To Broome
I stayed in Perth for about a week. I will post about that when I return there.
On the advice of my journalist mate who lived in Perth for some time , I decided to fly to Broome. I guess his advice was obvious: “if you are in West Australia with heaps of time, see as much as you can”.
Off to Broome
I took the transit bus out to the airport. Perth Airport has 4 terminals. That is one less than London Heathrow. I am not sure how many airlines fly out of Perth, but I am certain it is far less than the number that fly from LHR.
Machine tells me to Speak to a Human
I went to check into QANTAS flight to Broome. The whole process is designed to be fully automated. I put my QANTAS card into the machine. It told me to “seek the advice of a customer service officer”. I was confused. The only humans in sight were bearded blokes with tattoos and dressed in Hi Viz work clothes.
Suddenly a woman in a QANTAS uniform appeared. She said (not asked) what is your problem !!! I replied: “are you a customer service officer”? She said yes. I told her the machine told me to “seek your advice”.
She took my card and banged it into the machine. She looked at me at said”you haven’t been ticketed”.
I told her, “I have been ticketed many times, but obviously not by you” .
She told me, “I will have to call the ticketing office”.
I said, “call whoever you want, I just want to check in and board the plane”.
She chatted away to someone and pressed button on the machine. After sometime she gave me a piece of paper and walked me to the automated baggage check in machine. There she pressed more buttons and put my bag on the conveyer belt.
Don’t love you automation.
Lots of Planes
As I said above, Perth is a big airport. There are 4 terminals and there seem to be lots of gates with ‘air bridges’.
However, most of the planes are out on the tarmac and you have to get to them by bus. The ‘fly in, fly out’ system of the mining industry and construction work has the place working at capacity and more.
The bus to the plane to the plane, took longer than most Sydney or London commuter rides ( a big of hyperbole there).
Short Flight to Broome
It only took 3 hours to fly to Broome. Thank god for the tail wind and the fact the flight was only travelling over 60% of the State.
Hot as All F#@&K
Broome is a seriously hot place.
I walked from the airport to the Hostel. I had the room to myself and put the fan on to the highest speed. I thought the roof would lift off.
Cable Beach
In the morning, took the local bus out to Cable Beach. This is one of the ‘iconic’ Australian beaches.
I ended up staying there until sunset. This involved the camel ride and ‘the sunset’. Check out the Flickr photos.
Flickr Link
billrider2013 