Live From Perth, Western Australia
February 13, 2017 Ten hours and one Day ahead of Central Time.
We are NOT supposed to be here but we decided to JUMP SHIP in Adelaide! With the prospect of three more days bouncing around at sea in the Great Australian bight with cold water and rough seas we scheduled a night in Adelaide followed by a Qantas flight to Perth and three nights in Perth before joining the ship again in Fremantle, the port of Perth. A leisurely morning in Adelaide with cool air we got a lot of walking in and around the CBD of this 1.3 million person city. The Capital of Southern Austrailia. Bill left the Ibis Hotel before first light and walked King George Terrace for a long long way. Paul and Dawn left just after not knowing where Bill was and walked down to the riverfront in Adelaide. Lots of action around the small river front with Rowing clubs and lots of rowers out. We walked the path down one side and back another only to run into construction and through some alleys. Very nice airport in Adelaide. New to domestic flights in OZ we had to figure out what procedures the airport had. We easily got the kiosk to spit out our three boarding passes but then had to go to the machine that loaded the bags. It weighs the bag and then scans your boarding pass and because the passes didn't match the bags we had a little trouble but as they say "No worries". Security was a breeze and so was boarding although no one at any time asked for our ID??? Just honest folks in these parts. It was Taxi into Perth and the Novotel in the CBD (Central Business District). Our flight was 3.5 hours and we had to set our clocks back 2.5 hours so on paper it wasn't long. Nice Boeing 717 airplane. We were in economy but even so had a meal on board at no charge and even wine or beer at no charge, come on USA airlines! No bag fee either! The 3.5 hour flight was only $260 OZ dollars. With the additional time change we were toast as far as trying to stay up late enough to get used to it. Walked down the Swan River waterfront boardwalk and found the Lucky Shag Bar at the ferry terminal in town. Great busy place for a Sunday afternoon. Decided to walk back to the hotel through the City instead of the river and ran into the Chevron Main Stage and took a look. Turned out the PIAF 2017 is on NOW! That's the Perth International Festival of the Arts. On the walk back we stopped to hydrate at a funky Little Bula bar with a Fiji theme with canned birds chirping and island music. After a shower we headed back to the Chevron Main Stage to see if we could get tickets thinking that this might be a way to star awake! There are many venues for the PIAF all over town and the Chevron just one. Chevron? Perth is the world headquarters for BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, two of the worlds largest mining companies. We listed to LILT, the starting band, ok then Skye & Ross from the UK, good. In bed by 11:30 that night, great. More later but the battery is dying on my surface.
Live from Fenian's Irish Pub, Perth, WA