G'day mate from Australia

  Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Friday, March 6, 2009

We flew into Perth, the capital of Western Australia (WA) late in the day from Singapore. Candy studied just outside Perth for six-months in college, so we had a pretty good idea of what to do and where to stay. 

Candy had told Ray that Western Australia is kind of the like the 1950s. Her description was spot on. The storefronts and streets look very much like the neighborhoods in U.S. from that era--just more vibrant and well maintained. Even with Candy's forewarning, it was still difficult to adjust to shops, grocery stores, and cafes all closing by 5 PM. Even people from eastern Australia can't believe a place like this exists.

Candy's birthday began on the train from Perth to Fremantle. Fremantle (Freo) is a really cool harbor town about 15 miles from Perth. Candy reminisced about places she had visited in college while we loaded up on familiar fruits and vegetables at the Fremantle market. She had strawberry cake before we watched the sunset over the Indian Ocean. Ray's pretty sure her favorite part of the day had to be when she found the custard section in the dairy department. People aren't too surprised that Ray is keeping a beer journal on his travels. Australians have been shocked by Candy's custard consumption (Ray has had a fair share, too). Not so much by the volume, but her methods of consuming it. Australians pour it over stuff for dessert. Candy drinks it straight (you get a bit of a headache pulling it through a straw) or in hot tea in lieu of milk.

We took a day trip by ferry from Freo (long words in Australia are typically abbreviated to end in a vowel) to Rottnest Island. Rotto was named by a Dutch explorer who thought the island was inhabited by giant rats (rotts in Dutch). These small marsupials called quokkas are pretty tame and roam throughout the island--one even licked the salt water off Ray's toes. Candy thought the island (and much of Western Australia) had become a lot more developed in the last 10 years. Now, there are lots of families spending their holidays in cottages on the beaches and biking around (cars are not allowed on the island).














We rented a car to drive approximately 150 miles south of Perth to the Margaret River wine region. Neither of us had driven in a while. Candy had some experience driving on the opposite side of the road, so she took one for the team and served as our skipper (designated driver in WA-speak). As Australia has very restrictive drink driving laws (not a typo--it's not drunk driving here), this was a particularly generous sacrifice as we planned to visit a few wineries. Candy mostly handled with grace Ray's laughter each time the windshield wipers came on when Candy wished to make a turn. (Candy will hopefully only be amused, and not terrified, when Ray gets behind the wheel of our "Spaceship" in New Zealand). http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz

We had a great time in Margaret River. The wineries were great fun (as they seem to be almost everywhere). We  tasted wines we've never tried before and learned remarkably new things. For example, it was harvest time during our visit and we learned about MOG (matter other than grape) that goes through the wine press! Despite MOG, Margaret River wines are generally thought to be among the best in all of Australia. Because few of the vines are irrigated, the concentrated flavors of the wine were amazing--particularly with foods we hadn't enjoyed in a very long time. Although Ray nearly purchased dog food instead of hamburger at the grocery store. Luckily he noticed the package had a picture of a dog on it and said that can't be right. 

Margaret River isn't known only for its wine; it also has cheese and chocolate factories. The area is also famous for it's surfing, caves, and the karri forests. You could (and should) spend a very long time in Margaret River; for us, however, we only had a brief time to spend in Western Australia before heading onto Melbourne.

There is a bit of a rivalry between Australia's biggest cities -- Sydney and Melbourne. When we've met travelers from Sydney and told them we were going to Melbourne, and not Sydney, they tried to convince us to change our minds (we thought for a moment they were going to buy us plane tickets). We had a great time in Melbourne and the nearby attractions.

Candy's flatmate from university (Uni) in Perth moved to Madison, Wisconsin a couple of years ago. Laura's mom (Marie) and some of her sisters live in Melbourne. Laura's youngest sister, Hil, picked us up at the airport with some of her friends from Uni. They had just come from a party where everyone had painted their faces. As we tried to figure out which of the people outside the luggage bay we were meeting, Ray said to Candy, "she kind of looks like Laura, but do you think she'd come to the airport painted?" Candy said, "Laura and I would have in when we were in Uni."

Painting was the early theme of our time in Melbourne. On our first day we set out to explore the area around Marie's house and get some Greek food. While we ate, dozens of naked bicyclists under police escort (the police were clothed, but also on bikes) pedaled by. We later found out that this "largest naked protest in the World" is an annual event to highlight how vulnerable bikers are to automobile traffic. This year was the first year where police allowed men to go bottomless, unfortunately. Most of the riders painted their bodies for the ride, as well.

Melbourne is a great city for walkers from our experience (and the lack of naked pedestrians protesting confirms it, one presumes). Staying with Marie was wonderful. She lives very close to downtown, parks, lots of cool neighborhoods and the Victorian market. We visited the market often. We also hopped on the tourist bus to travel around the city one day to see all the sites and make our plans.

We spent a lot of time with our friends, Kate and Brian, that you've already heard about from Turkey and Thailand. On their first weekend, they took us camping on the Great Ocean Road. We spent Ray's birthday on the Great Ocean Road. The scenery was stunning. So was the food and drink. As some of you know, for each of our birthdays growing up, we coincidently requested the exact same birthday cake every year--Cherry Chip. Sadly, they stopped making that cake mix a few years ago, so we're looking for a new tradition. Kate made Ray a chocolate tart topped with strawberries soaked in dessert wine. It was amazing. Ray said to Candy, "I think I've found my new favorite birthday cake." Brian remarked, "That's quite a compliment, Kate, when you consider how many birthdays he's had."

Along the Great Ocean Road we had delicious fish and chips (made out of a type of shark--"flake") and a "Parma"-a sort chicken parmesan with ham but no pasta. As we couldn't finish our portion, we inquired about a take-away bag only to find out that doggie bags are forbidden by the health department in Australia. You can order takeaway meals as they presume you will be eating the food soon. But leftovers might be stored improperly, so no doggie bags.

We were very fortunate to view many of Australia's unique animals. We saw kangaroos and emus in the wild. Along the Great Ocean Road, Candy found Ray a koala in a tree that looked like it was waving at us (it was probably scratching)!!!

We were able to meet many of Laura's family members--two other (non-painted) sisters, grandmother, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces--and family friends. We really enjoyed getting to know everyone. We've encountered many Australians on our travels. Still, we never fail to be amazed by the exotic travels that Australians have made to such places as pre-Soviet invasion Afghanistan, Nepal, and St. Cloud. Ray even got to cook kangaroo on the barbie at one of these gatherings!

We went fishing one day with Kate and Brian. The next day, our personal chefs prepared us several dishes from the catch as well as some Banana Prawns from Queensland, Australia. We were barely able to move for our next adventure--lawn bowling.

People in Melbourne were a bit surprised that we wanted to try lawn bowling as one of our "Australian Experiences." It turns out that lawn bowling is the new hip thing. The local club has one night for beginners with a BBQ and beer included. Candy and her randomly assigned partner took home first prize! She was more surprised than anything.










Tune in next to hear about our 22 days living in a spaceship named "Yuri" in New Zealand. We post soon after our return to Minnesota on April 17th.

Candy and Ray