Wednesday, March 25, 2009

O Bunbury Town

I spent parts of 5 days, all of 3 days, and 4 nights in the town of Bunbury last week. It is a major industrial city by WA standards. This is a bit of hyperbole on its own, but it is worth noting that a town (Cape residents or visitors think Hyannis-sized) whose suburbs total 100,000 residents is considered one of the biggest cities in the state. It is for reasons such as this that Perth is considered the most isolated city in the world.

Bunbury was neat. Seeing dolphins was a priority for my friend Marissa and certainly a point of interest for myself. However, on the day we set out to see dolphins, we were struck by the worst rain that our humble host, Leon Kneebone, described as the most he's seen in years. We still went to a dolphin museum and drank coffee, but there were no dolphin sightings. I should see them, though, in a few weeks when I set out for the outback and the great Northwest.



This is Back Beach in Bunbury, located in the back of the beach. We went there on a cold day by Aussie standards but it proved to be a nice experience. The water was very fun - some of the waves were massive and most were at least good for a bump around. There were also some really cool areas on the beach. For some reason I became transfixed with this spot, a little inlet into a jetty that waves crashed into save for said inlet, which drew the water in. I took several pictures of this.




We also climbed a look out tower and were, thus, able to look out at the town below us. Bunbury is slow, as may be gathered by its aforementioned small size in spite of its city status. First I thought Sydney was slow, but I hadn't seen anything until I saw Perth, and then I thought Perth was slow, and then I realized I didn't know slow until I saw Bunbury. And I still don't know slow because in a few weeks I'll be rolling through small towns built upon red sand with a general store and a pub and a few houses. That'll be slow.








After spending days seeing the town and going to the beach, nights were spent watching movies and relaxing and enjoying living in a house with a family. There was barbecue to be eaten and relaxing to be done and dogs to share existence with, which is always a positive experience. We watched a great Aussie TV series on DVD (I was shocked to find they exist at last) called Summer Heights High that I first thought would be very gimmicky and potentially dumb because it features one guy playing three different characters in a Mockumentary about an Aussie high school. However, it is very well done and actually gets a little bit heavy while remaining hilarious throughout. There was only one season as it was cancelled for its edginess and it's only 8 episodes so if you're looking for something to do and watch and have 4 hours to kill I definitely recommend watching it online.


I call this one Kneebone and The Orb.


Bowser

and


Tara


Leon's father, henceforth Papa Kneebone, distills his own burboun and it is delicious.


We returned back to Perth Saturday evening. This was a strange experience. It felt like coming home. It was bizarre and a bit surreal for the place I had spent months and months waiting to visit had come already to feel like home. It was a good thing and I liked it.

I leave you with the Bunbury town anthem, written by a remarkable individual. Fare thee well until next time.

O Bunbury Town O Bunbury Town
Well I've been up and I've been down
And when I get to Bunbury Town
I shall not ever wear a frown

3 comments:

  1. OMG Adam Summer Heights is Amazing! My Aussie friends told me about it and then they brought it here to the states on HBO, haha funniest show ever did not know thats why it was canceled! Looks like your having fun ...enjoy.

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  2. I heard that the reason Summer Heights High only went one season was because Chris Lilley doesn't do more than one season of anything. He had a previous show called "We Can Be Heroes," which had the character of Ja'mie in it. I think that he refuses to do multiple seasons because he doesn't want the characters, or situations to wear out and drag on. Or maybe I'm just full of shit?

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  3. Quite possible, just basing my reasoning on what a friend told me, I haven't researched it. In any case, I'd like to think that my belief that the show rules stands regardless.

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