From Perth to Broome

Well here I am in Broome. I’ve made it and now, in stark contrast to the blazing 40°C heat we’d been driving through, maybe just an hour down the West Coast, I’m now sat in prime monsoon territory. It’s the off season here, but I fly to Hobart, Tasmania tomorrow, so it’s no biggy as far as I’m concerned. It’s been a great ten days edging up to this point from Perth with a abundance of highlights for any of my travels let alone an Australian leg, that the almost constant smile that I’ve sporting has almost left fossilised imprints on my cheekbones! Well, that was until I watched the highlights of the Everton game. Before I found out that we still cannot score goals for love nor money I was jumping around as happily as one of those berries from the old Ribena adverts! It’s true. Well I guess I should dwell on those and focus more on the superlatives of the Ashes tour; yes indeed, now I’m smiling again!

Ok - Here’s my ten day tour up the West Coast for you:

02/12/10

With a whole day at my disposal, I woke at 6:30am from a favourable outcome of jetlag. Granted, I was still pretty tired, but I would far prefer to be awake at that hour than a later one. With a scheduled 6:30am departure time for the next day, this would certainly prove to be preferable. I carried on lying in bed until a more suitable hour for opening times, and then went in search of my pick up spot for the next day at the Perth Sightseeing Centre. This didn’t take long, and I confirmed my place. I was informed that I had a full bus to enjoy the company of and hoped I get a good crowd.

With the rest of the day at my disposal, I spent some time at the rather dull Museum of Western Australia, surrounded by screaming school children, and the slightly more impressive Art Gallery. Now there’s one for you, I’ve become a bit of a fan of Aboriginal art. I find it quite alluring with all the vibrancy of the colours, and the uniqueness of the characteristic style, however, I’m just not sure about how skilful it actually is. For example, the artist will call a painting something like Ngurrantinti Jila; Wati Ngintaka; or Mumluda (all made up names by myself) and invent a story to go with it. It might be something along the lines of an enormous snake that defended a territory before dying, who then settled as a newly formed cliff edge or some rock equivalent or something. I say ‘invent’, but that might be disrespectful. I believe some of the stories are genuine Aboriginal historic stories, but the trouble today is nobody can tell which are authentic and which are pure fabrication; I believe artists cash in massively on this fact. Besides all that, are they really all that talented or just ridiculously patient? I’m sure I could Paint big white splodges in close proximity to one another all over a large branch and call it a galaxy or something. Maybe that’s my future money maker…. first I have to invent my Aboriginal name though. With all this firmly passing through my untrustingly little mind, I observed people rather than paintings to amuse my immature self. I heard a couple of old ladies comment “Oh I can really see the story in this one.” OMG I was so tempted to cough into a fist whilst saying “Bullshit” in that childish manner we all did in younger years. Luckily I accepted that I’m now in my thirties and that kind of behaviour is just not on anymore unfortunately. It’s not like it’s one of those dot pictures you stare at blankly for a few minutes and all of a sudden you can make out images of say Bob Marley for crying out loud. Hell, I have issues with those things too, and have never said I can see who or whatever is supposed to become apparent with prolonged stares. For me, that is total crap; you can see whatever image you wish to see by staring into a cloudly sky with enough imagination, and I believe those paintings to be much the same thing. I’m definitely a sceptic, but certainly a fan (of Aboriginal art).

A quiet night and a early evening rebound of jetlag ended my day. I just hoped I’d be in for a brilliant trip to remember over the coming days. At £958 for ten days, you should expect so. I managed a whole trip around Iceland, flights, food, and drink for far less than that.