Ok, ok, ok I know we're writing this blog about two months after we've been in Perth but just bear with us and we'll get you updated on all of our goings on in Oz. There's no stopping us now we have a new netbook!

We landed down under on March 15th 11, flew through immigration and got reminded just what it was like in a 'normal' country….. Clean toilets (no squat toilets!), no tuk tuk's & no Asian guys screaming at you to stay at their hostel! Everything was nice and relaxed, got in a normal taxi without having to barter a price & off we went to Ben's house. It was such a shock en route to see streets that looked 'normal' to us, little corner newsagents & again no tuk tuks!! It was an even bigger shock when we got to Ben's & had to hand over $30 for a 15 minute journey, our first look at how expensive Oz is gonna be!!

We met the two Benedict's in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, two lovely guys. Big Ben offered us a place to stay when we met him way back in November, and then offered us again just before we flew to Oz, it's crazy how many people we've met have offered us to stay with them when we visit! We had the perfect time staying there & he totally looked after us. Feeding us, giving his lifts & even giving up his bedroom whilst he slept on the sofabed. Thank you Ben, we liked living on a street that reminded us of Ramsay Street!!! Oh & don't forget giving us water out of a tap, nowhere near as nice as Scottish water but felt amazing turning on the tap and being able to drink what came out of it. You have no idea how much you miss stuff like that!

Perth had had one of the hottest summers on record so when we arrived at the tail end it was hot hot, just how we like it. After topping up our tans for the last few weeks in Siem Reap, Cambodia we didn't want them fading any! Our first day in Oz didn't disappoint. Ben treated us to a lovely lunch at, The Royal, in a plush part of Perth looking onto part of the Swan River & what shows up?! Dolphins! Dolphins in a river, amazing!! They came right up to the edge of the water! Happy people we were!! :o)

After thinking we'd spend 3, maybe 4 days in Perth we ended up staying for 6 days. Perth is a pretty small city, a lot smaller than we thought it was going to be. We managed to walk around the actual city centre, or CBD as the Ozzies call city centres, in an hour or two. The rest of the time we jumped on the free tourist Cat bus to take us around the outer CBD…..thank god we didn't have to pay for anymore taxis!! There are loads of suburbs that have their own mini centres with shops & restaurants. It seems to be that all the cities in Oz are like that, so it's pretty cool that you don't have to venture into the centre every time you want to go out for a meal, or buy some new clothes. We ate in Maylands where Ben stays, drank in another area with little Ben & his Brazilian girlfriend Marianna & munched on some amazing Indian food in another area. Nom nom we love to eat & drink!

So we knew Oz was going to be expensive but man $20, i.e. £15, for two pints of cider is crazy!! We visited the gorgeous Kings Park one sunny day, thinking this will be a nice cheap day having a wonder around, taking some pics with our new fancy camera we bought in KL. Wrong!! During the summer months there is an outdoor cinema that I'd been dying to go to! $18 each for tickets, $10 each for beanbags to sit on, $30 for wine & $35 for a platter of food! It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't a crappy Ozzie film about caving!! The ducks that were wondering around our feet & the gorgeous stars above our heads kept us entertained when we got bored of the film though. It was a really really nice night. Being used to Asia & managing to get anything you want at any time of the day/night we never thought about how we were going get home when the film finished at 10pm. Kings Park is huge so it would have taken us about an hour to walk to the nearest street & even then we wouldn't have had a clue how to get home…..no tuk tuks here! In the end the lovely Ben came and rescued us and took us back to his for the compulsory glass of vino.

We managed to have a few good days that cost us zero, yay!! Spent one day visiting the museums & encountering our first drunk Aboriginal hanging around the street, shouting at any one that walked by. As the Ozzie's say if you see an Abo at the side of the ride, don't stop, just drive over him! We spent the Saturday having a drive out to Freemantle, well Ben driving us out to Freemantle, or Freo as everyone calls it in Perth. Absolutely loved it there, it kind of reminded us of Stonehaven but a bit more modern & a million times more sunnier!! We drove through Cottlesloe to get there, wow absolutely gorgeous beach with even more gorgeous beach houses looking onto it. Think we'll live there when we've made our millions down under! Actually just remembered this day didn't cost us zero, we booked our little camper van before heading out for the day, we now know that it was money well spent. Will tell you all more about that in the next few blogs though!

Our last day in Perth & of course we had to have a good old Ozzie bbq, definitely something the Australians do best! You've got the pick of where to bbq as there are free gas bbq's on every part of grass/parkland in Perth, actually in most of Oz. You wouldn't get that at home, within a few hours they'd be filthy & broken! Love how everything here is so clean & chilled out! We ended up picking a spot by the river so little Ben could put out his crabbing nets whilst we drank plenty of cold ciders & big Ben (with Dean helping) cooked the gorgeous food. Had a fabulous day living the typical Ozzie lifestyle!! Unfortunately no crabs, but fortunately for the boys Brazilian Marianna decided to go for a swim in the river & of course being Brazilian she had on a tiny thong bikini. The guy fishing on the pier about had a heart attack when she stripped off!! Had a relaxed night in Ben's with a few glasses of wine and got ourselves organised for picking up our Wicked Camper the following day……

Road Trip here we come!
Lots of Love
Chelle & Dean xxx