Dec 29

Bright sunny warm day with a very refreshing breeze. Post-season relaxation.
Walked about town with CW, had lunch, shopped, stopped for a cappuccino. Read a New York Times article about the end of Polaroid film.
Dec 28 - 8.11km, 29 - 8.73km.
Sidewalks relatively clear and a pleasant walking day.
Storms tomorrow.

Dec 27

Dec 21 - 4.64km, 22 - 7.05km, 23 - 16.73km, 24 - 5.23km, 25 - 5.23km, 26 - 7.98km, 27 - 5.99km.

Walking in the snow and ice over the early winter secular break. There was a sudden warm up and a big melt but another big storm is expected.

Dec 20

Back in Peterborough. Walked about 15 km in Perth and airports on the 14-15 of Dec. Mostly in Airports it seems. I don't know why I keep expecting flying to have some element of pleasure in it. Maybe for those at the front of the plane.
Much different walking experience back here than in Perth of course. Snow and ice underfoot. Sidewalks covered with heaps of snow makes walking on the road unavoidable.
Dec 16 - 6.20km, 17 - 6.35km, 18 - 9.00km, 19 - 9.14km, 20 - 13.64km. the kms add up when shoveling snow.

Dec 14

Today was an odd day to say the least. Got up early and packed up, checked out of my accomodations and prepared to leave Australia. Only walked about 6-8 km. Wandering.
Realized at dinner time that departure times and arrival times weren't matching up. Missed my flight - big trauma. I'll be walking in airports for a while.
On the bright side - saw big flocks of green parrots in the palm trees outside the airport.

Dec 13

Cancelled the idea of a test walk to the airport - too hot. Booked the airporter for tomorrow. Today I strolled back up to Kings Park and walked through the bush area and the botanical gardens. 16.05km total.
Saw more birds today, green backed parrots, gullahs, lorikeets etc., although the park was surprisingly quiet. No people in the bush area and there had been a large brush fire - judging from the signs posting an award for information leading to the arrest of vandals I assume it was not a natural fire. Very interesting plants of Western Australia in the Botanical grdn. Remarkable lawns, I don't know the type of grass used but it is very flat, green and doesn't seem to need much water.

Dec 12

Took it easy today, went to the museum and did some shopping. As a result only walked 11.35km. The days have become very hot - 30-35 degrees with intense sun. I'm trying to walk from shadow to shadow. Seeing this roo made me think it would be wise to take it easy for my last couple of days here. The Christmas season is building to a pitch here, unusual for me because it's summer weather. Considering a test walk to the airport today.

Dec 11

Long walk today - 23.85km. Hot sun alternating with cold wind. Walked out to East Perth to a small private art museum and then along the Swan river all the way around to kings Park in West Perth. Then back up through town to North Perth and on to Northbridge.
Mostly high-end urban renewal neighbourhoods along the river, although there is parkland between the waterfront highway and water for a good distance.

Dec 10

Rainy today, spent the day dodging in and out of dry sanctuary. Walked 13.06km despite the weather though. It was sort of pleasant to be out of the sun for a day. I went back to the Western Australian Art Gallery and discovered a wing that i hadn't seen before. Spent more time with the Indigenous Art Award show - remarkable work. Also spent some more time at the Perth Institute for Contemporary Art.
Perth is a city marked by barriers to walking. Highways, bridges, train tracks, rivers. It would be easy to spend the entire time in one small part of the city. Today I'm planning to go to the rivers edge and see where it leads.

Dec 9

13.33 km walked while negotiating a city divided in two by rail and highway systems. North and South communities very different.

Dec 8

-
Although I had planned a quiet day after my 37 km yesterday, I still managed to walk 11.5km. I'm in Northbridge, a great multi-ethnic neighbourhood in Perth.

Dec 7

Walked around Rottnest island today, all around the perimeter for a total of about 35km. Lots of sun, breeze and Quokkas (a small marsupial of the wallaby family). There are no cars on the island which made for a very pleasant walking experience. There are busses, but the drivers are respectful of cyclists and walkers, although I only met one other walker - most people were on cycles.

Dec 6

Starting from the port area walked out toward the suburbs, 16.56km total. The burbs seem to be an international plague. The bright spot was a cemetery with an award winning architect designed mausoleum - quite a remarkable space. As for the rest - aside from interesting residential architecture the burbs seemed like burbs.

Back at the backpackers, Jimmy Hendrix is playing loudly and there is much shrieking by young women and incomprehensible yelling by young men.

Dec 2 - 5

Not doing as much walking as anticipated. The conference interfered with my walking schedule.
Dec. 2 -6.59km, 3 - 5.85km, 4 - 4.28km, 5 - 16.48km.
Fremantle has a concentrated core around the waterfront and docks with a large and sprawling suburb. Walking tends to be most attractive along the waterfront and there is much of it, but as is usual with industrial port cities a lot of the waterfront is inaccessible.

However, as a consolation I have been discovering the pleasures of Fremantle's many different craft beers and Margaret River Wine.