Thursday 5 February 2009

Going on a holiday...


This afternoon my twin sister and I are off to Perth for the weekend! Perth is the capital of Western Australia, and is on the west coast, down towards the south. Australia being the massive country that it is means that to get here by plane will take us about 4 hours...and when we do arrive we will be 2 hours behind Melbourne time.

Australia is such a big country that small distances for us are long distances for others. I remember when I was working in London my boss was looking for someone to make a day trip to York which is in the north of England. All my English colleagues were complaining that they did not want to travel so far...I on the other hand jumped at the chance to get paid to take a first class train to York and back in one day. I was on an express train that only took about 3 hours (one way - no time at all!) they paid for my lunch and let me start late the next day to say thanks...plus I missed a whole day at work and got to read my book on the train!

When bel ragazzo and I first got together in Rome we popped over to London for a night since the flights were cheap and would only take a few hours. Our friends all thought we were mad.

Growing up in a big country like Australia you just get used to travelling great distances without giving it a second thought.

8 comments:

Rosa said...

Please take lots of pics. I've always wanted to go there, but as you say, from Melbourne its quite a distance!
Italians always ask me if they should hire a car to drive to Alice Springs from Melbourne!

Anonymous said...

Have a wonderful trip and I'm with Scintilla, please take pics, I am curious as well because my Nonno went from Calabria to Perth with some of his cousins to try to look for work in the '50s...some of his cousins stayed there but he ended up settling here in Boston, MA...but the stories he tells (and some pics we do still have) about his time in Perth are forever with me! :) Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

I'm from Canada and I'm use to long distance travel too. It takes over two hours just to visit my parents and we live on an island! So traveling within Western Europe is such a breeze! When I was in Italy, I met a woman from London who thought a two hour flight was ghastly!

Monika said...

Please give my home town a kiss for me!! Enjoy your holiday!

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Hi Scintilla,
I have no pics of my own as we were without camera...but shall post some anyway! Perth was so lovely...the beaches amazing.

Hi Carla,
As above photos will be from others, not me but imagine...you could have been Australian had your nonno stayed!

Hi Ms Violetta,
So you are with me on the distance things!

Hi Monika,
You come from a very lovely part of Australia. I had a great time in Perth.

Anonymous said...

i feel the same way about living in america - hopping in the car for a 8 hour roadtrip for 3 days wouldn't even require extra thought. my husband is from england and driving from london to manchester (a 2 1/2 hr. drive) is like torturous to them!

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Hi We are never full,
The English just hate having to travel don't they! I knew so many people in London who had never been to France as it was just too far...You could get there within 2 hours on the express train!

Anonymous said...

very nice blog! to those who may want to follow her steps to Rome I suggest to start planning your trip on vacation rentals in rome where you can choose your accommodation and book it instantly. and all hotel rooms and apartments offer a free internet connection...ciao