As I am writing this it's day 36 of our trip (I think - it's hard to keep track of what day and date it is at the moment!) We arrived at last in Australia on 1st December, so just over a week ago. I have kept meaning to update my blog since we arrived but haven't got around to it until now. The flight from Singapore was fine and only lasted 5 hours. After all the coach journeys we have been doing the fact we had a meal and a TV to keep us occupied made time fly. When we arrived at Perth airport Justin's family, Andrew and Shirley - who we will be staying with while in WA, came to pick us up. They drove us back to their home which is actually in a town called Mandurah, about an hours car ride south of Perth itself. It was really kind of them to let us stay and they made us welcome straight away. As all of their children have moved out there is plenty of room here. We have our own room and bathroom, and I can't explain how nice it is to be able to unpack our backpacks and not have to worry about locking things up everytime we go out. Heaven!

We didn't really do much the first couple of days we were here. It was nice to be able to have a chill out and we had a lot of sleep to catch up on as the last few weeks had been so hectic. We met the rest of Andrew and Shirley's family, and they took us out to see the main places to go in Mandurah. Their house is on the far east side of the town, but only a short drive from everything. There is a main shopping centre called the Forum where we can go if we need to buy anything, but apparantly the shops don't compare to what we get at home. There are small shops all over the place though. Also, there are quite a few nice beaches and the Foreshore, which is like a big inlet of ocean through the main town. It's really nice there with loads of restaurants and coffee shops along it and places to walk. They get a lot of dolphins in there too, and we saw a couple as we walked along the front. Overall, I think I like it here!

On the first Monday we decided to go to the Foreshore by ourselves, mainly to test out how the buses work as we will need to use them quite a bit. Everything is close enough by car, but to walk anywhere is a bit of a mission, which is a bit of a shame really. The buses seem to work well, but they're not very regular. We still have to walk for 20 mins just to get to the bus stop, then take that bus to the bus station, then another to the Foreshore. We just tried out some of the food, had a walk around then came home! We did go down there one morning and hire some kayaks to explore more around the water. It was freezing cold in the morning when we arrived and started to spit with rain. Luckily it did clear up and was quite warm on the wtaer. We only hired them for an hour but we still managed to go quite far. We both got soaking wet, Justin alot more than me, but it was good to have a look around ther other side of the water. Unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins but we did have a couple of close encounters with a massive pelican. We also just went for some walks around the houses where we are staying a couple of times, getting weird looks from everyone in the process. Australian people don't seem to like walking anywhere. Ever! There are only ever paths on one side of the road. They all seem to drive huge pick-ups, or utes as they call them, or 4X4s. Another thing we noticed about them is that they all seem to have big dogs too. There are two where we are staying, and although one is tiny the other is a rottweiler! We managed to get lost a couple of times of our travels but it worked out ok in the end. The downside of walking about though is the flies. They are everywhere all the time and can really get on your nerves. Hopefully they will die off soon. There are a couple of lakes with boardwalks to walk along that we went to. Justin convinced me he saw croc footprints though, and even though I knew he was joking we didn't stay for long!

On friday we decided we would head to the beach. We left early so we could get a lift up there, and couldn't really see what the weather was going to be like at that time. It was actually quite cold so we went for some breakfast and a walk around then went back later. By then it had started to heat up a bit but it still wasn't sunbathing or swimming weather. It hadn't been that hot up til then, but all of the country seemed to be bad at the time and at least we haven't had any storms like they had in Sydney. Anyway, that didn't stop this one guy from sitting down right next to us, stripping off to his speedos and going to sleep on the sand. What a weirdo! We also walked around to the marina, Dolphin Quay, which we hadn't been to yet, to eat our lunch. By now it was hot and I went a little bit red I must admit. I just had to have an ice cream to cool down.

That evening we all went out for a meal of fish and chips. It was a bit different to England because you just ask for 'fish and chips' and you don't know what fish it actually is. It was still good though. All the food here has been great, and it has been especially good to have some home cooked meals too. No more noodles or rice for now thankyou! After that Justin and I went for a couple of drinks, where we were joined for a bit by Andrew's son and his girlfriend. There are only a couple of bars here and it was really quiet, probably as it's coming up for christmas. Most people here tend to stay in and drink at home I think. It was still good to get out though.

We didn't stay out too late as we had to get up and leave by 6.30 the next day to catch the bus to Freemantle, or Freo as the locals call it. It's another town nearer to Perth, and is quite popular. Buses are even more rubbish on Saturdays, and we had to catch one to the station, another to Rockingham, and then another to Freemantle. What a nightmare! It took us about 2 hours altogether which is why we had to leave at such a stupid time in the morning. Freemantle was actually really nice, and it was a hot day which was great. There are loads of nice coffee shops and bars, and we stopped for breakfast, then we went around the markets. There were two big undercover markets, and they made a change from the ones we saw in Thailand. We brought some presents so I can't say too much! Afterwards we went to a bar and got some lunch, which turned out to be a bit of a rip off because they added 15% to the bill just because it was the weekend. It tasted good, but we will have to start eating at cheaper places. We went to the beach afterwards but it was a bit too windy for me although it was hot. We looked around the 'Round House' too, which is one of the old Freemantle prisions. After that we headed home. We missed the bus from Mandurah bus station back to near the house so decided to walk it. It took 45 mins and we were really tired when we got back. I can see why they don't want to walk anywhere now. Argh!

On Monday just gone, day 35, it was our first proper hot, hot day. I was so pleased as I had been waiting for another good opportunity to go to the beach. We managed to get a good 3 hours in there before we went for lunch at the marina. More fish and chips, but fish and chip restaurants are everywhere here so it's too tempting. The beach is really nice, and although the sand doesn't quite match up to the islands in Thailand it's still fine for me. As we went down early the beach was pretty much empty which was great. As it was so hot I even went in the sea. It very blue and clear but completely freezing once your in. When we came back after lunch it had started to get a bit busier and it was very, very hot by that point. I couldn't complain, but the flies started to get a bit crazy. I tried to go in the water to escape them, but as I was so hot the sea felt even colder the second time round so I couldn't bare it for long. Anyway now the real Ozzie weather has got going and I feel that I'm gonna be busy topping up my tan a lot over the next few weeks. Can't wait!