Perth, Australia

the lonely city


Aussie lights from Ribalta
Dusk brings the skyscrapers of Perth's Central Business District to the fore.
semi-marsupial souvenir
City visitors are photographed next to a kangaroo statue in the vicinity of two city dwellers.
urban temple
Trinity Unity Church, one of several historic churches in Perth, clad in small bricks.
different but equal
Siahne Rogers and Channelle Rogers, twin sisters from Perth dressed and made up for a late-afternoon and evening outing in the ever-lively Perth.
London Fashion
The London Court arcade was built in 1937 by Claude de Bernales, a wealthy miner and financier. It had residential and commercial functions. Today, it is one of Perth's main attractions.
stretch time
Runners stretch atop Jacob's Ladder overlooking the Swam River estuary and the Indian Ocean.
anglican architecture
A classic British building opposite the Perth State Library, in a square that brings together many of the city's student youth.
Occasional photo
Friends are photographed next to the fence illustrated with historic Australian images.
Rotating Vertigo
Ferries Wheel Skyview at full throttle in front of Perth's CBD (Central Business District).
street scene
Passersby meet at an intersection.
church among companies
The church of Saint Andrew, in the heart of Perth's administrative center and in stark contrast to many other modern, high-rise buildings in the city.
Enlightened conviviality
Customers in a bar full of musical posters and paper lamps chat after a day of studying and working.
More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.

We find in Perth a cozy holiday atmosphere similar to the one we admire so much in Portugal.

We ended up staying there for almost a month, totaling one year long trip around the world. During this period, we were part of several lives.

Mike Roach had moved from Sydney, looking for a better-paying job raising funding for NGO projects. Newly arrived, he didn't know anyone and needed company.

We found in the couple Merlin Eden and Ditte Strebel a true marital mystery of the city. Merlin's parents were from Denmark and lived in this village on the south coast of Western Australia that was home to mostly ex-hippies and other marginal souls.

We've always struggled to believe in the coincidence but, as the story has been told, Merlin went on a holiday with his parents to Denmark and there he met the Danish Ditte, who bewitched with ease.

She decided to move to Australia to live there with her fiance. They bought a small house in one of Perth's dreamy neighborhoods, Mount Lawley, in the middle of garden villas, arranged among shady trees. Merlin spent his time in the office devoted to his multimedia animation projects.

Alone, for most of the day, Ditte was still looking for a job that would match her qualifications.

church among companies

The church of Saint Andrew, in the heart of the administrative center of the lonely city of Perth and in stark contrast to many other modern, high-rise buildings in the city.

All these characters had just arrived. All of them ended up overcoming the initial difficulties of adaptation and would soon share the famous perth host with millions of other newly migrated fellow citizens.

Australia's Opening to Immigrant Australians

Even if some of the descendants of the pioneer settlers continue to disagree with the over-openness of the Aussie nation, at one point the remote location of the big island and the vast desert domain of the interior were strong reasons the authorities had to address the obvious stagnation of the population. .

More than two centuries after the start of British colonization, the sixth largest country of the world it now has a little more than twice the population of Portugal (23.400.000), the 110th country, in terms of area.

These numbers, considered only acceptable, were only made possible by the intensive admission of emigrants with different origins. Perth, in particular, soon became aware of his forced retreat in Southwest Australia.

The capital of Western Australia is less than Timor, Singapore or from Jakarta than from Melbourne or Sydney. The closest city worthy of the name, Adelaide, is a modest 2104km away. No wonder, therefore, that Perth had to attract residents.

At the end of World War II, waves from dozens of European nationalities flocked in in search of a new southern life. Recently, the spectrum has broadened.

A new asian invasion has been consolidated as immigrants and temporary students from the Middle East and from countries like South Korea, China: Japan, India: VietnamThe Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Among others.

semi-marsupial souvenir

City visitors photograph themselves next to a kangaroo statue in close proximity to two residents of Perth, the lonely city.

And even some African countries - with emphasis on the South Africa, Somalia and Sudan – are now represented among the 1.6 million people who make Perth Australia's fourth largest city.

During a train journey from Mount Lawley towards the center or a short walk through its streets, we detect countless exotic and disparate visuals and the same amount of dialects.

Among the turbans, saris, slanted eyes and skins as black or blacker than that of the marginalized Aboriginal Noongar – who before the arrival of the Europeans were lords of the region – or at the table of countless ethnic restaurants, the genetic complexity of this one can easily be seen. melting pot but also the advantages with which the city holds you.

In southern summer, in the good Mediterranean style, the sun warms the Australian Southwest every day. And although the Freemantle Doctor is almost always blowing hard, maximum temperatures are often over 35ºC.

Coming from the outside, we soon realized the importance of warmth and leisure. We found the city to be a kind of economic miracle that Mike and Ditte were also determined to be part of.

Aussie lights from Ribalta

Dusk brings out the skyscrapers of Perth's Central Business District, Australia's lonely city.

