what do you do?

1 may 2008

feel stressed. wake up late and tired and have lots of - argh! - work to do. this afternoon (”arvo”) gem asks me to make myself scarce as a nervous client is coming round. am glad  - it forces me to rest and chill out a bit. after being in holiday mode for three weeks, my to-do list is getting long again. turns out you can only hide out from the world for so long before it comes knocking at your door and dragging you out to play - or rather work - again.

calling my to-do list a “ta-da!” list isn’t making me feel as whimsical as i’d hoped, either.

2 may 2008

try to find somewhere that can make a  vegan meal at a local quay, hillary’s (where there are restaurants and shops etc) but we’re thwarted. end up at a restaurant called soda instead, where i have fish and chips and a nice hot choc. scribble a few postcards at home then get ready for bed. tomorrow will be my first foray into perth city centre, and i don’t know what to expect.

3 may 2008

my dad and i go into perth today. play “spot the multinova” - what they call speed cameras here, they have them somewhere different every weekend - and i WIN! woo. see a very impressive collection of year 12 (17/18-year olds) artwork at the art gallery of WA. some of it is so thought-provoking and humbling. the youth of today might actually be okay…

buy a catalogue to show my appreciation, plus a book called isms, which explains the different art movements and how they’re connected.

have lunch in perth library’s cafe and look in their secondhand shop. get yet another book, this one about the history of women in rock.

then we head across the bridge for a little look at the actual city. it’s another gorgeous sunny day, mid-to-high 20s, and people are wandering around or eating in outdoor cafes. it’s pretty, and not overcrowded. we go to a big borders bookshop, which i love, and i take photos of the books i most covet, some of which aren’t out in england.  i decide to come back and investigate the shopping options further on my own one day soon.

8 may 2008

go into perth on my own. i nearly miss the bus - go for an accidentally epic ramble and end up hell knows where. career round the corner to the bus stop about five seconds before the bus does, and manage to catch my connecting train.

i go back to borders and have a snack at their gloria jeans cafe. when the woman serving asks my name (so she knows who to call out - coffee shops don’t do this in the UK, by the way, they just yell “soy macchiato and a muffin!” or whatever, we’re too private to let strangers know our names) she thinks i say “claire”, and i can’t be bothered to correct her. i splurge on a couple of books, including candy girl. then i head to dymocks and buy another one. oops.

at a bag shop, i’m subjected to the customer service bordering on harassment that gem and my dad have warned me abut - i’m practically chased around the store and needless to say, i do not purchase a thing. i do eye up a kathy van zeeland i rarther like, though. i see sex and the city, the movie, is coming here on 5th june, and vow to come back then.

i’ve walked and walked and i completely knacker myself, but it’s a good day out, and nice to have struck out on my own (just like a proper traveller!) i sleep well.