Such a long way to Perth

The two things I remember vividly about my time living in Perth in 2004 were: the time zone difference and the long flights involved. I remember getting a phone call at 4.30am from someone on the East Coast (note the capitalization) who hadn’t realised there was a three hour time difference during the summer months, […]

Preparing for the Sunday night Red Eye

It’s Sunday evening. It’s been a warm day in Perth. I’m sitting on the balcony of the hotel I’ve been staying in. I hope the people on the cruise boat down below don’t mind that I’m sitting here, wearing just shorts, and sipping on a glass of wine. Because frankly, the last week has been […]

International Food Tour of Perth

You know how when you meet someone and they introduce themselves, but within five minutes you’ve completely forgotten their name? That’s how it was with one of the blokes on the International Food Tour of Perth which I undertook today. Thankfully, I knew he was the father of Justin, our tour guide. We shared a […]

The Return Of Pork Boy

I am not entirely sure why, but I’ve struggled to find BBQ Pork in Perth. I’ve been to quite a few Asian eateries and have looked through the menu without any sign of BBQ pork. Lots of seafood. But no pork. I have specifically asked at a couple of places, only to be told, “No, […]

Three Hours

I took my first work-related phone call from the Eastern States at about seven o’clock this morning. Even though it was in my diary, and I’d planned for it, I was still fairly bleary eyed. Still, I think I managed to make sense of it all. I think I also made sense when I took […]

Boy and Bear

Although for a while I was thinking “Boy & Bear” would be a good name for our team for the pop trivia night at Yaya’s, in the end it was probably best to go with “Le coqs sportif”. “Boy & Bear”, of course is the name of a highly successful Australian pop group at the […]

All is quiet on New Year’s Day

As I caught the train to Il Lido, I couldn’t help but notice the number of men wearing ties and women wearing fascinators. “Is this Melbourne Cup Day?”, I thought to myself, wondering if, wearing a nice new shirt and a reasonably expensive pair of jeans was somewhat under-dressed for New Year’s Eve in Perth. […]

A little bit of Sweden in Perth

It’s mid-afternoon in Perth, and I’m back in my room with the fan on maximum rotation trying to cool down after an interesting and busy day. I started the day off with a coffee, a smoked salmon baguette, and an apple strudel at a Swedish cafe. Even in Perth, there’s a little bit of Sweden, […]

The Motorbike Frog

Last night I encountered the sight and sound of the Motorbike Frog which apparently is the “most commonly encountered frog” in the South-West of Western Australia. I was in a backyard at Fremantle along with two colleagues and their respective partners, and we were have a really, really lovely time eating a wonderful meal, drinking […]