Shopping in Perth's CBD

Manda writes:

The alarm clock sounded at 7.30am this morning and, begrudgingly, I peered out of the curtains to see a grey and rainy day. Sightseeing was definitely a no-no today which only meant one thing - another half hour lie-in! As I dozed in and out of sleep, I was vaguely aware of some music playing outside. Was it opera that I could hear? Sure enough, it was and every five minutes or so I could hear a lady in one of the cabins opposite breaking out into operatic song. She'd sing a few bars and would stop almost straight away. It was as if she knew she shouldn't be singing (the walls are thin in a caravan park cabin!) but couldn't stop herself. So this continued on and off until such time that I gave up on my slumber. Considering the disturbance, I didn't wake up grouchy with the Maria Callas impersonator - she was pretty good actually!

Since it was raining, we took a trip to the shopping district of Perth's CBD. Having not been in a built-up area for a while, shopping malls and, in particular, food courts are always a nice treat. After wandering around the surprisingly sleepy centre aimlessly for several hours, it was time for lunch. We followed our noses to the Thai counter in one of these food courts and ordered some very tasty green curry - just getting our taste buds ready for the South East Asia leg of our journey.

As well as putting up for-sale notices for Ethel around the city, we had also placed ads in two of the local papers, so we called in at a newsagent to see if our ads went in to the latest issues. All the details were present and correct - we just have to sit tight now and wait to see what happens ...

We hadn't intended to do any sightseeing but found a tourist spot right in the centre of the main shopping street. We'd noticed London Court yesterday, stopping only briefly to admire the clock tower at the front, but today we walked through the archway to take a better look. To our surprise, we found a little piece of England! London Court is a lovely thoroughfare with Tudor-style boutiques on either side. For a short while, it felt like we'd been transported back in time to somewhere like Stratford-Upon-Avon in the UK. It was very pretty and quaint. I bet the coffee shop sells Devonshire teas too!

The thoroughfare by London Court, off Hay Street Mall in Perth's CBD.

On the way back to the caravan park, we stopped off at the Centro Shopping Mall to pick up some essentials. We spotted another Pets Paradise store and, like many others, were instantly drawn to the cute puppies in the window. There were some Schitzus and Maltese crosses biting playfully at each other's ears, and tucked away in a corner was a cute Jack Russell pup fast asleep. On closer examination, the pup had a very fat belly. "That doesn't look normal; there must be something wrong with that one," I heard a mother explain to her young son. This pup's belly was probably two-thirds the proportion of its actual size. Slightly confused, we left the pup and the growing audience and went to pick up some groceries.

Before we made tracks for the campsite, we decided to take one final look at the cute pup. As we approached the store, we noticed that a sign had been put up on the window - obviously as a result of the increasing number of enquiries about the pup's well being. The sign read: "My belly is fat as I have had a big lunch and I am a small dog. Thanks for your concern. From The Jack Russell." Meanwhile, the pup was sleeping off his lunch oblivious to all the drama around him. Perhaps he had just eaten but what did he eat? A cow?!