Another month, another year in fact and another holiday for Becca :-) You might argue that this Aussie adventure is one long holiday but I have had to go to work too you know!!!

So this time it's Western Australia and on route to the airport again (Sydney Domestic Airport - my second home) the nervous waiting game commences...

1. The nervous smiles to the airport check in attendant whilst you await the numbers to flash up on the scales and decide your fate... 7.4kg + 7.3kg....Get In!! I'm getting pretty good at this packing thing now.

2. Will this seat beside me remain empty? Please please please stay empty... b*****!! On the plus side, normal man (I think, though of course at that stage too early to tell) late 30's / early 40's, thankfully English speaking, without child and non smelly.. Winner!

3. Just hurry up and take off already so I can put my headphones in to drown out the loud mouth French folk to my left!!

Wow... 5 hours to fly from Sydney to Perth. 5 hours and I'm still in the same country!!! Yikes it's hot in Perth...

Another three days with the Pommie folk, yay! A spot of sighseeing in Freemantle with Emma, Darran and Merryn, a trip to Little Creatures (not as good as Melbourne's I should add) and a yummy BBQ aussie style before finally crashing after the longest day in history. Amazing how a 3 hour time difference can completely screw your body clock.

Road trip....... We three girls head north to the Pinnacles Desert. WA is a far cry from the busy East coast. You can drive for an hour and not see another car, very New Zealand like. The Pinnacles themselves were a tranquil retreat and absolutely stunning at sunset. A near miss with a Kangeroo at dusk was a little scary but we all live to tell the tale... phew! Our road trip took us to Cervantes, where the world stops at 8pm. I'm positive we were the only three people in the town, strange to see a fairground in a town with no people. We had to make our own entertainment that night and a human game of spot the difference was clearly the way to do it.

On route back to Perth the following day we stopped for a spot of sand boarding at Lancelin. The crazy hillbilly man we hired the boards from failed to tell us quite how difficult a sport this is. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm a giant wussy pants that was the issue. Not a bit like snowboarding I tell you and the heat was insane. You sure get sand in places you didn't even know existed! A quick dip in the sea at Ledge point cooled us down a treat. Wild emu's and a sandy cyclone were the highlights of the trip back to Fremantle where we drank our way through a stunning sunset at the pickled fig.

Our last Pommie day together took us to Rottnest Island. A highlight for me, simply stunning... Merryn and I thought it was a great idea to hire a bike, a quick way to travel around the island you might think (as did we)... holy moly what a sweat fest. By the end of the day and only 15 odd kilometres later we were wrecked beyond beleif, with saddle soreness and dripping in sweat. salmon Bay was a real treat though and my favourite spot on the island... beautiful!

A sad goodbye to the English folk before leg 2 of my WA adventure... onwards to Ireland! At least it felt like we were in Ireland as for 3 days spent with Merryn's friend in North Perth we only met Irish folk. He was a great host and I'm positive we drank our body weight in booze in those 3 days but it's ok, I sweat all those calories right back off again (with much moaning about the heat in the process - apologies for that Merryn.. I'm from England you see, we don't have heat there). Scarborough beach was lovely and a personal guitar dedication was a nice touch :-) If only one day I'll be able to play that tune and it sound like that!!

Bright and early on Monday morning we board the Adventure Tours bus for what I hoped would be another fun filled adventure. It certainly was that... 5 days, 20 people, far more minced beef than I ever want to see again but another amazing trip in WA.

Day 1: (the highlights) Bussleton, home to the world's longest wooden jetty at 2km's. Wine tasting at the Margaret River winery, yummy. Mouth to mouth resussitation required following a trip down the Ngilgi cave, surely they could put a tad more oxygen in there? Onwards to Margaret River town that's sadly been so damaged by bush fire that it looks more like sand dunes than forest as it once was. A spot of hottie surfer tottie spotting at Privelly Surf Beach and a quick trip to the lighthouse and waterwheel before arriving in Augusta for the night.

Day 2: A 60 metre climb up the Bicentennial tree (ok so I only watched the others do it) and on the the valley of the Giants tree top walk. A dip in the sea and apot of sunbathing at Greens Pool and Elephant Cove before our final stop at the Natural Bridge / The Gap for sunset. That night we found ourselves at Albany Backpackers... what a treat!!! With eery hand painted wall murials of goblins and dragons and egg box filled pillows, it didn't go down as the comfyest night in history that's for sure. An adventure all the same.

Day 3: A quick trip to see the Endeavor and the Amity (ships don't you know) and onwards for a walk to Middleton Beach, home to the scary looking monitor lizards and then on to Porongurup National Park for an uphill sweat fuelled trek to the top of the mountain (ok so it was only a hill.. whatever). More wine tasting before arriving in Esperance at the YHA. The showers provided much entertainment that night!!!

Day 4: Cape Le Grande National park and further mouth to mouth required after the scramble to the top of frenchman's Peak. On to Lucky Bay. Hellfire Bay and Le grande Beach before taking the Great Ocean Drive back to Esperance via Pink lake, 9 Mile Beach (bet you can't guess how long that is), twilight Cove and then we went to see Sammy the Sealion, my ultimate highlight of the tour. Sammy lives under the pier at Esperance and comes to greet every visitor with a show... so cute!!!

Day 5: Hippo's Yawn and Wave Rock. Wave Rock is quite a sight to be seen... Sure it's just a rock but you have to see it to beleive it. The flies got right on my t*** that day (even more moaning)!! Express bus trip / sleep fest back to Perth to mark the end of our tour. More goodbyes and more drinks... You just have to!!

One more day in Perth to mooch about and see the city although all I wanted to do was lay naked under the aircon unit in our room... sooooooooooooo hot!!!!

Western Australia was an amazing adventure and so many memories I made there. It's still hard to beleive that you can travel for 5 hours by plane and still be in the same country but it's honestly like a whole different world when you compare one side of the country from the other. I feel so lucky that I've been able to experience so much in this awesome country. There are so many hidden treasures tucked away here.

Next stop New Zealand... Til then... Over and out.xx