Perth Revisited.


There’s something special that happens when Perth and I reconnect.

It’s around the time that I hit the tarmac at the airport that I feel it.

The space, the flatness that seems to stretch out forever with a sense of limitless possibility, the clearness to the air.

Sydney me taking a gratuitous selfie on the rainbow checkered floor of Uniqlo Kids.

My shoulders relax, I knock a kilometre or two off my walking pace and the feeling of gentle unhurriedness in my soul overflow and wash into the thoughts of my mind as Sydney me takes a back seat for a bit.

Sure, I’m still up before the birds, waiting expectantly at the cafe down the road an hour before opening but the mornings are so beautiful in Perth right now and it’s a joy having so many hours in the day to do not much at all – which is the one thing I have on my to-do list for the day at the moment.

Perth has been and always will be deep, deep breaths for my soul.

Perth is my place for spending the better part of weekday mornings doing not much at all and not feeling a shred of guilt about it.

Its cyclist and pedestrian friendly paths have done wonders for my running pace.

The postcard perfect views from the foreshore might also have had something to do with it as well.  Things feel relatively effortless with the water lapping gently to one side of you and a few stately buildings between parkland on the other.

Seeing familiar symbols of life in Perth have brought a smile to my face and a wave of nostalgia to my heart.

Sprinklers.  I’d almost forgotten how essential and ubiquitous sprinklers are in Perth to maintain any semblance of a green lawn.  I’ve managed to run through the paths of quite a few sprinklers this week which would have been more fun if the weather had actually followed its script for summer.

The Brownes Dairy logo.  That cursive script and the whimsically dressed bovine spokesmodels on each carton bring me back to countless breakfasts and cooking adventures. 

Well, the breakfasts weren’t adventurous but the cooking often was and still is.  I made another Choc Ripple Cake while I was back and the adventure this time was not buying enough Crunchies for the whipped cream (which I also unfortunately overwhipped because I was trying to participate in a Perth besties WhatsApp while I was watching it).  So the final product was a combination of chopped Crunchie and a random bar of chocolate from a David JonesChristmas hamper.

Alls well that ends well.  The cream did work and I also discovered how you can sandwich the biscuits to both use up the entire packet (and hence have the perfect cake biscuit to cream filling ratio with each slice) and all the cream mixture.  I first made the cake sandwiching individual biscuits in a ‘snake’ or ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ (if you’re Master SSG) but I’ve had an epiphany and discovered that rows of 5 biscuits work even better.

I went to Scitech with Master SSG who treated me to an impromptu lesson in very basic geography…

before he went off to fish.

So much of the CBD has changed since my last visit but fortunately, my internal sushi train GPS got us to Jaws, one of Perth’s first sushi trains.

The original is still one of the best.

Ditto Chicken Treat, WA’s own roast chicken takeaway. 

It was a special moment introducing the next generation to Chicken Treat’s roast chicken dinners.  They serve crispy skinned chicken as well these days but I refuse to acknowledge or endorse this.

Other things that never change.

The weather laughing at the clothes I pack and forcing me to visit Uniqlo.  It was for warmer clothing this time.  It’s been an oddly cool summer so far in Perth.

Taking the time on holiday to do things I was meant to do back in Sydney.  Like replacing my broken ID card holder.  I was so excited to find that Officeworks stocks holders with portrait orientation.  So important to wear your ID right way up.

A premeditated visit to Kmart to see the sights like these rainbow shaped drink holders which aren’t quite sippy cups but look great because of this.

Also at Kmart, take-home packs of DIY slime.  Why am I paying to make my own slime, 2019?  Why!?!?!?

Lululemon was another stop on my shopping day trip through Perth.  But I have a legitimate excuse.  I had a discount voucher from participating in the Strava and Lululemon 40 80 Challenge.  You basically run either 40 or 80 kilometres over a fortnight to be eligible for the prize.  The launch year saw participants receive running geat but word got out fast so it’s been discount vouchers ever since.  But still, it was a great way for me to keep the momentum going into the new year.

Can you believe it’s almost the end of January already?  I like to think that the year only actually gets real on February 1….


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