Saturday 10 April 2010

Australian travellogue: Journey's end

7 Nov 2009. A mid-morning visit to Perth's Central Business District was the final tonic we needed to ensure that our holidays ended on a high note. So it was from the King's Park to the car park at Wellington Street, next to the Perth City YHA.


A short walk took us to the Murray Street pedestrian mall. I think we would have enjoyed it more if Christmas was really around the corner but in November, Christmas was  still about six or seven weeks away. Except for the junctions, only a few shops had put up their festive decorations. In the daytime there really wasn't anything much to admire. Still, there were many interesting sights to see...


Mostly, we spent the time people watching. Did little shopping, window or otherwise. We weren't in the mood to buy anything substantial because we didn't want to repack our luggage in the car park. But eventually, we did end up in a souvenir shop and went away with a large paper bag of t-shirts for ourselves and the children. Ahh, what the heck!


Lunch was in a Japanese restaurant at a joint called Edo Shiki along Forrest Place just off Murray Street. It looked like serving authentic Japanese food (sushi, sashimi, ramen, udon, etc) and yes, there was even a Japanese chef. Well, at least he looked like a Japanese to us. The food looked appealing enough - maybe we were hungry - and tasted good. But it was strange to see Chinese dim sum thrown up with the Japanese food though I have to admit that they were also palatable.


So that's it: the final instalment of our Australian travellogue. The end of our all too short eight-day self-drive holiday through Western Australia's south-western region. A journey that took us to the region's cities, suburbs, towns, hills, forests and beaches. Basically, we experienced the Australian diversity, their culture, their heritage and of course, their people.


Our drive-through itinerary was prepared by MSL Travel here in George Town and the travel agency had also booked all our hotel stays and the car rental. I planned most everything else by myself, especially the places to visit. Everything went according to our Big Plan and there was little hiccup from start to finish.

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