Perth

Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world.  It is a city not unlike other cities, but it is quite small.  Hostel reviews were discouraging, but luckily at the last minute Andrew, vineyard manager at Woodlands Winery, where I’ll be working the vintage this year, told me I could stay at his family’s house in South Perth as he would be up that week anyway for some business and other things.  So I was picked up from the airport and headed to a house in a nice part of town.  The house had internet so I continued my gumtree search for a cheap car.  From what I’ve witnessed and heard, there are many many cheap cars for sale, but they sell quickly so if you find a good deal you have to jump on it.  Andrew was actually looking for a cheap car for his girlfriend as well who had gone home to France for a few months and so sold her previous one.  I already had a meeting set up to try a car so I left the house and started to walk up the street, but en route I received a text from the owner saying she had just sold it… more evidence for the liquidity of cheap cars in the area.  I tested 2 Hyundai excels the next day and liked one of them.  I was pretty sure I would go for the first one because the price was reasonable and the car seemed to be in pretty good shape, but Andrew shot down that dream, saying Hyundais are no good and I should get a Japanese car like a Mitsubishi.  So back to the internet searching I went for a few days, finding potential vehicles, viewing and test driving a few, and I finally settled on this little Lancer, and am feeling pretty good about my purchase.  After all, red Mitsubishis have been good to me in the past J

I explored the city a bit that week, bought a shirt for $1, got a free burrito one day at a new little Mexican place that had just opened up, and after I got my car I headed East to see the Swan Valley, Western Australia’s oldest wine region.  It is cute with a few good wineries, breweries, chocolate factories, and a coffee company that also does tastings so it made for a very nice afternoon.  The drive back in traffic with no air conditioning in 100 degree weather wasn’t as fun, but I made it back and relaxed for the evening, ready to head down to the allegedly cooler Margaret River region the next morning.