Thursday 25th July

Wow what a week it’s been!

Lots of fun, lots of stressful admin!

But the good news is my apartment sale completed on Friday!! 🎉🎉

The confirmation was delivered in typical Garden House style by 3 gorgeous women decked in rainbow sparkles and feathers singing an Eminem song!!! 🌈😍🌈! Bloody fabulous. ❤️

The stressful admin part came from now having to manage and protect the money, thus making lots of financial decisions! This is something I have a real aversion to. I understand why and where it stems from, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Finding & opening various accounts, online (another stressor for me 😫) was just horrible, I swore alot! Unfortunately it wasn’t something that could be done in advance. But, it’s done, the money is now safe and I can try to relax and enjoy the adventures to come.

Rebecca, Chris & I were in Perth for the weekend. This was planned to celebrate their wedding anniversary and fortuitously my apartment sale! 

Rebecca had planned a few things, an Art Show & a Light Show. 

I have never actually been into Perth city, I’ve driven through it a few times but not explored it. 

We had booked a lovely hotel near to the park that the light show was going to be in, this was also a shortish walk into the centre of Perth.

We arrived on Friday evening and spent the evening in the hotel for dinner (not great🫤) and celebratory Bubbles (great! 😁). 

We lucked out with the weather, it was a little grey initially but dry. 

It felt so weird walking into the centre of a city on a Saturday and seeing barely any cars and very few people. We arrived in the CBD (central business district) around 10am and it was dead. Quite a few shops and cafes were closed, no cars on the roads…..strange! 

We had a little mooch around and then found a lovely Italian Cafe for some breakfast. 

The centre of the city is pretty compact and easy to navigate, once you’ve got your bearings. 

We made our way to the Art Gallery of Western Australia for the art show. 

The show we were going to see was ‘Time . Rone’ 

This was a 12 room multi – sensory immersive experience. 

“Time has worn away much, and dust has settled over the detritus. But through the peeling paint and cracked ceilings, life persists. Faces search out for something, for all of eternity. Ghostly illusions from the past meld with mirrors into the future. For now, they’re all here with us, frozen in time” 

I found the installation incredible. The level of detail was insane. Every room was different and conjured different thoughts and feelings. 

One of the rooms was an old office typing pool, seeing all of the tiny details in the desk drawers, the handbags and personal items left behind was amazing. 

Another room was an old Pharmacy, again the detail was off the chart. This room in particular I found extremely emotional, because lying abandoned on the counter was an old bottle of perm lotion and a couple of perm rollers, these were such a vivid reminder of my mum it floored me. 

If it ever makes its way to somewhere near you, or you are in Perth you should definitely go and experience it.

The gallery also had an exhibition of year 12 students work. OMG! Unbelievable level of talent, such diverse mediums and subject matter. I was so impressed by all of the work. 

Up on roof was some fabulous sculptures, a great Henry Moore. Seeing the sculptures with a backdrop of new and old buildings and construction equipment was stunning. My lovely friend Colin would have loved it. 

Following the gallery we had to pop into Tiffany’s as my watch needed a new battery, I was hoping they could fix it there and then but sadly it has to be sent away, and won’t be back before I leave Australia, so I am now watchless, which I hate. 

I was impressed that I managed to exit the shop without being tempted by all of the sparkly things, well I was tempted, obviously, but I was strong 💪 and left empty handed. 

We grabbed some lunch then walked down to the Quay, which was very pretty, I loved the light on all the glass buildings. 

We walked from here back to our hotel. 

At this point my feet had been hurting for a while! I have a thing with the tendons on top of my foot, which seem to ‘Twang’ every now and then, which really hurts. 

I knew we had the light show in the park to walk around. 

Luckily we opted to get a taxi from the hotel to the park entrance (it was a fair way and uphill) Again we were so lucky as we dodged a shower and by the time we started walking around the park, it was dry, clear and with a beautiful full moon. 🌝 

‘Lightscape’ is another fabulous immersive installation set in the grounds of Kings Park. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect. You follow a path through the park and the installations. It was very pretty and the views of Perth were beautiful. I hadn’t factored in the fact that the damp air meant that the trees and park smelt wonderful. Making it a real sensory experience.

There was one part called ‘Meadow of lights’ which was indeed a meadow covered in small colour changing lights the music that accompanied this was so beautiful and moving. I loved it. 

The whole experience was great, there was even a little kiosk halfway round selling Prosecco! Happy days. 

The day was finished off with a gorgeous meal at ‘Long Chim’ a fabulous Thai restaurant. 

By the time we got back to the hotel we had walked over 12 miles, which I think is pretty impressive, my feet were less impressed! 

We all had a fantastic time in Perth, unfortunately for my beautiful Rebecca the weekend ended with her feeling very poorly. A visit to A & E discovered that she has a large cyst on her ovary and is now waiting to have it operated on. She is OK but it is going to be horrible to leave her. 

The rest of the week has been spent chilling with Rebecca, Chris was in Perth for work, getting my hair done and organising myself for my departure today!! 

I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter of my adventure. 

I think I’ll like Kuala Lumpur, I do love a city, they are interesting and full of history, culture and things to do and see. I love just walking around absorbing it all. 

Thats it for now. 😍

I think I’ve only managed 1 book this week! To be fair I have been reading travel blogs and banking terms & conditions!! 

Profile K By Helen Field. I enjoyed it, creepy but OK. 

Have a great day.