I’ve been planning to take a gap year (or two) for many years. Australia has this great visa called the Work and Holiday Visa which allows people from other countries (under the age of 31) to work & live in Australia for up to a year. If you do 88 days of “seasonal work,” you can get that visa extended for a second year. And then again for a third.

However, the Australian borders were closed for just about two years and it was seeming like it was out of the question. I am 30, and the clock was ticking.

And yet, it ended up working out. My visa was granted in February and I flew out to Australia on September 1st, 2022.

The flight was long. Thirteen hours from Chicago to Doha, Qatar. An eight hour layover, and then another eleven hours until I arrived in Perth, Western Australia. I ended up splurging on a “lounge” in the Doha Airport and I’m glad I did. I was able to take a shower, charge my phone, eat food that was included in the lounge package, etc.

It is now September 11th and I’ve been in Australia just over a week.

Perth is a very cool city. Its not too large, but it has just enough of a city vibe. Public transit within the downtown area is free. There are drinking fountains all over, as well as public restrooms which makes it perfect for exploring.

Kings Park is just outside the downtown area, and is larger than Central Park in New York City. It is one of the largest city parks in the world allegedly. It has 50% of Western Australia’s flora, which I learned while entering the Kings Park Botanical Garden.

That’s where I spent my first day – marveling at colorful birds that seemed so foreign to me, a person coming from Chicago. Black cockatoos, lorikeets, magpies, kookaburras. So many gorgeous, colorful, noisy, interesting looking birds.

I hiked around the trails for majority of the day and then went on to check out the Central Business District (CBD).

Near the end of my day, I went over to Heirisson Island to check out the kangaroo sanctuary. It was such a treat to see kangaroos outside of a zoo for the first time in my life. That first day, I only saw three. One was munching on some vegetation and the other two were resting. Since then, I’ve seen WAY more kangaroos around Perth. I’ve seen them hopping around (so adorable), with joeys in their pouches, and even “rooting,” which is an Australian slang for intercourse.

Since then, I’ve gotten quite acquainted with the CBD. I also went to Yanchep National Park with a friend, down to Rockingham to check out the beaches and some coastal hiking trails, and also Fremantle.

Yanchep has some great hiking trails as well as a koala sanctuary. Unfortunately, there are no “wild” koalas left in Western Australia so these guys have been brought in from the east coast. They were hiding up in the trees, resting.

Rockingham has Point Peron nearby, which was once used as a military base during WWII. It was cool to see the old fortress (which I forgot to take a picture of) and an old cannon. Near Rockingham is Penguin Island, where you can pay a small fee to take a five minute ferry and observe little penguins. It opens on September 15th, so I’ll have to check it out soon.

Fremantle is an artsy little town with New Orleans vibes. I went down there to meet with a whale watching company. I love whales, so to be able to work on a whale watching tour would be an incredible opportunity to me. They allowed me to join a tour and observe how it all goes down. I chatted with majority of the crew members and I think I left a good impression. We’ll see. I hope to hear back in a week or so.

I’ve also had some really delicious food since I’ve been here. Indian, Thai, Korean, Turkish. It has been amazing. I’ve eaten out every day since I’ve been here.

So far, I’m really liking Perth and its surrounding areas. I must admit, seeing the cars drive on the “other” side of the road, and opposite steering wheels really has thrown me for a loop. I never seem to remember which way to look before crossing the street. People also walk on the left side of the sidewalk here. There is a lot to get used to, but I’m sure I’ll adapt.

Anyway, I think that’s all for now!

I’m going to try to blog weekly to keep everyone updated, so stay tuned 🙂