Perth

Before we knew it we were back on a plane again, this time from Heathrow to Perth (Australia)! My Mum kindly drove us the airport, we wished her goodbye after a fantastic stay.

First stop was Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and the flight flew by. It turns out that if you jam 41,950km of travel into 3 months, a 7 hour plane journey feels a walk to the park… providing you have one nearby (within a 7 hour walk).

Hatti and I had a brief conversation on landing in KUL, we decided that by no means have we travelled far enough in the last three months, so we opted to try and drive from Perth to Melbourne. This short 3,500km drive would host some fairly isolated stretches, including the fabled Nullarbor, and three time zones…

First we would have to find a steed to carry us. Although I suggested both bikes and horses, H. insisted that we use a (preferably) air conditioned car.

Fortunately we were seated beside a friendly Australian, and local to Perth, on our second flight. I explained our intentions and he recommended visiting car auctions to find a suitable car at a reasonable price!

We arrive into Perth early, around 2am, and checked into our hotel. The hotel was basecamp for finding the car, and hopefully exploring as much of Perth as we could!

Day 1. The long flight and the jet-lag called for a strong cup of coffee and some warming grub on the side. We stumbled across La Veen, a coffee ‘n brunch house located in the CBD.

We continued to walk around the Perth’s CBD, although securing a car was playing on our minds, we were keen to plod around town… even if we had to have a Gumtree (online local classified ads) tab open on our phone’s internet browsers.

As we approached Elizabeth Quay we noticed that a group had gathered beside the Spanda sculpture. Keen to see what all the fuss was about, we approached the hoard of people.

A few hours of wandering later we looped back to our hotel, via the exquisite fire station pictured below, and as is customary on arriving to a new city we sought out a pizza vendor to quench the permanent craving.

Nothing on the American pizza quantities, fortunately, but enjoyed none the less. We proceeded the pizza with a walk around Northbridge, an inner suburb surrounded by railway line. Little did we know that a parade was scheduled to pass through the area while we were there, Perth’s annual Pride Parade tied in nicely with Australia’s recent postal vote results which supported same-sex marriage.

Suitably Perth(ed) out, and probably still pretty jet lagged, we returned to the hotel to try and sleep it off!

Day 2 in Perth was again filled with frantic car searching and further exploration. Arriving at the weekend had curtailed our vehicle acquiring game slightly as many of the second hand car garages and auto auction houses were closed. Gumtree had yet to yield any firm results… but there was a possible. We were to view it tomorrow, its location… classified.

We concluded the day with a trip to Lord of the Fries, a veggie fast food restaurant that has taken Australia by storm. First brought to our attention by Hayden, we have been fond of the chain of franchises ever since. After a quick gorge on grub we set about planning how we would approach the following day, a Monday, the hope to buy a car within the next 24 hours so we could embark on the epic journey of crossing Australia.

Day 3. The day we bought a car (spoiler).

We started the day as we had the previous days, a little anxious… but upon checking my phone I had received the long awaited reply from a Gumtree seller that we could view his van. We scrambled to the location, a short 1 hour walk from the hotel in Subiaco, a suburb to the West of Perth’s CBD.

The seller, Peter (his actual name to protect his identity), was in his mid to late sixties (assumption) and operated out of a retirement home nestled in the green, leafy and fairly upmarket suburb. He clarified that his bungalow was a daytime refuge for cooking, watching TV etc. before spending the night in his 1992, 3 door Astra. The van had previously acted as his night-time abode, but he claimed to get a more comfortable sleep in the hatchback, hence the sale.

Our first intention was to get a camper van or similar, sling a mattress into the back, and pootle from campsite to campsite as we ventured along the coast.

Peter, a graduate of French literature, kindly offered that we took the van for a test drive. We took him up on the offer as we were curious to see how it performed. Before starting her up, we took a quick look at the engine. Mounted directly below the passenger seat, we noted that this could potentially heat the cab on long journeys. Functioning air conditioning was not on offer in this 1990 model of the Ford Econovan.

We started the engine, with the choke out… gradually feeding it back into place as the engine ambled into motion. The steering wheel was mounted directly above the front axle, a novel driving possition for me, and after many a turn we rounded the first corner. The smell of (possibly) un-catalysed fuel began to filter into the cab, we breathed shallowly to avoid asphyxiation. Depressing the clutch, I struggled with the gear stick into second. The van bumbled along happily, expressing the contours of the road with a firm lurch delicately transmitted from axle to seat. Carefully reversing the van back into its resting place, to avoid breaking the newly replaced rear window on a projecting air conditioning unit fixed to the outside of Peter’s bungalow, we switched off the ignition and dismounted. I was in love.

Although Peter’s van had the potential to fulfil our intention, Hatti was rightfully nervous about its mechanical reliability and comfort considering the length of the drive we had ahead. Despite the fact that it sat perfectly in our conservative price range, we decided to explore the market and see if we could get a slightly newer car for a similar price.

Although I was a little hesitant to leave the character brimming van behind, as we left an English couple had arrived to view the engineering masterpiece, we had located a local car auction located a couple kilometres from our location. This particular auction house was called Aberdeen Auto… how fitting.

Arriving at the Aberdeen Auto our eyes jumped to a Saab 9-5 estate, sat amongst the other cars ready for auction that Wednesday. We approached it slowly, glancing at each other excitedly. The estate would be suitable for stretching out after a long day on the road, while offering plenty of comfort and unrivalled Swedish performance. Miraculously the price was good, and after a quick conversation with one of the auctioneers the price was even better! After a test drive, and a little bit of giggling, we returned to purchase our first ever car. A first edition Saab 95 estate!

This is no longer a travel blog, but a Saab appreciation society following a particular car as it journeys around Australia.

Filled with excitement, having finally found our new car, we drove to Kings Park and Botanical Garden which dominates the area West of Perth’s CBD.

As we circled back around we stumbled upon the DNA tower, which boasted great views on high.

We jumped back in our new ride, drive back to the hotel and parked up for the night. Content with our progress of the day we ventured out to a local burger restaurant for a mushroom and halloumi burger!

See you all soon as we embark on the epic road trip across Aus!

James