I know that Australia is a large country, and I understand that Perth is almost as far as you can get from Cairns, but I was still a little shocked at how long it took for me to go from one city to the other. With a quick stop over in Brisbane, the trip took NINE hours! Just a few short days earlier I was happy to know my long trips were over with… But in nine hours I can fly from Vancouver to London!!
Luckily, compared to any trip I took in South America, nine hours was nothing. Plus, there was no way I was coming all the way to Australia and not seeing Kelsi. So off to Perth I went!
Kelsi was lovely, and came to pick me up for the airport at half past midnight.
“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE ACTUALLY HERE!!!” She screamed as she stumbled out of the car to hug me “Seriously, part of me thought you were joking and this was all an elaborate joke. Then I’d arrive at the airport in the middle of the night and you wouldn’t actually be here!!”
I laughed. I’m glad I was actually in Perth, but man that would have been a hilarious joke. With flight numbers, and loads of people saying goodbye on Facebook, that would have been a pretty elaborate prank.
Our first morning, Kelsi picked up her friend Dan and the two of them took me on a tour of Perth. To be completely honest, they were terrible tour guides. I hope to god they never try to start their own Perth Tours company. We were lost 75% of the time and the two bickered like a married couple 100% of the time. But dammit were they entertaining! Even if the coolest thing I saw in the city was an interpretive statue of what might be a large cactus, I did spend a whole lot of time in fits of laughter. So instead of touring, we stopped at Hillary’s for a pint. Hillary’s is a beautiful little marina with a beach and lots of cafés and upscale restaurants. The place is clearly a popular place for boat to moor, and the water is a gorgeous, endless, deep blue.
After catching up over a pint of cider, we headed back towards town. We checked out the city view from Kings Park, went for lunch by the water, and ended up in Freemantle at the Norfolk.
Freemantle, or Freo, is where Kels lives. The Norfolk is the pub where she and what seemed like everyone else I met in Perth works. An adorable stone walled pub, right in the heart of Freo. Freemantle is a much more laid back suburb of Perth. The small town center has a main drag full of pubs and restaurants running along to the beach. I instantly fell in love.
After meeting Kelsi’s work mates (who had apparently already heard about me, and who constantly referred to me as Canadian Kelsi) we drove down to Dog beach to meet up with Kelsi’s roommate Mel, and her pup Boss.
When playtime at the beach was over we worked our way over to Reno’s place for my first, at home, Aussie BBQ. Chicken, steak, sausages, garlic bread and salads… I was in heaven. In fact, my mouth is watering as I remember eating the meal. Reno did a fabulous job on the BBQ while Kelsi made salads and I smashed bottles of beer on the ground (after forgetting that the box had a hole in the bottom of it…) I’m so helpful.
When bellies were full we worked our way back to the Norfolk for another pint.
I wasn’t even used to the time change in Cairns before I flew to Perth and had to adjust to another 2 hour conversion. I was dead on my feet by the time we reached home and I fell into bed. A successful and fun-filled first day in Perth, that’s for sure!