Perth, Western Australia: I never thought I would see the Indian Ocean.
I'm good friends with the Pacific - this is just the other side of Australia:
It never ceases to amaze me how long you can stare at ocean:
English guy: "I saw you go to the other platform, and I was worried because you sounded North American and you may have thought the train would be on the other side of the tracks."
Me: "Yah, I've lived in Brisbane for a year now, I should know which side they're on by now."
Thanks to the random Brit, I was able to make my destination: Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a good half hour up the west-coast from Perth - its a tiny, tiny town. Perth however, is about 2 million with not that much to do. Its very spread out - like Houston - Its a great city if you're keen for a laid back vacation full of days at the beach. Fremantle was almost where I was going to live - Notre Dame was almost the Uni I would have found myself at.
I'm so glad the cookie didn't crumble that way.
After Fremantle, Shelley and I hung out and reminisced about living and working in Mokpo - the good always out weighed the bad - but we were very able to make fun of the bad 3 years after-the-fact. The next day, I went to the aquarium the next day and was amazed by the size of the stingrays, turtles and the sharks:
The aquarium only took about 3 of the 8 hours I had to kill before Shelley was off from work, so I sat here:
 |
It's like the ocean is breathing; with every breath she takes back into the sea she exposes huge rocks covered in seaweed and algae. Every time she breathes out, the waves pound against this sea wall I find myself on at 2:34 pm on this Thursday. All I can think about right now isn't a deeper meaning behind life but... damn I'm glad i brought this hoodie |
That band was playing in Melbourne at a place called "Iddy biddy" - a great little pub. We headed out to do Melbourne's downtown the next day:
Melbourne is a great city - reminds me of Austin. Graffiti soaked walls line the alleys; the beach is 5 minutes drive from downtown, coffee shops and bars are alive with live music from all over the world, i feel like i can talk to anyone, and there's a bum with nothing to his name but a guitar he plays really well sitting next to me as I write this into my phone.
 |
| Graffiti: a recalcitrant and disrespected art. |
I could be sitting at a coffee shop on south congress; Mohawks, dogs, coffee shops, live music, and nose rings are as ubiquitous as the laid back mentality so commonly found in Austin and Australia. There's a live band down the street and a comic book shop across the roundabout. People seem to be enjoying this gorgeous (but cold) winter day a much as they did their Aussie rules football game last night.
I'm sitting a coffee shop next to a roundabout in Melbourne - I'm tucked away under a heater because its about 40 degrees. There are three middle aged guys on Harley's waiting for this car to finally figure out how to parallel park, it makes me wonder if I am capable of parking such a small and maneuverable car in such an large parking spot!
Downtown melbourne reminds me of England, with its old cathedrals and fancy facades, everything is around a corner and down the alley. Every alley a maze of hippie coffee shops or graffiti covered bars.
I'm here to see my good friend Emily that I met when I was in Mokpo. She and I have seen a lot, but take it slow at every turn. The great ocean road is 4 hours one way and requires a car that neither of us have - it is a bucket list item of course - but I will be back to Victoria when the weather is a bit more keen to such a beach adventure.
Damn near two weeks later I finish this blog - I've been too busy working on Aussie PhD's and their endemic honours degree. The cookie will crumble as she may:
Live high y'all.
