Day One: 20th June
Arrived in Perth international airport. Long flight from Dublin to Frankfurt then Singapore onto Perth! About 24 hours in all.
Got to watch lots of tv on airplane - Simpsons, Top gear, hall pass, Jamie Oliver!
Had no hassle coming through customs / immigration; was quite hassle free. Didn't have to pass our bags into quarantine so there goes my first chance of getting on Australia: Border Control TV program!!
We had a long wait in Perth airport as we had car ordered but previous emails from company said car company did not open until 6am. We arrived at 12.30am! On further reading the email they sent me, it was like I was in a James Bond book. "when you pass through arrivals hall, walk about 15 metres to travelex foreign exchange desk, to the right of that desk there will be an envelope, in the envelope there shall be instructions re directions to car and how to obtain keys". So after 2 hours of waiting in Perth airport I began my key finding quest! Off I went to travelex counter and indeed there was an envelope named KENNETH MILLER on it. WOW I thought. In the envelope there was a 2nd envelope with instructions on how to find the car in airport car park. So off I went in short pants into almighty pissing rain with a piece of paper and iPhone as my torch! Found car eventually(a bright orange KIA!!) and next instructions were "in the glove compartment there will be a coded box, in the box you will find the keys and a sum of money for car park fee, the code of the box will be your year of birth" next to which was a scribble 15/12/XXXX - not my date of birth but Carols. Wow I thought, it was like the krypton factor! (I use to love that show an allllllways wanted to run that assault course!!!!)
Anyway, keys now safely in hand, we found out our car was an automatic. f***. Should be simple but I had no experience in them.
We sat in airport lounge trying to come up with plan for tomorrow. We knew we were scheduled to stay with Carols uncle Michèal in Myaree (near Fremantle or 'Freo') but we needed something to do in Perth for the day. Simplest option: double decker hop on/off red bus tour. Sorted, that is what we were doing!
While waiting around Perth airport we seen more and more cops and men in suits- not your typical business man but CIA s***. About 6.45am I overheard one of the cops say "right here he comes,let's do it" and who walks in?? Only the Dalai f***ing Lama!!! There, about ten feet away from me was one of the most famous people in the world! Wasn't fast enough on the oul camera but I'm sure I would have been chucked through the window by one of his 75 million security men if I took a pic.
Carol drove from Perth airport to Burswood Entertainment complex, after a few training sessions in our new automatic! It had free parking as we found out via the Internet plus it was a scheduled stop on the tour!
While in car park we had a call on our new Oz mobile number (bought from vodafone kiosk for $30 in Perth airport. First call was strange and it hung up but it rang again. I answered and it was some Aussie guy at the end of phone telling us this was his number and that his phone was stolen on night out in Sydney last week. Jesus almighty-in country not even a day and we've been caught out already! After a conversation explaining about how we bought it and that we were in country one day, we found out it was David has put this guy who he worked with upto it. W***er!! Welcome to Oz eh?!
So the bus arrived on time at 9.40am and off we went to see the sights of Perth.
First stop was Perth mint. Wow! We got to see actual gold been poured and made into gold bullion, never can forget the heat coming from the show area. They had a scales within the complex and apparently I weigh 2.7 million in gold...any takers??? Thought not.
We strolled back to Barrack Jetty and visited Swan Bells. Nice building but didn't bother going up to ring bells. Not a patch on our own Shandon bells!!!
Ended up paying $6.50 (€5) for bottle of coke and twix..nearly fell into water after the shop attendant told me, the wagon. Felt like calling the cops.
Hopped back on tour bus and got off at Kings Park. What a place. Acres of manicured grass and wooded area with stunning views of Perth and Fremantle. It reminded me of golf courses; it was that well maintained. Went on tree top walk through forest, free admission but again, remarkable views. After this went to visit DNA sculpture which was metal structure shaped like 2 DNA with 100+ steps to top with incredible views. Cool structure though.
After Kings Park We hopped back on final tour bus of day and came back to our car park in Burswood. It was my turn to tackle the automatic!
Very hard to get used to as only 2 pedals and every time I approached lights and braked I felt I should conk out. But got used to it. Drove out to Freo for look, big shipping town but had a short snooze in car before walking into South Beach, not amazing but not bad for our first beach! Was quite windy / cold!
After South Beach we drove towards Michéals house outside Freo. Stopped off at Woolworths todo a spot of shopping and ended up getting changed in car park! Classy guy I know!
Once arrived in Michéals we had the introductions etc and met his kids who were in house, Laura, David and Kathleen. Theresa was away a few days in Rottnest Island just off Perth.
Michéal and Colette made a wicked Irish stew for us. Was delicious!! Had lots of wine and lots of chat when Colette came home, was great to finally meet Colette and catch up with Michéal again.