vaguely aware one existed here - and it makes sense, given how many Canadians come here for school - but I also vaguely recall being told it is closed. Turns out, it was open! And the Scot working behind the counter was friendly and helpful enough to be a Canadian. She gave me excellent directions and was very kind about my confusion.

Glasgow is home to a building designed by Zaha Hadid. I have long admired her work and sought it out. I had a near hit in Hong Kong and I wasn't going to let it slip away. What a perfect adventure on my actual birthday!

Following the directions from Google Maps, I took the train in to the central station. After that, Google Maps abandoned me. This ended up being my good fortune, however, as a wrong turn lead me to another Tims! So my birthday breakfast was a double double and a donut as one does.

This is a Rudolph donut, obviously. A Boston Cream with a red timbit nose. It was gooey and delicious and perfect.

I asked for directions to the necessary next step from a very nice police officer. She called her cohort over just so they could hear my accent (and hear me apologise about 20 times for taking up their important time with my silly directions question).

Glasgow has a unique subway system. It has two lines; one that runs clockwise and one that runs anti-clockwise. It is also orange. This has lead to the nickname "Clockwork Orange". It is very easy to navigate! The trains themselves are very small; narrow and low. I am not a tall human and I almost felt like I had to duck.

I took the subway to the Riverside Museum.

This museum was designed by Zaha Hadid. I finally did it!
The building itself is remarkable. It is roughly Z shaped and clad in zinc. It connects the city to the rivers Clyde and Kelvin. There are no internal supports, and the shape of the interior ceiling is the same as the exterior roof. It is very spacious on the inside! The set up flows very well. It honestly took my breath away when I first set my eyes on it. Zaha Hadid was an amazing architect.

The museum is dedicated to all things transportation. There is a piece of the plane from Lockerbie there, and a running track of ships that historically traversed the Rivers Clyde and Kelvin. There is even a turn of the century Glasgow cityscape to scale. I wish I hadn't slept in so I could have spent more time here. I also wish I took pictures inside.

After my time here, I met my cousins!
Karen, Danielle, Kieran, and Jayden are on the Hood side - mom's mom.
Let me tell you, there is no mistaking Hoods! The resemblance was instant and uncanny.

We went to dinner at a mall. Inside the mall was a giant slide for the kiddos (and for adults too if we were so inclined). There was also a climbing park! This wasn't like a West Edmonton Mall kind of place, it just happened to have these things.

It also had a ski hill.
Inside the mall.
With a chairlift and everything.

Seriously. A ski hill. And an instant resemblance. It wasn't all that cold and it smelled like ozone.

Dinner was excellent. It was great to meet people I'm related to! Karen, Danielle, Kieran and Jayden are awesome. I tried Irn Bru. It tasted.....well, it tasted. I'm glad I tried it, but I won't seek it out.

We made a rough plan to go to Loch Lomond the next day.