Perth, Australia

Welcome back....seriously.  I know it's been a while since the last entry - but I've been a little busy. Don't worry - there's still several places that I haven't talked about yet.

Today, I'd love to tell you about a little place called Perth, Australia. Some of you may not have heard of Perth - it's located on the Western coast of Australia. It's as far away from Sydney as you can get, on that continent. 

The trip there was one of the longest that I've taken. First, I had to spend about 16 solid hours flying from Los Angeles to Sydney. That's a lot of sitting. Try spending 16 solid hours in a chair someday ; ) Then, I had to transfer directly to another flight from Sydney to Perth. This is an additional 6 hours (it's like flying from New York to San Francisco). Throw in the International Date Line, and you'll be ready to collapse at the end of the trip.

Once you actually reach Perth - it's gorgeous. Many fantastic beaches there, overlooking the Indian Ocean. The culture there is really laid-back and it's a very relaxing place.

Shot from East Perth, looking back towards the city at sunset

One of the best sites in Perth is Kings Park. This is a large public park nestled right in the city. It has a botanical garden with about 2,000 of Western Australia's 12,000 species of flowers and plants:

From the park itself, you can see beautiful views of the city of Perth and the Swan River:

This is a crazy walkway that let's you stroll over the tree-tops

Inside the park, there is an observation tower that's pretty unique. It's called the "DNA Tower" - for obvious reasons:

For apparently thousands of years, Aboriginal people have been visiting Kings Park, which was previously called Mooro Katta. I don't know if Perth grew from this popular spot, or the park grew from the city being so popular.  I'll save that for another trip ; )

Another feature of the park is the Court of Contemplation. This is a special place - a sort of mix of Arlington Cemetery and the WWII Monument in Washington, D.C. It commemorates the battles in which Western Australians have died. The walls all have names of major battlefields.  The Flame of Remembrance sits inside a reflection pool, and burns continuously - much like the Arlington "eternal flame". It symbolizes the tribute to all the Australians that have passed away, in service of their country.

Remember what I said about beaches? Just 15 minutes west of Perth is Cottesloe Beach - it's pretty famous for its awesome sand and terraced lawns overlooking the Indian Ocean. Remember that Australia is below the equator, so the seasons are opposite those in the U.S. Right now, summer is about to begin - and everyone will spend even more time at the beach.

I also talked about how relaxed the culture is, in Perth. A great deal of the sports culture is focused on surfing. In fact, that's why I visited there. No, I wasn't there for some "tasty waves" - I was investigating a game developer that was attempting to make a surfing video game. I'm sorry to say that they didn't have the potential to actually pull-off a great game, but they were sure trying. It was tough to break the news to them - that we weren't going to proceed with the project.

The trip did give me some time to witness how popular surfing actually was in that city. Any water-related sport was huge - kite-surfing, wind-surfing, kayaking, jet ski...you name it.

Western Australia has a ton of crazy rock formations. A geologist's dream come true. If you're willing to take a day-trip outside of Perth, you'll never forget these formations. The most famous is called Wave Rock. It's about 300 ft. long and 50 ft. high and resembles a perfect "surfer's wave" in the ocean:

As you can tell, I have a soft spot in my heart for Australia. Heaven knows when I'll get around to writing about Sydney. I can't wait...