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Monday, May 9, 2011
Travel to Barrow Island
The flights to Barrow depart at the Perth domestic airport, but at a different terminal than all the others. As best I could tell at 5am, the terminal I needed was not connected by bus or footpath and a car or taxi was necessary to get there. The airline was Cobham National Jet, a charter company that caters to government and industry. They seemed to be the only operator for this small terminal.
The security process was fairly normal with the exception of a rigorous quarantine check. Quarantine doesn’t refer to a segregated area for sick people or travelers, but it is instead a check for materials that can contaminate Barrow Island. Since Barrow is classified as a nature reserve, measures need to be taken to not introduce non-native plants, insects, animals, etc to the island. This process involves scrubbing all dirt and debris from shoes, checking clothing and pockets for seeds or dirt, and screening for any food or plant material before passing through security. I had to do some serious scrubbing of my sandals because of some imbedded sand. I think for future travels to the island, I’ll just leave running shoes and sandals there.
The terminal seemed to fill in as the time passed. We weren’t waiting long when they began boarding. I’m not sure what model of plane we took, but it was a 4 engine jet with 20 rows of 5 seats. The interior was worn and I would guess the plane was 15 years old from the dated styling. Two flight attendants were on board and made it seem like a regular flight with their safety speech at the beginning and drink service during the flight. The plane was two thirds full and I had a window seat with no one next to me.
The security process was fairly normal with the exception of a rigorous quarantine check. Quarantine doesn’t refer to a segregated area for sick people or travelers, but it is instead a check for materials that can contaminate Barrow Island. Since Barrow is classified as a nature reserve, measures need to be taken to not introduce non-native plants, insects, animals, etc to the island. This process involves scrubbing all dirt and debris from shoes, checking clothing and pockets for seeds or dirt, and screening for any food or plant material before passing through security. I had to do some serious scrubbing of my sandals because of some imbedded sand. I think for future travels to the island, I’ll just leave running shoes and sandals there.
The terminal seemed to fill in as the time passed. We weren’t waiting long when they began boarding. I’m not sure what model of plane we took, but it was a 4 engine jet with 20 rows of 5 seats. The interior was worn and I would guess the plane was 15 years old from the dated styling. Two flight attendants were on board and made it seem like a regular flight with their safety speech at the beginning and drink service during the flight. The plane was two thirds full and I had a window seat with no one next to me.
The flight was 2 hours long heading north across the West Australian outback. As we left Perth, the land quickly turned a barren red with small odd shrubs here and there. From an aerial view, you could see that a 4x4 was necessary to navigate this land, but it didn’t seem like you’d see much on the drive. The island is 30 km off the coast and we had already begun our decent before crossing water.
The small airport at Barrow (BWB – it actually has a name) has one runway and waiting room. We de-boarded down steps directly to the runway and picked up our bag from a cart. The morning sun felt nice with the cool ocean breeze while I looked around and took my first impression of the island. I couldn’t see much from where we were, but this would be my home for the next month
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The Generous Squire
I’ve been wandering along different paths from my hotel trying to become more familiar with the city, and to look for a place to grab a pint and dinner each night. This night, I came past a pub with outdoor seating that looked popular. After I saw the name, The Generous Squire, I knew this was the place to stop; James Squire was the brand of an amber ale I had earlier in the week.
The Generous Squire was a microbrewery and restaurant; my favorite kind of place to go. As I mentioned, they had plenty of outdoor seating and spacious second story. Strangely, they didn’t have any seats at the bar, but after watching the client – bartender interactions for a while, I noticed that this was a clever way to keep the bar clear and provide a path for the thirsty to quickly get a drink without having to shout and reach over barstools.
The food and beer was a good as I hoped. I ordered a sample tray and a steak sandwich. Their IPA and porter were my favorites. I can’t wait to visit again…even if the beers were $10/pint and $24 for a 6-pack!
Kings Park
A woman that I was sitting next to in orientation mentioned one morning that I should go up to Kings Park. This park was just to the west of the central business district and I had looked at it before on google maps while checking out the rest of the city area. I was looking for place to jog after work, so I picked a few streets out that made up a fairly direct route and decided that I’d follow them as soon as I could change into shorts and sneakers.
The jog over started easily enough; I got to cross an elevated pedestrian bridge over one of the major highways through the city. The bridge stood out to me for both the nice view it had of downtown, and also the lack of high railing, fencing, or other stout barrier to keep people on the bridge. The jog started to get interesting after I crossed the pedestrian bridge and caught the first glimpse of the hill in front of me. Mount St, the name of the road, should have tipped me off. It wasn’t particularly long, but it was pretty steep and I was able to slowly climb to the top.
