Perth is a bit of a sprawl, centred around the half dozen high-rise offices and apartment blocks that are compulsory to the skyline of any major metropolis. Huddled around and along the banks of the Swan river, this relatively new town has been developing at a rate of knots. The outlying suburbs are set out in a grid, reaching more and more into the sandy outback. The transport systems are efficient and on time, making access easy and keeping the roads flowing. But there is little in the way of a heart – at least to my mind. The town hall and museums look a little time weary, but are clean and tidy, with neat edges and clean-cut profiles, reflecting their 100 years of age. Everything else looks much the same as the place next door. But it seems to be an ordered and pretty well disciplined society, not full of the bronzed athletic Adonis’s and beautiful blondes that the adverts would have us believe as I spent a half-hour in the local DIY store being treated to a parade of the over-weight contingent of the populace which destroyed any such myth.
We are here doing the necessary DIY and gardening jobs around our kids house that we have the time to do. We are spending a few visits trying to sort our next leg of the trip with the Indian Embassy here – a transit visa is the target – and also taking in some guest BBQ’s, live Rugby and music gigs…..Next week we are doing a mini road trip down south to Albany, hoping to take in the sights of the south-west coast, visit friends who have a winery, and avoid the kangaroos who notoriously wander onto the highway with no hand or tail signals…..