The Pragmatic Productivity of Lone Perth

Each year, Perth's GDP grows significantly faster than the national average, but the city shows little sign of commitment. It is true that the mirrored skyscrapers of the CBD (Central Business District) rise well above the predominant stain of ground-floor houses.

In general, the population seems more concerned with relaxing and having fun than with producing and making money. As in other parts of Australia, shops and services do not open until nine in the morning.

London Fashion

The London Court arcade was built in 1937 by Claude de Bernales, a wealthy miner and financier. It had residential and commercial functions. Today, it is one of Perth's main attractions.

However, around four-thirty, the employees are already focused on ensuring a punctual closing, even if they interrupt customers' meals to do so, as they did to us more than once: “Sorry mate, it's time to go surfin'.

From the end of the afternoon, the shopping and service areas are deserted, with the exception of a few playful refuges where, as part of celebration for the recent stampede of jobs, sloppy executives collide countless mugs of beer.

Enlightened conviviality

Customers in a bar full of musical posters and paper lamps chat after a day of studying and working.

Bars and restaurants in the center and on the long Esplanade remain open, overlooking the blue waters of the Swan River and the yachts and speedboats where the luckiest heirs, entrepreneurs and speculators explore the Australian Indian coast.

After Work, the Inescapable Ritual of Sport and Well-Being

Even before the obligatory socializing, some residents have the habit of spending an hour or two on the nearest beaches or simply playing sports.

The banks of the Swan become an authentic lane shared by cyclists, athletes and skaters. Right next door, the Jacob Ladder (a stairway that cuts the way to the heights of Kings Park) is the challenge chosen by the most radicals, including the always in shape Ditte.

When we walk through it, in the middle of jogging rush hour and like other conventional users, we have difficulty reaching the top such is the amount of masochists that go up and down until exhaustion.

Kings Park's lawns and panoramic balconies are, for many, the reward that replaces Jacob's biblical heaven.

stretch time

Runners stretch atop Jacob's Ladder overlooking the Swam River estuary and the Indian Ocean.

With or without the contribution of sport, it is the general well-being of the population, in symbiosis with the financial health of the city, that makes The Economist magazine place Perth, year after year, in the Top Five worldwide for quality of urban life , something that also helps to attract thousands of new potential immigrants.

Australia and remote Perth have had the luxury of selecting them with exacting criteria.

Valletta, Malta

An ex-Humble Amazing Capital

At the time of its foundation, the Order of Knights Hospitaller called it "the most humble". Over the centuries, the title ceased to serve him. In 2018, Valletta was the tiniest European Capital of Culture ever and one of the most steeped in history and dazzling in memory.
Perth to Albany, Australia

Across the Far West of Australia

Few people worship evasion like the aussies. With southern summer in full swing and the weekend just around the corner, Perthians are taking refuge from the urban routine in the nation's southwest corner. For our part, without compromise, we explore endless Western Australia to its southern limit.
Sydney, Australia

From the Exile of Criminals to an Exemplary City

The first of the Australian colonies was built by exiled inmates. Today, Sydney's Aussies boast former convicts of their family tree and pride themselves on the cosmopolitan prosperity of the megalopolis they inhabit.
Couchsurfing (Part 1)

Mi Casa, Su Casa

In 2003, a new online community globalized an old landscape of hospitality, conviviality and interests. Today, Couchsurfing welcomes millions of travelers, but it shouldn't be taken lightly.
Houses

Homes Sweet Homes

Few species are more social and gregarious than humans. Man tends to emulate other homes sweet homes in the world. Some of these houses are impressive.
Melbourne, Australia

An "Asienated" Australia

Cultural capital aussie, Melbourne is also frequently voted the best quality of life city in the world. Nearly a million eastern emigrants took advantage of this immaculate welcome.
Discovering tassie, Part 1 - Hobart, Australia

Australia's Backdoor

Hobart, the capital of Tasmania and the southernmost of Australia, was colonized by thousands of convicts from England. Unsurprisingly, its population maintains a strong admiration for marginal ways of life.
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Perth, Australia

The Oceania Cowboys

Texas is on the other side of the world, but there is no shortage of cowboys in the country of koalas and kangaroos. Outback rodeos recreate the original version and 8 seconds lasts no less in the Australian Western.
Perth, Australia

Australia Day: In Honor of the Foundation, Mourning for Invasion

26/1 is a controversial date in Australia. While British settlers celebrate it with barbecues and lots of beer, Aborigines celebrate the fact that they haven't been completely wiped out.
Oslo, Norway

A Overcapitalized Capital

One of Norway's problems has been deciding how to invest the billions of euros from its record-breaking sovereign wealth fund. But even immoderate resources don't save Oslo from its social inconsistencies.
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Okavango Delta, Not all rivers reach the sea, Mokoros
Safari
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Not all rivers reach the sea