I followed along the path after huffing up the hill and I ran smack into the reason why this park is so popular; the elevated views it offers of downtown Perth are really stunning. There were several lookout spots which allowed for unobstructed views of the traffic, people, buildings, and Swan River. I didn’t have my camera that day, but I came back the next to capture the scene.
Kings Park is the largest inner city park in the world, besting Central Park by over half a square kilometer. There are several war memorials in the park to pay tribute to Australian solders lost in WWI and II. There are also nature trails and botanical gardens on the far side of the park that I didn’t have time to explore before the sun started setting.
On the way back to the hotel, before my controlled descent back down Mount St, I noticed a number of people congregating at the end of a short dead-end, Cliff St. I jogged over to investigate and found that the street led to set of stairs called Jacobs Ladder. People were using the 242 step stairway down to Mounts Bay Road as exercise climbing up and down!
The jog over started easily enough; I got to cross an elevated pedestrian bridge over one of the major highways through the city. The bridge stood out to me for both the nice view it had of downtown, and also the lack of high railing, fencing, or other stout barrier to keep people on the bridge. The jog started to get interesting after I crossed the pedestrian bridge and caught the first glimpse of the hill in front of me. Mount St, the name of the road, should have tipped me off. It wasn’t particularly long, but it was pretty steep and I was able to slowly climb to the top.
I followed along the path after huffing up the hill and I ran smack into the reason why this park is so popular; the elevated views it offers of downtown Perth are really stunning. There were several lookout spots which allowed for unobstructed views of the traffic, people, buildings, and Swan River. I didn’t have my camera that day, but I came back the next to capture the scene.
Kings Park is the largest inner city park in the world, besting Central Park by over half a square kilometer. There are several war memorials in the park to pay tribute to Australian solders lost in WWI and II. There are also nature trails and botanical gardens on the far side of the park that I didn’t have time to explore before the sun started setting.
On the way back to the hotel, before my controlled descent back down Mount St, I noticed a number of people congregating at the end of a short dead-end, Cliff St. I jogged over to investigate and found that the street led to set of stairs called Jacobs Ladder. People were using the 242 step stairway down to Mounts Bay Road as exercise climbing up and down!
Lamb
Lamb has been one of my favorite meals for some time now. I enjoy it prepared every which way I’ve had it: sliced on gyros, cooked in stews, roasted, curried, and especially loin chops cooked medium rare. Usually, if a restaurant has lamb somewhere on the menu, I’m all over it. This should tell you that the following is probably not coincidence, but rather the focused trail of a carnivore
Since I’ve left home, I’ve eaten a ridiculous amount of lamb. Between blindly stumbling on it at restaurants and scouting out menus ahead of time, I’ve eaten it almost every night for dinner. I mentioned earlier that the Qantas flight from LA to Sydney had lamb chops for dinner. Then, the first night I spent in Perth, I found the Belgian Beer Café and its Grilled lamb cutlets. Conveniently, my hotel had a steakhouse on the first floor that served lamb chops (some of the best I’ve ever had, which explains why I ate there twice). And an Irish bar that I found in Perth, Durty Nelly’s, had a pretty solid lamb curry.
I thought my path of carnage was over when I left Perth, but to my surprise, the dinner service at Barrow Island has been dishing out lamb at least 3x per week! Their menu changes between chops, leg roasts, curries, mustard glazed, etc. I’ll admit that I’ve eased off on the portion sizes I’ve been serving myself, but even with all the availability, I still can’t turn it down when I see it.
Since I’ve left home, I’ve eaten a ridiculous amount of lamb. Between blindly stumbling on it at restaurants and scouting out menus ahead of time, I’ve eaten it almost every night for dinner. I mentioned earlier that the Qantas flight from LA to Sydney had lamb chops for dinner. Then, the first night I spent in Perth, I found the Belgian Beer Café and its Grilled lamb cutlets. Conveniently, my hotel had a steakhouse on the first floor that served lamb chops (some of the best I’ve ever had, which explains why I ate there twice). And an Irish bar that I found in Perth, Durty Nelly’s, had a pretty solid lamb curry.
I thought my path of carnage was over when I left Perth, but to my surprise, the dinner service at Barrow Island has been dishing out lamb at least 3x per week! Their menu changes between chops, leg roasts, curries, mustard glazed, etc. I’ll admit that I’ve eased off on the portion sizes I’ve been serving myself, but even with all the availability, I still can’t turn it down when I see it.
Perth
It’s always exciting visiting a new city for the first time. The anticipation builds for me when I first see it from the distance, either by plane or car or boat. I wonder if the people are friendly, is it clean, will I be able to find my way around, is it safe, will I like it….. For Perth, the answer was a confident yes.
