We are taking a morning flight from Perth to Alice Springs. Bring on the real heat!
After a trouble-free flight, we arrived in Alice late afternoon and, after checking in, we proceeded to a barbie. After nightfall, we got to see the skies of the Southern Hemisphere; I have no great interest in astronomy and cannot tell one constellation from another, but even I had to admit that it was a spectacular sight.
Four of us played “truant” from the group today. The organised optional excursion was a 90 minute ferry ride from Perth to Fremantle, returning by coach in the early afternoon. We decided that we would like more time to explore, so we booked independently on the same ferry, getting there first to grab the best seats, and returned later by train. A big bonus was that we saved A$45 by doing it this way; needless to say, the tour manager was not best pleased. Fremantle turned out to be picturesque and full of historical interest. Many of the original 19th Century buildings have been preserved and new buildings have been well designed to fit in and retain the character of the town. We took a guided tour of the infamous prison and then wandered around the large market (fresh strawberry kebabs, coated in chocolate were to die for!) and a wide range of small independent and interesting shops. Fitting in two stops for coffee and one for lunch, all at pleasant locations, we got back into Perth at 6 to find a ghost town. On a Saturday evening in the UK, any City centre would still be bustling at this time but, here, all the shops had already closed and the streets, bars and restaurants were all empty. Clearly Perth is in need of an injection of night life.
A leisurely all day coach tour of the areas surrounding Perth, a chance to see more of the Swan Valley and Western Australia scenery. We started at the Yanchep National Park, spotting a few kangaroos, koala bears and some very strange birds. We then moved onto a coastal resort which included an excellent aquarium which is home to some of the sea life off the WA coast, including huge sharks and turtles. Finally, we ended the day at the Sandalford wine estate for an enjoyable tasting. Some of their wines are sold in the UK through Waitrose but, sadly, the ones that I liked best are not. Our journey back was made complete by a detour to see the childhood home of Rolf Harris!
Sadly, internet access is limited, wifi is A$10 Dollars an hour and I’m told that this will be the case throughout Australia. Therefore, updates are likely to become less frequent.
The weather in Perth is just wonderful; sunny and not too hot but most welcome after the last few days is the absence of humidity. The population of Western Australia is concentrated in Perth and surrounding towns, isolated from the rest of this vast island. Therefore, the first question I asked is where is all the traffic on the freeways heading to and from? Everywhere here feels spacious but a tour of the City revealed very little of much interest. Pride of place was given to the WACA cricket ground about which the guide talked at great length, but there were few other buildings buildings with character and the modern architecture was mostly feature-less. We took a trip to the seaside, to Scarborough via Guildford. This Scarborough has a beautiful beach, blue sea and perfect weather, but nothing else; if these assets could be transplanted onto its UK namesake, a World class resort could be created. Everything here is very pleasant but, as yet, there is no wow factor.
Transit days are always so frustrating, you just want to get to the new place as quickly as possible and, today it is an evening flight, due to arrive in Perth just before midnight. This meant that today has just been killing time. I stayed in the hotel until check out time watching CNN on the one day in every 4 years that CNN is worth watching. I’m so delighted that Romney got what he deserved after insulting London.
I’m at Singapore airport now. I’m not likely to be coming back here 34 years from now, but I wonder whether as much will have changed as in the last 34 years. It would be nice to think that, amidst all the money-making towers, at least the Cricket Club will still survive.
I got up to the good news that WBA won and the sun is shining. Looks as if it could be a good day.
Left the hotel just after 9, for an aimless stroll around the City. At around 11, I found myself at the Singapore Flyer (equivalent of the London Eye). I had been determined not to bother with such an obvious tourist trap, but it was a clear morning, there were no queues and an over-60’s discount was on offer. So round I went. Nothing spectacular, just another view from on high. A couple of hours later, I was having a bite at an indoor mall and another torrential downpour began; there was no question of venturing outside until it eased so I was left pacing several times around a circuit of familiar shops. Wandering around the business district and Chinatown, I got back to the hotel at around 5 and fell asleep, not waking until 10, thereby having to get a sandwich on room service. This is very unfortunate; one of the main reasons for stopping over in Singapore was to recover from jet lag before Australia, but my sleep patterns are now more messed up than on day 2.
Heavy thunderstorms through the night; cloudy and very humid all day but, thankfully, the rain held off for my walk down Memory Lane. Orchard Road remains Singapore’s top shopping district but, whereas the shops of the 70’s were predominantly Singaporean, now the multinational brands have taken over. The Mandarin Hotel with its revolving restaurant still remains, but the Malaysian Hotel where I stayed has vanished to be replaced by a new office block with a Hard Rock Cafe at its base. Look closely and it is still possible to spot bespoke tailors, local art/handicrafts, cheap electronics stores etc, but they are mostly well hidden. At the forefront now are the likes of Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Zara and, lest we blame just the American and other Europeans, Marks & Spencer. In other words, just like any shopping district anywhere in the World. Where once I walked at street level past rows of interesting shops, progess is now impeded repeatedly and pedestrians are drawn mandatorily into massive interlinked malls. I remember travelling to work every morning clinging to the side of rickety old buses ; their successors are sleek and air conditioned and a new subway system offers an alternstive.
I walked for 4 hours before the humidity defeated me and I opted for a siesta. This evening it was dinner preceded by a Singapore Sling in Raffles.
I took a gentle stroll for 3 hours this morning in moderate heat/humidity and reached the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (the 3 towers with the boat-like structure straddled across the top). All very Vegas, but slightly more upmarket. The afternoon was devoted to the mandatory City tour, which turned into a shambles. It had been badly organised and rather uninteresting from the beginning but, just before we got to the Botanic Gardens, the Heavens opened and that was that. Botany is not high on my list of interests, but it looked as if it might have been rather pleasant. So far, I have seen almost nothing that I remember from 34 years ago, but the modern architecture is very impressive and a few colonial style buildings still nestle uncomfortably at the foot of tower blocks. Maybe more memories will come back tomorrow when I plan to visit The Orchard Road area, where I stayed all those years back.
The wifi in this hotel is rubbish and proving too slow to be able to upload photos onto this site. Hopefully, I will have better luck as I move on.
Finally got away from LHR at 00-30, last plane out. Deserted Heathrow is eerie. First time on the A380. Slept quit well but arrived in Singapore just after 21-00, so it’s almost bed time.
Philosophical thought: to get to the best of places you need to pass through the worst of places. So here I am at Heathrow airport. After crawling through the Friday evening rush hour traffic, I have arrived to be told that the flight is delayed by 2 hours! Let’s hope things get better.
Tonight will be spent at Hotel Quantas, the plan for subsequent nights is:
3 – 6 November Singapore
7- 10 November Perth
11-12 November Alice Springs
13 November Ayers Rock
14-16 November Melbourne
17 November Canberra
18-21 November Sydney
22-25 November Cairns
26-27 November Auckland
28-29 November Rotorua
30 Nov – 1 Dec Wellington
2 December Blenheim
3 December Christchurch
4 December Fox Glacier
5- 7 December Queenstown
8 December Omarama
9 December Christchurch
The Beast's Pen 