|
Perth
- For Our 28th
Wedding Anniversary -
21/08/2009
Around about
the end of 2008, I suggested to my wife Angela that we travel to New
Zealand for a holiday. She did not respond there and then, but I started
searching for fares and related costs and also looking for somebody to
look after our place in our absence. By the middle of January 2009, I was
still wondering if going to New Zealand was a good idea. Angela told me
that going to New Zealand never appealed much to her.
That was that.
Some months later, after thinking of an alternative, I considered the two
of us going to Perth WA instead. “The 5th August I will be 69
years old,” I said to Angela one morning over breakfast, “and our wedding
anniversary is the 16th August; why not get two birds with one
stone?”
Angela agreed to the idea of going to Perth for ten
days. “Why not get some ideas from Jeff. He’s from Perth,” Angela
suggested. “Don’t miss out on New Norcia,” was Jeff’s advice.
And Angela
remembered our friend Suzy, an inveterate and adventurous traveller whom
we had met in Turkey, and so asked Suzy if she had any suggestions. I’ll
put you in touch with my friend Gurbachan,” she answered.
I recalled our son, Zenith, while
in the Navy, had praised the port city of
Fremantle, which is just 20 kilometres from Perth.
But who would
mind about our pets? Our good neighbour, Jo, came to the rescue, but sadly
by the time we left we just had one lonely cat, as our beautiful dog Leo
sadly departed this world just a month before we were due to leave. In the
sad circumstances of his untimely death, we were well and truly ready for
a holiday and a break.
So here is the
story of our travels in and around Perth, from Sydney airport 7th
August returning to Sydney 17th August 2009.
Perth
After spending
6th August travelling from Scone to Sydney by train and sleeping overnight
at Angela’s Mum’s home in Maroubra, we flew at 10 a.m. by Virgin Airline
from Mascot to Perth, a 5 hour flight. On the plane, I was hoping to
receive some refreshment, but I was greatly disappointed. Not even a
complimentary glass of water did we receive, for all food and drink was
for sale – no money no game.
“What an
inveterate mercenary and rotten airline we have chosen,” I said to Angela.
“Not even in Turkey, notorious for its aggressive approach to tourists,
have we seen such ‘magpies’ as these ‘Virgin’ salespeople. I remembered
travelling on Turkish buses last year. There was always somebody on the
bus offering cool water to drink and scented wet towels for the
refreshment, free of cost. But not here in Australia, folk!! What a
shame!
About 1 p.m.
Perth time, we made a smooth landing and within a half-hour, we caught a
bus which taxied tourists to their accommodation, so we were able to see
some of Perth, and around 3 p.m. we were at our destination, the Governor
Robinson Hostel,
about a kilometre north of the CBD in Northbridge.
The weather
was fine but cooler than we left behind in Sydney. We checked in at our
hostel, were given the key of our no. 14 ensuite room, then headed out for
a walk in the city. We were quite hungry after our trip fro Sydney, so we
strolled around looking for a place to dine and found a no-frills Lebanese
restaurant which sold good basic Middle Eastern food as a reasonable cost.
Red
CAT, Blue CAT, Yellow CAT
The following morning, Saturday, we
had to enquire how we were to travel to New Norcia the next day. We
learned from our guidebook that Perth has a free bus called the CAT within
and around the city. There are three routes; the
Yellow
CAT
does an east-west via the bus and trai stations;
the
Red
does an east-west loop through the CBD and the
Blue
travels a
north-south loop from the river through the city.
Angela and I
tried them all on our first full day, a most pleasurable and leisurely way
to discover what the city has to offer. Our closest was the Blue CAT. We
asked the driver who was most helpful. He even waited outside for us while
we went in to an agency to ask for information. We found what we were
looking for: a bus for New Norcia, which would go the next morning at
11:25 a. m. from East Perth Coach terminal.
New Norcia
Thus, after a short train trip to
East Perth Coach terminal
and a two hour journey by coach we arrived in New Norcia at 1:30 p.m.
During the ride, I couldn’t help notice the similarity of the landscape
to the Hunter valley were we live, apart from the coal mines that we see
in the Hunter Valley; here one sees the same almost flat land and the
large vineyards, sheep and horses everywhere. The grass here was
luxuriant, even greener than we see in NSW, I thought. ‘The rain fall
must be greater here than our place,’ I thought.
On our arrival at New Norcia,
three other passengers alighted: Bill and Alison, a couple on their
forties from Melbourne and Kathy, a woman from Perth, probably in her late
sixties. Kathy took the lead to the guesthouse, about 500 meters from the
Roadhouse, the four of us following her, for she knew the place well.
Once settled in our ensuite, no.
12, Angela and I scouted around, as we usually do. My first sensation was
a combination of nostalgia, solitude and peace, and melancholy all put
together, though melancholy was predominant. I say this because, being a
Catholic, I could not contain the feeling I had for the place, which
historically has been Catholic to the hilt, but now not any longer.
New Norcia was an Aboriginal
mission, founded in 1847 by a saintly Spanish Benedictine,
Rudesindus
Salvado
who dedicated his whole life for the poor and for the Aboriginal children,
orphans and adults alike, not only doing great works of mercy with only
limited means at his disposal, but creating a place of rich cultural
significance.
