Perth

It’s Sunday and it’s catch up day. Yesterday passed in a haze of inertia with little to commend it except the family block of dark chocolate kit kat we demolished. I know. It was a down day. But today’s post is planned for the letter P not C for chocolate or K for Kit Kat although there’d be enough to do a post justice with either letter.

I can’t tell you about our time in Picton at the top end of the South Island in New Zealand because I wrote about it here. And I can’t write about how my father nurtured my love of photography because I posted that in 2017. It is good to remember who set you on a path and I feel gratitude that he shared his love of cameras and photography with me. The post is here.

Hmm … I’ll show you a little of Perth. We spent four days in Perth before we bunkered down to keep ourselves and others safe from COVID-19.

Perth, the capital city of Western Australia has what seems like a never-ending list of attractions on offer. Unless you visit on the cusp of a global lockdown. We arrived two days before Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison announced stricter social distancing protocols and recommended the closure of all non-essential retailers.

We wandered around a once-thriving city like wraiths from the pages of a doomsday novel. The Visitor’s Centre was closed, major shopping complexes were closing and had restricted the number of shoppers permitted to enter at any one time. Ferries, part of the large transport network that moves Perth’s people around were shut down. It left us feeling stranded and somewhat abandoned in what under different circumstances would be a beautiful city.

Maybe it is still a beautiful city but that depends on how one thinks of a city. For me, a city is its people and the life they bring to the structures and attractions, the parks, botanic gardens and the thrum and thrust of a modern city that is home to 2.14M people.

We visited Perth but we did not see Perth. To see this city in its true array of live, colours and hustle we will revisit at another time, when things are settled and the world has recovered from the aftermath of COVID-19.

In the meantime here are a few of the photos taken while we meandered the all but deserted streets. I’ve found some interesting facts to make up for the lack of personal content.

 Interesting Facts

Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world – it’s over 1,300 miles to the next large city.

With an average of 8 hours of sunshine per day all year round, Perth is said to be the sunniest capital city in the world.

Perth is closer to Bali than Sydney.

Perth became known as the “City of Light” when astronaut John Glenn orbited above back in 1962 and could spot Perth because everyone turned on all their lights.

Thanks to the mining industry, Perth has the highest per capita number of self-made millionaires of any city in the world.

Speaking of money, the Perth Mint is the oldest mint in the world which still operates out of its original premises.

You can travel around the centre of Perth for free by staying in the Free Transit Zone or using the free CAT buses.

Perth was nearly the capital city of a country: Western Australians voted in 1933 to become separate from the rest of Australia, but the process was stopped.

Perth is the capital of Western Australia, a state which takes up a massive one third of the area of Australia.

Gratitude Moments:

• The time in Perth whet our appetites to see it in better times
• The free inner city transport system
• The great Air BnB we stayed in

2020 is the eleventh year in which thousands of bloggers participate in the A to Z Blog Challenge during April. I am combining this post as part of that challenge and a continuation of recording the 2nd Stage of our Oz Road Trip.