Ahhh Australia..... that wasnt my initial thought when we arrived at perth airport, as if the trauma of being told there was a problem with my passport wasnt enough to be told my date of birth on my visa was also incorrect was a bit annoying really I mean were they not going to let me into the country. I had a suddent thought that I would become like Tom Hanks in that movie where the guy just had to live in the airport because nowhere would let him in! A little dramatic I know but hey you guys know me!

�So Perth, it was amazing really how safe I felt as soon as we left the airport, it was wierd having just been in Johannesburg and feeling afraid. So we went to the hostel Perth YHA it was pretty modern but massive and felt slightly impersonal after being in relatively small hostels in South Africa. One thing that was also obvious was the steep increase in price however I tried not to let this take away from the exciting experience I felt I was about to embark in this massive country.

In total we spent about 4 nights in Perth before heading off down the coast on a bit of a road trip. Perth itself is an alright city, (it is quite bizarre to think that it is actually a big city in the middle of nowhere) as cities do it grows on you as you become more familiar and explore all there is to offer. The four days we spent there involved sorting out various trips and broken cameras cooking normal food and basically strolling around the city.

One of the highlights of this city has to be its park, Kings Park that sits atop a hill with amazing views over the city. Kirst, Jack and I all took a stroll over htere one afternoon when the sun was shining and there was an awesome view of the city. During this walk I also got an insight into this countries exercise ethic, obviously not everyone adopts this attitude but for those who do it is actually quite amazing to sit and watch them. For example there was this set of steps that you had to ascend to get up to the park called jacobs ladder, we are probably talking 50 plus steps. Some people feel an urge to run up and dopwn these steps not once not twice but maybe half a dozen or even a dozen times!... go figure!

During the eveining it was fairly quiet, we did make it out to this cute opld fashined type cinema up piccadily arcade to see Blood Diamond the movie woth Leonardo DiCaprio in ti and since we had just been to South Africa it was really good to see and i have to say it is one of the best movies I have seen in a long while. One night I went to sample the local night life at one of the bars it was pretty cool with a live band and stuff, I went with this Scottish girl called Alison who was working in Australia. We ventured to the kebab shop afterwards where we were offered champagne if we stayed...... er we politlely declined promising we would return another day (or not!)

For one of my last nights in Perth it had been pretty cool. SO we returned to the hostel after nearly getting lost if we had followed Alisons sense of direction! Luckily me having a good head for orientation we made it back to the hostel safe and sound.