Perth, also known as the city of lamps, a place I pick to escape reality for 10 days. Me, my friends with one of our teachers feel very excited to go there, everybody keep saying how fun it is to be there. It was proven right!

Curious much? Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

Late to bed, early to rise, wipe the sleep from our eyes, this part of one of my hundreds and thousand favorite songs keep playing in my head on that cold and chilly morning when I have to wake up by 5 in the morning. There is one and only one very important reason for me to be awake this early and that is Polo Crosse. I have to wake up super duper early so I can drive back to Perth with my buddy, to go camping in a Polo Crosse area. I know you all must wondering what in the name is Polo Crosse. Here’s what they told me about it, if you know La Crosse, it is basically La Crosse on a horse or the combination of Polo and La Crosse. Polo Crosse is a very common game to be played in WA and my buddy play really good.

   

            

The minute I arrive, my buddy’s friends already coming around and introduce themselves. And within the hour, we are talking like we know each other our whole life. They take me bushes walking and it is literally walking between bushes but it is totally worth is in the end because I go to see a species of a near endangered bird know as forest red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso). I can learn about the importance of friendship from this activity because if we don’t stay together we might get lost and it is hard to find the way back especially when it is dark.

During the night, I got to see the Milky Way, our galaxy and it was so stunning I became speechless. It was the most beautiful sky I had ever seen in years, I remember siting on the grass just to see it till I got sleepy. I know sometimes we may see this place and find no worth but it’s our little piece of heaven here on earth. In this kind of situation, you realized that you could recycle anything except time that is why time is precious; don’t let fear keep you from trying new stuff cause that well be a waste of time and opportunity.

After this super fun weekend, all of us with our buddy got a change to tour Margaret River region starting from Amaze’n where we got the change to play different kind of maze and have a tea time, then to Lake Cave, Margaret River Chocolate Factory which is a heaven for all chocolates and ice cream lovers I love their rum raisin. Last but not least the Sunflower Animal Farm where we can see kangaroos and other cute animas.

My favorite of all is the Lake Cave. Lake Cave represent wonderland or at least that’s what I though. I felt like Alice when she enter the new world, or the wonderland being awed and gawked with everything you see and want to fill your day exploring.  As I decent the stairs, I gaze up and see those karri trees that have been there since hundreds years ago that towering all of us from the floor of the sunken forest, before I enter the most beautiful limestone cave in WA. I enter the cave through an amazing doline- a large hole in earth’s surfaces. It has a beautiful pristine chamber deep underneath the earth and it took my breath away. A tranquil lake inside reflects enticing formation that will take your breath away. It is home to tons magnificent crystal decoration. It is “actively dripping” and has its own permanent lake hence its name.

The last day of our edutrip to Perth was the most memorable for me. Not because it was the closest to the present, no, but because that day was when we shall say our farewells to our buddies and with the foreign land. Thus, the day should properly be spent such that it shall be burned into our memories.

The morning was already memorable. Usually, during our stay in Margaret River, I woke up at seven, but that day I set my alarm for five o’clock to pack up and say goodbye to my wonderful homestay family—shivering all the while—and board the six o’clock bus to Perth.

Halfway down the road, we stopped for a potty break by the side of a lake. While bored friends played the swings or the see-saw, for me, to see birds flying in the cold morning breeze, above the rippling surface of the lake, maneuvering to search for breakfast was already enough.

After three hours in the bus, finally we ariived at our first destination: Elizabeth Quay, a pier or promenade just opened earlier this year. Finally we could stretch our legs again, while beholding a queerly-shaped Bell Tower, and taking pictures with our buddies in the park in front of it, chasing around ducks and seagulls.

Elizabeth Quay was indeed just opened, but it was apparent that it already became a top tourist attraction in Perth, judging from the amount of pairs that immortalized their time here with these locks. Perhaps it was the interesting tower and relaxing park that drew them and us, and which made our time here memorable.

Half an hour later, we moved to Hay Street, an open-air mall. While the others shopped (most were girls, after all), I contented myself to observe the atmosphere of this bustling city, in the warm day with cool breezes; clean unlike Jakarta.

First order of business: snacks. Me and my buddy went to the food court under Hay Street (apparently they don’t fear the flood as we Jakartans do) to buy a Subway. We ordered, sat, and chewed, until I saw this old man feeding his old man. Never before have I seen the desiccation of a son to his dad. Well, one more for the reflection task.

Hay Street was indeed bustling, even in the morning where many crossed the street in an orderly manner, so unlike Jakarta. The streets were already busy with cars bringing commuters to work. Speaking of work, thankfully enough, that day we were still unencumbered with amazing amounts of school work. Perhaps that was the last of such days.

Not everyone shopped or just walked. In a land where God is seemingly forgotten as a relic of the Dark Ages, someone giving out pamphlets about the Salvation seemed out of place. But this is a free nation, after all, so do as you will.

Sadly, as rich a capitalist nation Australia is, we still found perhaps half a dozen homeless guys, such as this man, playing a beautiful soft tune in his accordion to some who wanted to lend their ears, awaiting for their kindness.

Fortunately, the citizens of Perth were quite generous, both to beggars and volunteers. I was surprised by the amount of coins that clinked as people gave them… as long as those beggars and volunteers put on a good show. This person was surely interesting enough, dragging his bright blue piano through the middle of Hay Street, playing a tune for kids that come near.

Also in the middle of Hay Street was a corridor that led to another world: a medieval one. Strange, for the colonies there never experienced the Middle Ages. Even stranger still when I realized that those wooden facades seem out of place among towering skyscrapers. Perhaps those were the exact same thoughts of the people that browsed the rows of antique shops.

Surely, there were also some genuinely antique buildings in the city, such as this old tower that I saw just before we must return to the bus, standing on the opposite edge of Hay Street, soaring to the rippling clouds; the clouds which we shall leave underneath us as our plane heads for Jakarta.

Time flied. Ten days in the country of kangaroos, we have experienced. The bus took us to the airport to finish this little trip of a little corner of this desert of a country. The trip seemed to officially end as we said our farewells to our buddies that faithfully accompanied us, when some of us shed a tear. Surely, some chose to make a more unique and memorable farewell by breaking the rules: no riding on trolleys. Perhaps they were somehow still bored.

Where’s the good in goodbye? The answer is none but in the end no matter how much I hate it, I must say goodbye to all the new but amazingly kind people that I just meet. Even though there is no fair in farewell, these people will always have a special place in my heart and I’ll remember this night when I’m old and gray cause in the future this will be the good ol’ days. Cause this love is transcends and I’ve found them before so I’ll find them again and I’ll tell you that life’s just a blink so don’t think twice. This memory resurfaced as the plane climbed above those afternoon clouds which covered Perth, thirty thousand feet below and behind.

Oh well, we shall surely meet again.

“The colours will change but don’t lose your faith. Keep walking what you do, don’t say you wasn’t worth, all the pain and all the hurt you’re going through, and I’ll always be with you. The world ‘s just a place that we’re only passing through. Don’t say loving lost wasn’t worth the pain it cost you’re going through, cause I’ll take it all for you. Goodbye friend, this is not the end, lift up your head, somewhere we’ll meet again. Hold on to the moments we shared, those are the treasure that wont disappear. Goodbye friends.” –The Script

credits to Nathania Elfreda and Nathan Hartanto for sharing their experience.