Perth, Our Welcome to Western Australia

Perth was founded in 1829, primarily because the British were afraid that France would set up a colony in Western Australia, which explains its relative isolation from other major population centers. But while I was there, the image of the map of Australia--and its place in the world--was firmly in my mind. It felt remote to me.  "Here we are down at the bottom of the world," I thought, as though top and bottom make any sense on a globe, but then that's how we conventionally think about it, isn't it?

We enjoyed a few nights' stay at an Airbnb apartment in Perth, and although we usually choose to have an entire house or apartment to ourselves, in Perth we chose to stay with a host. We had our own private bathroom and access to the rest of the apartment, where we were able to relax. The owner, Anna, who works at the University of Western Australia, welcomed us in spite of an injury that had laid her up. The views from her balcony were spectacular!

One night, we even saw fireworks across the Swan River. The river, which we overlooked, eventually opens up to the Indian Ocean at Freemantle. Anna kindly gave us a ride to Freemantle when she was feeling better, and we enjoyed exploring the port town.

While relaxing in Freemantle, we met Erika Roper, a researcher who studies black cockatoos. (There are three species in Western Australia, and I have forgotten which species she studies.) However, it was a great pleasure to meet someone who has devoted her life to this research and who cares so much about these beautiful, threatened birds.

Kevin with Erika Roper.

I had wanted to visit Rottenest Island, which is off the coast of Freemantle, but sadly, we had to forego that trip. When you are traveling long-term, you have to weigh every excursion and sight, because if you do everything you'd like to do, you'd quickly run out of money--and we had months to go! 

Rottenest Island got its name from sailors who mistook the quokkas, the small marsupials that overrun the island, for rats. Quokkas are adorable, and I wanted to see them on the island, where they are known to be relatively tame. However, the roundtrip ferry ride to Rottenest was expensive, and there isn't a lot to do there, except swim, snorkel, and bicycle. Since Kevin doesn't like to swim and won't snorkel, and my knee won't let me cycle, we decided to spend about $12 and see quokkas in the Perth Zoo instead.

Quokkas are cute! (Image from Dreamtime.com)

I have mixed feelings about zoos. I recognize that zoos do valuable work in saving some endangered species. But I think that the animals should have adequate space and consideration and large, social mammals like whales and elephants do not belong in zoos or aquariums. So I was saddened to see that the Perth Zoo still has an elephant.

The zoo grows eucalyptus just for the koalas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw the koalas in the zoo. While there are places in Australia that actually let you hold koalas, the experts frown on that, because humans can pass diseases to koalas. So we were content just to see them. There was no option to hold them at the zoo, anyway.

The kangaroos and wallabies at the zoo seemed to have a lot of freedom and a fairly spacious area. 

While we were there, one mother tried to hurry her dawdling children along: "Come along now. We can see kangaroos at Nanas."
I smiled. The only kangaroos I ever saw at my nana's house were ceramic ones.

Because the animals have free-run of the enclosure, signs ask you to be careful when leaving. We were careful and although I would have liked to bring one home, I realized that was hardly practical!

We were shown around the zoo by John, a local resident and docent who is 80 years old. He so obviously loves the animals and his volunteer job. We were lucky to have  a private tour, because no one else showed up on time at the tour point. He was a delightful guide, and he told us he has flocks of parrots and cockatoos in his back garden every morning.

Perth's Art Gallery of Western Australia provided an interesting diversion, featuring a wide diversity of artists. Sadly, we had just missed a larger exhibit of aboriginal art, though we enjoyed the stunning works. One was a grouping of an artist and a model, and I had to look closely to make sure they were sculptures.

 

With its natural beauty, comfortable city, warm people, and enjoyable art and architecture, Perth offered a pleasant welcome to Western Australia, and we could hardly wait to see what more this region would deliver for us.