A SA view of Perth

Our introduction to Perth came in the form of strong winds the last few km into the airport. After being buffered around for quite a time we began the decent to land, wheels out slower, slower, slower, when suddenly full thrust and up again. Not this time mate wind too strong, time for the scenic air tour. So around we went again.

From the air Perth is this thin sliver of coastal green surrounded by desert. Literally the last fences in town being the separation between the great out there and civilization. Outside the main town area are the plots, called lifestyles here, where everything is a neat rectangle usually with two or more rusty cars at the back of the "lifestyle".

On the ground, (apart from the +40km winds when we landed) the first things you notice is NO LITTER. no people loitering around and no mini-buses hurtling around with zero respect for road laws. Traffic seems high volumes but with good planned traffic circles there is little congestion. Cycle tracks abound next to freeways with their own lane and on major routes the parking and bike lanes are semi-combined so unlike Durban's attempt at a bike lane the bikes and traffic keep to separate lanes.

Perth is very similar to Capetown in weather, soils, vegetation types and even gentle rolling hills (take away table mountain and what's left could easily be Perth). Except of coarse Perth has a decent commuter system. Center of the freeway is the trains. Then 2 or 3 lanes for cars, then grass and fence, a 2 lane bike path and in some areas more grass followed by pavement for slow bikes and pedestrians.

Perth has strict municipal laws limiting the height of buildings to 2 stories except within a small CBD area, this has resulted in dense housing where the houses are very close together and yet cover a large area. The Perth mega city is approximately 100km long and is home to about 1.2 million people. There are plans to allow buildings to go higher than the 2 story limit for new buildings plans near to railway stops.

The people are very friendly and go out there way to be helpful. Bus drivers, train security and even the ferry operator who told us that the competition has a latter ferry. Unheard of in SA. The lack of worry regarding security has to be seen to be believed. It's safe walking on the streets late at night. Roads are lit. Litter is non existent. Houses have no fences. Burglar guards are almost non-existent, even bicycles are sometimes left unlocked in the street.

Australia is very first world without the consumerism of America. Apart from the twang in the speech one gets the feeling that these people are like us. America was different, one could sense the underlying "move over, next customer PLEASE" in every shop. Here there is a genuine feeling that people want to help.

The one big disadvantage is DO NOT CONVERT PRICES into South African Rant! It's easier when paying to compare to coke prices. A train/bus to town is the price of 1 coke. A ferry/museum/meal 4 cokes. If you are earning dollars most things should be equivalent to about half the SA value. Houses slightly more expensive, card dirt cheap.

Seemed like forever to get to Perth but in reality we were waiting at Durban and OR for about 4 hrs and flight times only 9hrs (plus half an hr circling Perth). But then attempting to sleep on a plane where SAA runs out of night masks is not conducive to fitful sleep. We landed and went out to lunch with the family, alas all I wanted was to sleep, so not much to report there :-)