The town of New Norcia is wholly
owned by the Benedictine Community, whose charism of hospitality takes the
form of bed and full board in an atmosphere of tranquility and natural
beauty, for a suggested donation of $75 per night. One can join the monks
in their prayers several times a day.
A staff of about eighty, half of
whom live in the town, keep the many industries going: like the sheep
station, the olive grove, the bakery which makes quality breads for
restaurants and other Perth outlets, the brewery which produces a fine
drop called Abbey Ale, the Hotel, built originally for the parents of
children in the care of the sisters and monks, the Roadhouse-Post Office,
the Museum of which one floor houses memorabilia, another a collection of
fine paintings and a third a display from the days when the same building
operated as St Joseph’s Orphanage.
Regrettably, apart from a token
presence at the monastery of about six Benedictine monks, it is pretty
much a tourist center, a relic past great endeavor. I doubt very much,
though, that it could operate without the Australian (or WA State)
government and UNESCO having their hands on it. In other words, the
Benedictine monastery there doesn’t operate so much as a centre for
Catholic spirituality, because the traditional soul of Catholicism
elapsed, as in other Catholic institutions worldwide, with Vatican II, and
New Norcia is affected just as the rest.
To find out what New Norcia
stands for now or what it was in the past, the best link I found is
http://www.newnorcia.com/index.htm.
Back
to Perth
So after spending a couple of
nights at New Norcia [we had thoughts of spending two more days; the bus
comes every second day], we left for Perth after lunch on the Tuesday. I
don’t regret my stay in New Norcia; for me it was a new and very
interesting experience, with everlasting memories of the greatness of the
Catholic Church before Vatican II - ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
Back in Perth, we went back
without delay to our Governor Robinson hostel, having booked for another
couple of nights there. That evening, we went dinner for the second time
to The Sparrow, an Indonesian restaurant close to our hostel. The first
time we went there, the cost of the substantial and tasty meal was $18.00
for the two of us (after 10% discount for first-timers). However, this
time, the attractive young woman who served us presented us with a bill
for $43.00. I was astounded and I said to Angela: “We had more or less
similar food on Saturday, and now they are asking us to pay more than
double. This is a rip-off, no doubt about it.” We had noticed there was a
mistake for the benefit of the business with an earlier customer.
We asked to see the menu to
calculate the cost for ourselves. Another, younger, girl, who had been
watching us closely, gave us another bill, this time for $23.00. That was
the last time we went there, choosing an Indian restaurant for the
following evening. But I am ahead of my story.
Fremantle
The following morning Angela and
I got the train, this time to visit Fremantle. More than once I had heard
how delightful Fremantle is. The praise of the spot is one thing but to
see it with your own eyes is totally another affair. Yes, indeed
Fremantle is a fantastic place to visit and one should not go to WA
without a visit, even if only a day trip.
As for the beauty and the
history of the Round House
- fantastic, to say the least. Observing the instrument, called the
stocks
for punishment for the petty criminals of those days, I said to the
volunteer guide: “I would like to see that instrument of punishment back
in use today. What do you think?” The man looked at me with a twinkle in
his eye: “Actually, the government is considering instating more severe
laws in that regard to stop youthful criminals going unpunished.” I was
glad to hear that, thinking finally somebody is talking sense.
Having happily, in spite of the
rainy weather, spent all day visiting Fremantle, we returned to Perth, and
hopped on a blue CAT bound for Northbridge. I was famished and I said to
Angela: “We should look for that Indian restaurant the couple in New
Norcia mentioned.” “Do you mean the Annalakshmi?”
she asked. We had been told that they ask, not a set fee for the food,
but only for a donation.
We found it perched on a jetty overlooking the Swan
River, with elegant décor, friendly host, and tasty food. To see some
photos of the place, please click here:
Annalakshmi
Indian Restaurant, and here:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/martello.nadirangela9/Perth#5371850181448718770
or here:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/martello.nadirangela9/Perth#5371850529647299730
Gurbachan
Our remaining four days, we spent
with Suzy’s friend, Gurbachan, a retired pilot who lives
about an hour north of
Perth
via Joondalup,
in
Marijanup.
Gurbachan was kind enough to have us as his guest at his
very interesting and roomy home.
Unfortunately, because of the bad weather, we could not go out much, but
stayed inside the house sharing some cooking ideas and good food, along
with much interesting conversation. Once the weather improved a little,
we went shopping with our host at
Wanneroo market
only to be caught
in a hailstorm.
Angela wished there was
such a market close to Scone.
Sunday afternoon cleared
enough to have a chance to see more of the surroundings, like beautiful
Burns Beach
where we had our
picnic in the car for protection from another shower of rain,
Hilary's Boat Harbour,
Sorrento Quay,
and
the various undercover shops.
That night Gurbachan
helped us to celebrate with a bottle od Champagne and another sumptuous
meal. And happy 28th wedding anniversary!
Back home
The next morning Gurbachan drove
us to the Perth airport, where we caught our plane for Sydney. It was
about at 4:30 p.m. when our plane landed at Mascot. Within half an hour,
our son Zenith arrived to pick up us and drove us at his home in North
Ryde. Here finishes our story, glad to be home once again.
|
5Unwrittenlines
