Wind In My Head: Streams of consciousness
Wind In My Head
Friday, June 23, 2006
Streams of consciousness
We're back. Ideally, all flights should be broken down into 5 hour blocks. It's just enough to watch a little bit of the inflight entertainment and have a relatively longish nap. If only flying to New York was like that. I cannot imagine being cooped up in a steel tube for 18 hours straight. Stir crazy is the word I'm looking for here.Anyway, Perth. Was. Nice.
What did we do there?
Landed at 6 in the morning, blurry eyed, no sleep, long Singaporean queue at immigration...Chatted with immigration officer about how Singapore migrates to Perth every June and December... He realises we are residents now...Becomes even more friendly, speaking conspirationally about all these tourists...Makes a big show of stamping our passports and officially congratulating us for entering the country as residents.
Breakfast by the bay...expensive toast...gorgeous cakes... totally out of it... checked into the Nazi serviced apartment...walked 3 km into the city...taking in the cold air...relishing the fact that I could wear my leather jacket...walked down memory lane with Packrat...all the way up Northbridge...saw where he spent a year climbing balconies and tightrope walking across zinc roofs...basically, becoming a bad egg... Had Viet food...no comparison to Melbourne and definitely not Vancouver.
UWA... prettiest campus around...
did not see peacocks... many many ducks, wild parrot standoff against sea gulls....
...saw more of Singapore there with local Catholic boys' school band on campus, sat on the grass... baked in the sun...walked along Matilda Bay...saw dead jelly fish that looked like washed up condoms...Renaissance Fair... duelling with swords and mauls...breastplates and armour, fair maidens and goblets of drink...
Soccer...Brazil vs Australia...Go Socceroos... Aussie players half a head taller than Brazillian players...Brazil scores...Packrat howls... I fear eviction...Australia vs. Croatia...Results blared into my subconscious state of mind through in flight entertainment onboard flight back... truly not a soccer virgin no more...At least it was fun while it lasted...
Freo...markets....bags of fruit for $2 each...hemp store...buskers....Cold Rock ice cream...Elizabeth's secondhand bookstore...Joe's Fish Shack...Cicerello's-wrapped in butcher paper-fish n' chips...rival Kaili's...settled for Kaili's...by the waterside...watch sky change colour before our very eyes...reds and yellows, pinks and greens, purples and oranges.......
Margaret River...long drive down.... the road that never ends... Busselton...Long 1 km long jetty into the ocean with only rail on one side, strong powerful galeforce wind...
...ear hurts from wind howling...people fishing on the jetty...wind blows lens cap off camera into the Indian Ocean...Nippy but little girls in shorts playing on the beach...more road...through the jungle...trees and more trees...Find the town, navigate to the gorgeous Beach House... Kissing Fish,
Tuscan feel, tiles on the ground...
Taking a wrong turn, discovering the surf...big waves... black specks that turned out to be real surfer dudes...crystal clear water... the waves pounding...magical...sunset
...sunrise
...Augusta...whalewatching...60 foot boat.... whales weigh one ton for every 10 feet...dolphins playing in the bay...Southern Right whale with her calf...blow holes...tell tale spout of a whale....splashed by spout...fishfinders spots whales swimming under the boat...waves a metre high...boat...water based roller coaster...barf bags....slamming onto porthole windows...bruised... green from lunging and rocking... whales breech
twist, flip in the air....mini aerial display....splash ...humpback whales with white bellies which they flash to the public when the breech...whale footprint...the flatest and calmest bit of water...learnt wave physics while turning green...Just juice and Smith potato chips do wonders for feeling green...but colour only gets restored after tasting some Mad Fish wine
...takes a little bit of wine to expel all pukiness..then the world is no longer green tinged.
Driving 5 hours straight...600km....no problem getting back into the city... got lost looking for petrol station...frenzied last minute shopping...yum cha...3 shopping malls, one afternoon, 1100 capsules of fish oil, 500 capsules of Vitamin E, 1 kg of Australian Milo, 2 bottles of Vegemite, Ciao Italia!- Real Italian food served in a hole in a wall that seats only 20 people...music that conjures images of cobblestone pavements, cappucinos and streetside cafes...
Mad rush to the airport...Internet check-in is the best!...worry about 3 infants being on the same flight... no crying babies... no good movies... doze....wheels down... "Welcome to Singapore...Please note....penalties...drugs into Singapore"...No friendly immigration officer...no small chat... no "welcome home"...Luggage waiting on the belt... no eye contact with customs guy...Packrat- not so lucky...Lucky, no drugs...Singlish and spitting...
Welcome home, indeed.
No Technorati tags because it will be a post all by itself.
Ondine tossed this thought in at 21:11
1 thoughts...
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At 2:23 pm
Blueheeler - the hound who sniffs out fishy news said... You were at 'U-dub' (aka UWA)! My old school from 93-96! People get thrown into the pond you know? Not me though...