Wednesday, October 17, 2001
First Impressions
Perth is smaller than I though it would be. Trish met me at the luggage area and drove me through downtown to their house. We passed the IBM building right beside the freeway. This place reminds of Atlanta with the mismatch of buildings. There were plenty of familiar American logos. Dominos Pizza, Burger King, Lone Star Steak House, Subway, etc. Could be Anywhere, USA.
Oz from 35,000 Feet:
I caught the train back to the airport and caught my flight to Perth. The plane was packed full. I took my window seat and discovered that I was in the only row on a 767 that does not have a window. Great. I wanted to see Australia as we flew across. Now I could see was a wall. I asked the flight attendant to see if should get me a seat with a view. The passenger in the row behind me heard me a switched rows. Very nice!
There was a of clouds, but I could see the ground for most of the flight. As we flew west the city and bays of Sydney gave way to what seemed like endless suburbs. After a while the terrain changed into low green rolling mountains with numerous large rivers and forests which thinned out into miles and miles of farmland. After a couple of hours we crossed the coast near Adeley into the Great Australia Bight, the enormous bay of the south coast of Australia that faces the Antarctic. Of the west coast the land was very dry, like the high Mohave deserts, with wheat fields to the south. Then a small range of green mountains and the city of Perth came into view.
Not once in the flight did a see any town larger than a few buildings. I saw perhaps only 3 roads. This middle of Oz is very, very empty.
There was a of clouds, but I could see the ground for most of the flight. As we flew west the city and bays of Sydney gave way to what seemed like endless suburbs. After a while the terrain changed into low green rolling mountains with numerous large rivers and forests which thinned out into miles and miles of farmland. After a couple of hours we crossed the coast near Adeley into the Great Australia Bight, the enormous bay of the south coast of Australia that faces the Antarctic. Of the west coast the land was very dry, like the high Mohave deserts, with wheat fields to the south. Then a small range of green mountains and the city of Perth came into view.
Not once in the flight did a see any town larger than a few buildings. I saw perhaps only 3 roads. This middle of Oz is very, very empty.
Sydney harbor
We arrived in Sydney around 8 o'clock in the morning. I was on the wrong side of the plane to get a good view of anything but ocean, but what I glimpsed as the plane made its final turn was beautiful. I breezed through immigration and customs without any delays or questions.
I had 2 to 3 hours to kill before the plane to Perth left, so I decided to see Sydney, or least a little of it. The Sydney airport, like other good airports such as Boston and London's Heathrow, has a subway stop right at the terminal. I cashed a traveler's check and bought a pass for the 15 minute train ride into downtown Sydney and Circle Quay where the Sydney Oprah House is. Fifteen minutes later I was downtown walking around the Oprah House and looking up at the Sydney Bridge.
The bridge features hikes up the top where they claim the view is spectacular. However, it costs $150 AU ($75 US) to do this 15 minutes. What a rip! I can spend a day in Disneyland for less. Plus, they make you take a breathalyzer before going because they don't want drunks up there. Needless to say, I didn't bother.
I hiked around downtown looking for a place to get a good breakfast. Downtown is surprisingly small and vacant. There was no traffic, very few cars or trucks on the road, and almost no pedestrians. This is 10 am in the middle of the week.
I found a small cafe to eat in. I ordered a breakfast sandwich. The waitress was very nice. She asked what sauce I wanted on my breakfast sandwich.
"Sauce?", I asked.
"Yea. Tomato sauce, or something" she answered.
Tomato sauce is catsup. They put it on everything here. I certainly didn't want it on my egg and bacon sandwich. I asked her to instead put some mayonnaise on it. The poor girl turned a sickly shade a green and shuttered at the thought of this. "Are you sure?" she asked.
It took some convincing, but she finally agreed. She must think that Yanks are weird. She watched me out of the corner of her eye as I ate it. Perhaps she thought I was going to drop dead right there at her table.
I had 2 to 3 hours to kill before the plane to Perth left, so I decided to see Sydney, or least a little of it. The Sydney airport, like other good airports such as Boston and London's Heathrow, has a subway stop right at the terminal. I cashed a traveler's check and bought a pass for the 15 minute train ride into downtown Sydney and Circle Quay where the Sydney Oprah House is. Fifteen minutes later I was downtown walking around the Oprah House and looking up at the Sydney Bridge.
The bridge features hikes up the top where they claim the view is spectacular. However, it costs $150 AU ($75 US) to do this 15 minutes. What a rip! I can spend a day in Disneyland for less. Plus, they make you take a breathalyzer before going because they don't want drunks up there. Needless to say, I didn't bother.
I hiked around downtown looking for a place to get a good breakfast. Downtown is surprisingly small and vacant. There was no traffic, very few cars or trucks on the road, and almost no pedestrians. This is 10 am in the middle of the week.
I found a small cafe to eat in. I ordered a breakfast sandwich. The waitress was very nice. She asked what sauce I wanted on my breakfast sandwich.
"Sauce?", I asked.
"Yea. Tomato sauce, or something" she answered.
Tomato sauce is catsup. They put it on everything here. I certainly didn't want it on my egg and bacon sandwich. I asked her to instead put some mayonnaise on it. The poor girl turned a sickly shade a green and shuttered at the thought of this. "Are you sure?" she asked.
It took some convincing, but she finally agreed. She must think that Yanks are weird. She watched me out of the corner of her eye as I ate it. Perhaps she thought I was going to drop dead right there at her table.
Dawn in Fiji
Dawn broke as we flew over Fiji and 35000 feet. Fiji is beautiful, even at our altitude. The island was dark and lush, surrounded by a large lagoon framed by a coral reef about 10 miles off shore. I don't know if there are active volcanoes on Fiji, but I saw two clusters of glowing orange light that looked like lava flows. A fellow passenger and I debated if it was lava or the lights of a small town. The color was too orange and thick to be man-made lights. I need to look that up, someday.
Oz Bound
On Monday two days ago I flew out of Los Angeles on a Quantas flight to Sydney with a connection on to Perth. The flight is 14 hours on leg one, and 5.5 on the second, almost 20 hours of flying, loosing a day, crossing the equator and the international date line all on the same 24 hours. It sounds more exhausting than it really is.
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