My first view of Perth came during the cab ride over from the airport. I couldn’t see much on the plane because we didn’t cross the city when coming over from Sydney. But the route my cab driver took brought us along the Swan River and straight in the central business district. Skyscrapers were congested into a pretty tight area, but everything looked like it was new. The architecture was modern and the condition of all the buildings looked good. I think this all particularly stood out to me since I’ve gotten used to the abandoned buildings and blown out windows that dot the New Orleans skyline. Even all the lights, sidewalks, roads and signs looked new. I later found out that this city was much smaller and quieter a decade ago, but the boom of mining and oil & gas projects have driven the city upwards in size and cost.
I was warned about the cost of living in Perth. Goods are a bit more expensive than I’m used to, but someone that lives in NYC or San Francisco might not be surprised. I also think the cost is affected by the weak American dollar, which currently exchanges about $1 US for a $1.05 AUS. I’ve been told that was much lower a few years ago, more around 1 to 0.70. Even so, beers, dinners, coffees, even Apple products are all more expensive than the equivalent US goods. I understand that cars are also much more expensive. Gasoline costs an equivalent of about $6 per gallon US; that prob explains why there are so many people using bicycles.
My time in Perth was short, but I got a brief sample of the culture and vibe of the city. I’m also building a to do list when I have more time there…I didn’t even get to put my feet in the Indian Ocean yet!
Flight
My day of departure arrived quickly and I was about to take off on the longest ‘trip’ I’ve ever been on. My destination, Barrow Island, WA (via Perth), was nearly on the other side of the world. I would fly on 4 different planes and cross the international dateline, effectively leaping 24 hours into the future. My safety and comfort would be in the hands of American Airlines and Qantas.
American Airlines would take care of my domestic travel, New Orleans to Dallas to LA. Company policy states that flights over 6 hours would be flown in business class. Over 6 hours applied for the whole trip, so I got to fly first class domestically also. The nicest thing about flying in first class was the glass that the drinks came in, rather than the usual plastic cups. While this is not big deal at all, it stuck out in my mind because I was so used to the small, plastic, difficult to hold cups that it was weird holding glass on a plane…weird and kind of nice. The flight to Dallas was too short to do anything but grab a drink, but the flight to LA included dinner service. I’ve flown first class several times in the past, but I don’t recall flying during regular meal times. Dinner was an edible piece of chicken and a small salad followed by an ice cream sundae – not too bad!
I had a few hours when I got to LA and decided to try getting into the American Airlines lounge, the ‘Admirals Club.’ I had heard that a business class ticket would allow access…it did, with two drink passes. The lounge was big with areas to do some quiet work, a bar, showers, tv lounge, tables, and internet café. I stayed in the lounge for a while, and then caught a train over to the international terminal.
The terminal was packed. It seemed like there were several flights lining up to leave at the same time and these big planes that fly internationally hold so many people that the crowd it created was almost claustrophobic. Accidentally, I walked right into the 'business class' line for Qantas and was able to get right on the plane. My plane was an A380 a fairly new Airbus double-decker that has separate jet ways for the two levels. The plane was really massive in person and was very refined and modern on the inside. The top deck was business class, premium economy, and some economy seats. The bottom deck, connected by staircases in the front and back was first class and economy.
The business class seats really made the flight bearable. They were roomy and folded pretty much flat to sleep on. There was space in the aisles and plenty of bathrooms onboard.
By the time everyone loaded, we took off around 11pm. I wanted to stay up a while to start adjusting my schedule. I wasn't hungry, but they had rack of lamb on the menu so I had to try it, and it was actually pretty good. It was served with an asparagus salad and some red wine. Dinner was followed by a chocolate cake, and even though it was around midnight, I couldn't say no....to the cake or the cognac.
The entertainment system on the A380 was nice; they had large 10" touch screens and plenty of movies and TV shows on demand. I watched a movie after dinner and fell asleep around 1am LA time.
I was able to sleep for a good 7 hours. I woke up and walked around for about an hour. They were serving breakfast in a few more hours, so I watched another movie. I tried to read a little bit, but my slight headache made reading unpleasant. Breakfast was a nice omelet and some veggies. I flipped through some magazines after eating.