Third longest river in southern Africa, the Okavango rises in the Angolan Bié plateau and runs 1600km to the southeast. It gets lost in the Kalahari Desert where it irrigates a dazzling wetland teeming with wildlife.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Architecture & Design
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Adventure

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Ice cream, Moriones Festival, Marinduque, Philippines
Ceremonies and Festivities
Marinduque, Philippines

When the Romans Invade the Philippines

Even the Eastern Empire didn't get that far. In Holy Week, thousands of centurions seize Marinduque. There, the last days of Longinus, a legionary converted to Christianity, are re-enacted.
Islamic silhouettes
Cities

Istanbul, Turkey

Where East meets West, Turkey Seeks its Way

An emblematic and grandiose metropolis, Istanbul lives at a crossroads. As Turkey in general, divided between secularism and Islam, tradition and modernity, it still doesn't know which way to go

Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Meal
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Culture
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
4th of July Fireworks-Seward, Alaska, United States
Sport
Seward, Alaska

The Longest 4th of July

The independence of the United States is celebrated, in Seward, Alaska, in a modest way. Even so, the 4th of July and its celebration seem to have no end.
extraterrestrial mural, Wycliffe Wells, Australia
Traveling
Wycliffe Wells, Australia

Wycliffe Wells' Unsecret Files

Locals, UFO experts and visitors have been witnessing sightings around Wycliffe Wells for decades. Here, Roswell has never been an example and every new phenomenon is communicated to the world.
Meeting of the waters, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Ethnic
Manaus, Brazil

Meeting the Meeting of the Waters

The phenomenon is not unique, but in Manaus it has a special beauty and solemnity. At a certain point, the Negro and Solimões rivers converge on the same Amazonas bed, but instead of immediately mixing, both flows continue side by side. As we explore these parts of the Amazon, we witness the unusual confrontation of the Encontro das Águas.
Sunset, Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio

days like so many others

Dead Sea, Surface of Water, Lower Land, Israel, rest
History
Dead Sea, Israel

Afloat, in the Depths of the Earth

It is the lowest place on the surface of the planet and the scene of several biblical narratives. But the Dead Sea is also special because of the concentration of salt that makes life unfeasible but sustains those who bathe in it.
Early morning on the lake
Islands

Nantou, Taiwan

In the Heart of the Other China

Nantou is Taiwan's only province isolated from the Pacific Ocean. Those who discover the mountainous heart of this region today tend to agree with the Portuguese navigators who named Taiwan Formosa.

St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
Winter White
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Literature
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Nature
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Dunes of Bazaruto Island, Mozambique
Natural Parks
bazaruto, Mozambique

The Inverted Mirage of Mozambique

Just 30km off the East African coast, an unlikely but imposing erg rises out of the translucent sea. Bazaruto it houses landscapes and people who have lived apart for a long time. Whoever lands on this lush, sandy island soon finds himself in a storm of awe.
, Mexico, city of silver and gold, homes over tunnels
UNESCO World Heritage
Guanajuato, Mexico

The City that Shines in All Colors

During the XNUMXth century, it was the city that produced the most silver in the world and one of the most opulent in Mexico and colonial Spain. Several of its mines are still active, but the impressive wealth of Guanuajuato lies in the multicolored eccentricity of its history and secular heritage.
Earp brothers look-alikes and friend Doc Holliday in Tombstone, USA
Characters
tombstone, USA

Tombstone: the City Too Hard to Die

Silver veins discovered at the end of the XNUMXth century made Tombstone a prosperous and conflictive mining center on the frontier of the United States to Mexico. Lawrence Kasdan, Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner and other Hollywood directors and actors made famous the Earp brothers and the bloodthirsty duel of “OK Corral”. The Tombstone, which, over time, has claimed so many lives, is about to last.
view mount Teurafaatiu, Maupiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
Beaches
Maupiti, French Polynesia

A Society on the Margin

In the shadow of neighboring Bora Bora's near-global fame, Maupiti is remote, sparsely inhabited and even less developed. Its inhabitants feel abandoned but those who visit it are grateful for the abandonment.
Faithful light candles, Milarepa Grotto temple, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Religion
Annapurna Circuit: 9th Manang to Milarepa Cave, Nepal

A Walk between Acclimatization and Pilgrimage

In full Annapurna Circuit, we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). we still need acclimatize to the higher stretches that followed, we inaugurated an equally spiritual journey to a Nepalese cave of Milarepa (4000m), the refuge of a siddha (sage) and Buddhist saint.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Society
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Casario, uptown, Fianarantsoa, ​​Madagascar
Daily life
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar

The Malagasy City of Good Education

Fianarantsoa was founded in 1831 by Ranavalona Iª, a queen of the then predominant Merina ethnic group. Ranavalona Iª was seen by European contemporaries as isolationist, tyrant and cruel. The monarch's reputation aside, when we enter it, its old southern capital remains as the academic, intellectual and religious center of Madagascar.
Esteros del Iberá, Pantanal Argentina, Alligator
Wildlife
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.