G'day again! Hope everyone is well on the other side of the world! After leaving Monkey Mia we continued to head down to Perth, stopping in at Kalbarri and Geraldton on the way. We had a couple of nights at Kalbarrie and it had a really nice friendly feel about it. The drinking water there was lovely which was a welcome surprise from the chlorine loaded stuff we had been forced to drink for the previous two weeks. We had a couple of leisurely days there and the highlight was the highly recommended fish 'restaurant' (it was an open air space that had a cooking facility under cover, bring your own booze and glasses and a lovely mis-match of plates and cutlery probably acquired from the op shop). It was delish though! It was a seafood platter for $20 (8 quiddish) and had prawns, calamari, snapper, mussels, sea breem, rice chips and salad. It was the best feed we had had in ages, definitley beating the noodle diet we had been on while travelling. After Kalbarri, we hit Geraldton for the day. It's a bit of a starnge place, with a mixture of very run down and very modern facilities. We visited the old gaol which was really creepy, and it gave a bit of a history of the area and the way people (particularly Aboriginal) had been treated in the past. Didn't stay at Geraldton. just headed on towards Perth stopping in a rest stop over night (it has to have been the spookiest one yet - in the middle of a forest near a river with not a soul in site. I even took my swiss army knife to bed, just in case!). While we were driving at night we spotted a comet which was pretty amazing. We didn't know what it was and the first night we saw it we were a bit concerned that it was a plane coming down, but luckily someone put our mind at ease and reassured us that it was in fact a comet! We reached Perth on Australia Day, which is a day that Aussies celebrate being Australian. it's a big thing, as you can imagine! Unfortunately we didn't decide on what we were going to do until the last minute (something that has become a regular occurence in our lives!) so we ended up satying in the only hostel available in the whole of Perth - obvioulsy had vacancies for a reason! The staff and other people there were really nice, but the hostel was filthy. Our room was covered in cobwebs and the carpet hadn't been threatened with a hoover in a long time. There was ceiling fan that was as much good as Fuzzy blowing at me from 6 feet away and I won't even get started on the bathroom! It was also excruciatingly hot and our room happened to be facing the direct sunlight for most of the day - great, no sleep again. However, we decided we would soldier on and managed to join in with cheap booze and BBQ (drew the line at the party games). Bit of a strange mix at the hostel, loads of Irish (of course!) some Aussies (who liked to drink booze as soon as they opened their eyes) and a teenage stripper (that looked about 12) who was being chaperoned by her dad... The crack was good though and after a few drinks we made it to Kings Park to watch the fireworks (not as good as Sydney's at New Year, but don't tell the west coasters that!). So we spent a total of a week and a half in Perth and moved hostels 4 times, mainly due it being so busy. We met up with Theresa friends Maz, Si and Lauren and were invited to their beautiful home (with pool!) on the outskirts of Perth. Had a BBQ with them the first night, then they cooked us a lovely Sunday dinner the next time and showed us around the area they live. Can definitely see why they swapped England for Perth! Anyway, I must dash just now because a) the internet charges are extortionate here and b)We are going on night shift (but that is another story!). Hope everyone is well, thanks for photos of new baby, she is gorgeous can't wiat to see her. Lots of love, Emma and Fuzzy