We landed and deplaned around 7am, which was 30 min late. I’m glad I booked the 10am flight to Perth rather than the 8am one because I wouldn't have made it. To get through customs, I had to show my passport to an agent, then go pick up my bags and get in a line for quarantine (where they check bags for food, mud, dirt, illegal items). Qantas gave all the business class an express pass. After I got my bags, the first agent in the quarantine line asked me some questions and then sent me down to the end towards a yellow door. I wasn’t sure what to expect here since not many people were going through it with me, but it turned out to be a bypass for quarantine and I got to skip the whole line saving probably an hour. My next task was to take a bus from the international terminal to the domestic. I had to recheck my bags and go through security again, but that was a fairly quick process. There was another business lounge in Sydney to use. It's pretty similar to the one in LA…I guess they're all similar. I took a shower and munched a little bit before heading over to my gate.
The flight to Perth was in business class also. They served salad for lunch and I had a glass of wine to go with it. I stayed awake for all of the flight since I was trying to adjust to the time change (13 hrs). I found my bags shortly after landing and walked outside to a nice sunny day. The line for cabs was short, so I was soon on my way to the hotel. I had been told that it’s customary to ride up front with the cab driver, so up front I rode on the way to the city!
American Airlines would take care of my domestic travel, New Orleans to Dallas to LA. Company policy states that flights over 6 hours would be flown in business class. Over 6 hours applied for the whole trip, so I got to fly first class domestically also. The nicest thing about flying in first class was the glass that the drinks came in, rather than the usual plastic cups. While this is not big deal at all, it stuck out in my mind because I was so used to the small, plastic, difficult to hold cups that it was weird holding glass on a plane…weird and kind of nice. The flight to Dallas was too short to do anything but grab a drink, but the flight to LA included dinner service. I’ve flown first class several times in the past, but I don’t recall flying during regular meal times. Dinner was an edible piece of chicken and a small salad followed by an ice cream sundae – not too bad!
I had a few hours when I got to LA and decided to try getting into the American Airlines lounge, the ‘Admirals Club.’ I had heard that a business class ticket would allow access…it did, with two drink passes. The lounge was big with areas to do some quiet work, a bar, showers, tv lounge, tables, and internet café. I stayed in the lounge for a while, and then caught a train over to the international terminal.
The terminal was packed. It seemed like there were several flights lining up to leave at the same time and these big planes that fly internationally hold so many people that the crowd it created was almost claustrophobic. Accidentally, I walked right into the 'business class' line for Qantas and was able to get right on the plane. My plane was an A380 a fairly new Airbus double-decker that has separate jet ways for the two levels. The plane was really massive in person and was very refined and modern on the inside. The top deck was business class, premium economy, and some economy seats. The bottom deck, connected by staircases in the front and back was first class and economy.
The business class seats really made the flight bearable. They were roomy and folded pretty much flat to sleep on. There was space in the aisles and plenty of bathrooms onboard.
By the time everyone loaded, we took off around 11pm. I wanted to stay up a while to start adjusting my schedule. I wasn't hungry, but they had rack of lamb on the menu so I had to try it, and it was actually pretty good. It was served with an asparagus salad and some red wine. Dinner was followed by a chocolate cake, and even though it was around midnight, I couldn't say no....to the cake or the cognac.
The entertainment system on the A380 was nice; they had large 10" touch screens and plenty of movies and TV shows on demand. I watched a movie after dinner and fell asleep around 1am LA time.
I was able to sleep for a good 7 hours. I woke up and walked around for about an hour. They were serving breakfast in a few more hours, so I watched another movie. I tried to read a little bit, but my slight headache made reading unpleasant. Breakfast was a nice omelet and some veggies. I flipped through some magazines after eating.
We landed and deplaned around 7am, which was 30 min late. I’m glad I booked the 10am flight to Perth rather than the 8am one because I wouldn't have made it. To get through customs, I had to show my passport to an agent, then go pick up my bags and get in a line for quarantine (where they check bags for food, mud, dirt, illegal items). Qantas gave all the business class an express pass. After I got my bags, the first agent in the quarantine line asked me some questions and then sent me down to the end towards a yellow door. I wasn’t sure what to expect here since not many people were going through it with me, but it turned out to be a bypass for quarantine and I got to skip the whole line saving probably an hour. My next task was to take a bus from the international terminal to the domestic. I had to recheck my bags and go through security again, but that was a fairly quick process. There was another business lounge in Sydney to use. It's pretty similar to the one in LA…I guess they're all similar. I took a shower and munched a little bit before heading over to my gate.
The flight to Perth was in business class also. They served salad for lunch and I had a glass of wine to go with it. I stayed awake for all of the flight since I was trying to adjust to the time change (13 hrs). I found my bags shortly after landing and walked outside to a nice sunny day. The line for cabs was short, so I was soon on my way to the hotel. I had been told that it’s customary to ride up front with the cab driver, so up front I rode on the way to the city!
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