On a horrendous morning, after the last night in Melbourne before of cocktails and karaoke, I boarded the plane to Perth, the city that never wakes.Probably a good thing for me as I vowed to give up the sauce for four weeks, my liver, kidneys and stomach aching in protest at my previous Brunswick lifestyle.

Mum picked me up from the airport and snuck me into her hotel.Whilst it was good to hang out together, after four nights on the floor of her room, I decided it would be good to give Bazza and her some space to settle into their immigration and to hook up with a road trip North.I placed an ad on gumtree and within a few hours had a couple of offers and plans to meet with Anne and Isy, two lovely 20yr old German girls.

The next day we set off convoy stylee with an English (Dave) and Dutch (Anne) couple.Lucky for me the girls had a camper van with all the necessaries (including for the 2000km+ journey two CDs - the Twilight soundtrack and XX); I just had to chip in with food and fuel. The camper (Edward) only broke down once, just as well, as I was sat in the middle, on top of the engine. Sleeping together on a mattress in the back however was a bit of a squeeze with me wedged in the middle between two German bookends - bookends with pointy elbows. We woke every morning like three spoons all in a row ; )

The first two nights we spent at Dave's friend's farm.Toby kindly took us to spot my first ever wild kangaroos - was captivating to watch them bounce along so gracefully and he also very generously cooked us all a lovely meal.

It was at this point in the trip that I realised if I saw a cobweb I had to immediately look away and ignore it, the rule being that if you look for spiders in cobwebs you will find them - if you keep looking you will find bigger ones and if you continue to search, well no doubt some giant arachnid will jump onto your face in the manner of the film 'Alien.'

On the road I realised what a huge place WA is with drives in between points of interest being easily eight hours or so.Speaking of points of interest the Australian Tourism Board has done an incredible job of promoting rocks downunder.Big rocks, little rocks, the huge one in the middle, the pinnacles, the seven sisters, the twelve apostles, the fantastic five and so on and on and on.Even I began to think nothing of driving 500km with the promise of a canyon, gorge or rock formation at the end of it.

The open spaces by day were dwarfing, but what really made me catch my breath were the big starry skies at night. I didn't even mind leaving the campervan in the middle of the night to pad trepidatiously through fields in my flip flops to the bathroom, watching for snakes and scorpions, as I often got to catch a glimpse of the milky way (apart from the time I forgot my glasses - a mistake I only ever made once).

On a long roll call of highlights (diving the Ningaloo reef, snorkelling with mantas, watching the dolphins swim into a bay at dawn) the Cape Range topped the list.Cape Tribulation may be the place where the rainforest meets the reef but Cape Range is where the outback does.The contrast between the red barren landscape and the blues and turquoises of the sea made the setting all the more spectacular.

After our final three nights together at the Cape Range the girls dropped me off at Exmouth a sleepy small town that draws you in and takes a hold. I stayed in a backpackers for the first time on my Oz adventure and met a great bunch of people.Sophie, my surrogate little sister, and I organised a couple of trips, with a very continental group of fellow hostellers, back to the Range, with me driving her car, an automatic like a giant dodgem with a four litre engine.Around sunset became kangaroo watch.Amazing how you will see them by the side of the road solemnly watching you until at the last moment they dash out, bouncing, right in front of you.

In Exmouth I had to work a way of getting back, the 1500kms or so, to Perth, so again with the gumtree ad, though at first was a little nervous having watched too many scary movies (damn that wolf creek). In the end got several offers and accepted a lift with Tom, a mining engineer.The journey took 17 hours in which we pretty much chatted nonstop (such a challenge for me ; ) him regaling me with tales of holding off bull sharks with his bare hands as Australians are want to do on their weekends off. When he asked me if I had a full license to share the driving I felt obliged to also mention I had only passed my test in January - he drove the entire distance.

Got back to see Mum in Freemantle (that's Freo to its friends) Western Australia's 'alternative' city - alternative to what i'm not sure - Perth perhaps? Mum had rented what appeared to be on first and subsequent impressions a shed to live in.But I couldn't complain (well I could, I am after all English and it is the national pastime) it had a mezzanine level with a single bed in the apex (much better than a floor), though how I didn't fall off the ladder in the middle of the night is more by luck than judgment. Was good to spend time again with Mum, and seeing her get settled and back into her usual routine: husband out working 12 hours a day, her making friends and going for nice lunches and walks with me ; ) Happy days.

Also got to meet up with Suzanne who hasn't changed at all, except perhaps looking even more beautiful, having blossomed into motherhood with her son Jet.It was great to catch up after all these years.

Discovered the way to get people to buy you drinks is to tell them you are not drinking, with responses to this inconceivable notion from an English woman ranging from "just have a cider it's practically apple juice" (thanks Mum) "it's my birthday... leaving party.... day ending with the letter 'y'" to my personal favourite "I won't tell anyone." Broke my four week abstinence on my last night in Perth with Manu, good wine, great chat and shisha, a perfect end to the first leg of my Australian sojourn.

And so to Bali...

Kerry x