Waking up in Stan after planning to get a night inside was a bit confusing but did mean that I was up early and ready for a full day’s exploration around the capital. After realising that its not as big as originally expected, I’d planned on a self-guided walking tour taking in bits and pieces along the way. I wasn’t entirely sure what Perth had to offer but I’d heard on the grapevine that the big three – WA Musuem, WA State Library and the WA Art Gallery were all impressive and shouldn’t be missed.
The WA Musuem was an interesting building, primarily red brick but with the more modern glass extension to increase the size of the musuem. Having travelled almost 3,000kms down the west coast and experiencing other museums and information boards, the museum was a great place to have all of this put into context with detailed work on the delicate wording of ‘colonisation’ and ‘invasion’ recognised as two separate ways to skin a cat.
One information board simply asked the question, “We often use the term exploration to describe efforts to discover and map ‘new’ territories. But was Western Australia really an unknown land?” – an interesting view on things when you look at how long the Aboriginal people had been using these lands.
The State Library holds the impressive collection of texts and other literary pieces and links with the university for research purposes. Although the function is fairly obvious, its design and scale are impressive. Free internet too! It resides opposite to the State Gallery and as such is flanked by various obscure sculptures and seating areas to aid the ‘cultural’ feel.
The State Gallery is a wonderful place to wile away a few hours. During my visit the annual WA Indigenous Art Awards were being exhibted whilst voting took place. These awards are becoming a national prestigious event that showcase the best indigenous painters, sculptures, filmmakers, photographers etc of the year. It was a fascinating and inspiring collection of art especially after seeing many examples of paintings in the Kimberley.
I was even able to help a visiting Australian couple from the East coast on the interpretation of some of the work! It was an enriching place with many enthusiastic volunteers and even admirers of certain artists as a lady pulled me aside and wondered if I’d like to hear an interpretation of Mark Tansey’s paintings. It was a very cultural morning :)
Finally picking up the repaired lens from the outskirts of the CBD and a quick bit of lunch, (no time for that!) I was off again. This time a quick nip into the NIB Stadium, the home of Perth Glory, an Australia A-League Soccer League team, a wander around the grounds of the beautifully refurbished St Mary’s Cathedral
and up to the Perth Mint, one of the highlights of a visit to Perth. It was a bit pricey ($15) when you consider what you’ve actually seen and taken part in but its one of those things to have a look at when visiting the city.
Due to how TBTM has worked out there’s been a need to spread out the attractions, experiences, sights and sounds and to date haven’t seen anything to do with the gold rush. Watching the gold pour was a highlight where they heat up and melt a gold bullion in front of the audience, worked out the equivalent cost of my weight in gold ($M) as well as seeing the various special editions of coinage produced.
There’s so much history here you can feel the excitement of bygone days but even today, Australia are the 3rd largest producers of gold with 264 tonnes or 10% of the world’s production. Who would have thought that if all the gold mined today were put in one place it could all fit into an Olympic sized swimming pool!
Another free sight was the WACA or Western Australia Cricket Association ground – the venue for the 3rd Test in the 2010 Ashes. I sneaked in, had a look around the ground and took a few photos but was also a good rest stop :)
Walking around the city is straightforward and definitely worth while doing rather than worrying about public transport although there are some free CBD shuttle buses should you need it. (I took advantage of this on the way back as the calf muscles were a little achy!!!)
Internet, Skype, emails, bit of dinner and another night in the van was spent before Day 3
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