I arrived in Perth late on Tuesday night following a 4 and a half hour flight from Brisbane. It was too late in the day to be doing anything once I'd arrived at the Wickham Retreat Backpackers, but that was fine by me.. I hit the sack no sooner had I checked in.

It was my first visit to the Western Australia city.. it's so far away from anywhere else in the country that I never made the effort to reach here during my previous trip to Australia. However, this time around I had a couple of reasons to make the long journey across country. The Third Ashes Test between Australia and England was taking place, and Anthony, a lad who I'd met very early on in my travels while on the Dragoman tour of Brazil and Argentina, lives here, so we'd arranged to catch up.

I was only in town for 4 days and for 3 of those I'd mostly be watching the cricket so I needed to make the most of the spare day I had to catch up with Anthony and see what Perth had to offer.

There's no better way to see a place you've never visited before than having a local's inside knowledge to show you around the best parts that may otherwise go unnoticed had you explored it by yourself.

It was class catching up with Anthony and even better that we could do it while he showed me around the city. Having picked me up in the morning, we went for a lazy bike ride along the Swan River which offers some fantastic views of the city's skyline from across the water.

Looping back over the river we made our way to the modernised Elizabeth Quay, which sits beneath Perth’s skyscrapers by the waters edge. Although still largely under construction, the Quay, dominated by restaurants, bars and hotels, had a classy vibe to it and will undoubtedly look superb when completed.

After a light bite and a brief look around the CBD we looped back along the river to the car. We then headed to the beautiful King's Park which is home to some botanical gardens, a glass bridge walkway amongst the trees, some immaculate lawns that any green keeper would be proud of, and more great views over the city.

Next up was a bike ride along the stunning white sands of City and Scarborough beaches, followed by a visit to the lovely seaside suburb of Cottlesloe, where wealth is clearly evident. We stopped off here to grab some fish and chips at a popular beachside chippy. Washed down with a ginger beer, the grub was absolutely delicious.. the sunset wasn't too bad either.

Seeing two of England's cricketers in the chippy the night before the start of the Third Ashes Test wasn't something I was expecting to see. Wicketkeeper Johnny Bairstow and bowler Chris Woakes were at the counter ordering their greasy grub as I was leaving.. no wonder England were already 2-0 down in the series! Nevertheless, I wished the boys luck for the game and left them to enjoy their chippy tea.

After a wander around Fremantle, which is another hip area with a cool vibe, we headed back to see the CBD under lights from Elizabeth Quay, before eventually calling it a day.

Not only was it the perfect opportunity for a catch up, but thanks to Anthony, I had a wicked day checking out the highlights of Perth. He’s a great lad and someone I’ll definitely be keeping in touch with in the future.

Most cities around the world are considered to be concrete jungles, however it is impossible to give Perth such a label. It may be modern but the CBD is relatively small and its towers don’t climb so high. An abundance of surrounding water and greenery, on top of an all-year supply of sunshine, play their part in generating a lovely relaxed atmosphere here.

Thursday morning signalled the start of the Third Ashes Test at the famous WACA Stadium, which incidentally would also be the last ever time an Ashes Test would be hosted here before future games are played at Perth’s new state of the art arena just a few km’s away.

Under scorching heat, I’d secured tickets for the first three days play, admittedly paying a ridiculous amount for a seat in the stands on Thursday, but it was totally worth it. The second and third days play I was sat on the grass banking with England’s Barmy Army where I met a lot of sound English lads.

Despite falling to another defeat giving the Aussies an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, and losing the Ashes with two games to play, I had a fantastic time. Sat amongst the Barmy Army was hilarious and a lot of fun.. it felt like a home game there were so many English supporters around the ground.

My time in Perth was made that extra bit special by the people who I shared my 5 night stay at the hostel with. We had an awesome group who were a lot of fun and up for a laugh, namely.. James, Ruth, Mike, Tia and Tom, who were all English, as well as a Dutch girl called Carli, Madita from Germany, and a Kiwi lad named Finn.

We had a couple of sesh’s together at the Wickham Retreat Backpackers, including a big one on my last night where Charlie, the British owner, laid on a fajita night for the hostel, which led to a wild night of drinking into the early hours.

Having said fairwell to my new friends and fellow backpackers, I now find myself at the airport on Sunday afternoon waiting to board a flight to Adelaide.. another city in Australia I’ve yet to visit.

See ya xx