We had a litte panic on the plane coming into the country, as we had marked just about every box on the customs declaration form - we had shells, wooden items, muddy boots, had been near a river in the last 30 days and so on. We were certain that we were going to have to empty all our luggage at customs but when we arrived there and showed the women our card she pointed us to a scanner and conveyor belt - surely this was wrong!! Slightly shocked we had our luggage scanned, were asked what kind of mud we had on our boots and were welcomed into Australia, whilst behind us were rows and rows of desks where half the planes passengers were unpacking their suitcases!!!

In Singapore airport (whilst I was making full use of the free computers) David was chatting with a lovely Australian man called Phillip, an ex policeman who is now a horticultarist. As we emerged into the arrivals hall Phillip appeared and asked if we wanted a lift into Perth - how nice are Australians and we've only been here 5 minutes. Phillip kindly drove us right up to the door of our hostel for no charge chatting all the way about life in Western Australia (WA). His daughter is currently an exchange student in Brazil and they have a Dutch boy staying with them.

Our accommodation in Perth is called Governor Robinsons and is really quite smart. When you are travelling you lose all concept of time particularly in SE Asia which has a 24/7 culture so it came as a bit of a shock to us when we realised that we had arrived in Perth during the easter weekend when many things were closed! It also came as a bit of a shock when we went for a drink in the evening and David was refused entry because he was wearing flip flops and not shoes - we are learning fast!

Perth really is quite an attractive city and the Lonely Planet has a walking tour for you to do by way of introduction. It has a few old buildings but really is a developing city so has a modern skyline. The walking tour takes you up some very steep steps called Jacobs Ladder to Kings Park which is a beautiful area with phenomenal views of the city. As it was Sunday the park was full of families having picnics it all looked so civiised with chairs, tables and hampers. The apartments around the park looked really flash so I think this must be 'the' area to live in.

Whilst in Perth we have frequented Woolworths quite a few times - unlike its UK namesake the Australian Woolworths is a thriving Supermarket!

Close to Perth is a town called Freemantle which has quite a bit of history so we decided to hop on a train and have a look around. Unfortunately as soon as we arrived in Freemantle it started to rain so we headed straight for the freemantle museum. The museum turned out to be a really interesting place as the building itself had a lot of history having been built by convicts as a mental institution, then becoming a home for poor elderly women, then being taken over by US soldiers in WW2 before being turned into a museum. The museum also described the lives of the early settlers, the transported prison convicts and the 20th century immigration policies and treatment of these immigrants. It was all quite an eye opener and really interesting.

The following day I visited the Perth museum with Evelyn, a fantastic German girl we'd met in our hostel, which provided me with a further slant on the history of Australia as it had an exhibition on the history of the Aborigine. I have to say I was absolutely shocked as I had no idea just how badly they were treated (and to a degree still are). They had lived on these lands for 60,000 years then along comes the white man who uses their skills and expertise, then takes their land, rounds them up into reserves, kills them with disease and weapons, takes away their rights and even takes away their children...horrendous!!

The other highlight of our time in Perth was going to see Steve Coogan live. It was a really enjoyable evening and he did all the old favourites - Paul and Pauline Calf, Alan Partridge and more.