PERTH 12/02/08 - 15/03/08

After three flights (the cheapest way of doing it!) we finally made it to Perth from Tasmania and took a taxi to the Ozi Inn which we booked from the airport.Accommodation is so difficult to get in the city and this was the only place left, and when we arrived we could see why!The place was an absolute dump, the room we were put into stank, despite the air con and was filthy…. We couldn't even get our bags in the room for all the cr@p the boys in there had all over the floor, I'm pretty sure some of their jocks were growing legs!As the place was such a health hazard the girl on reception kindly offered to give us a refund if we could find somewhere else.We had no luck in the city, but after giving our sob story to the guy at the YHA in Scarborough he managed t squeeze us into a boys dorm for the night.

Ended up staying in Scarborough for a week as it took us that long to find something closer to the city but the beach was really nice which made up for it, we also had chance to go check out the city, taking in the view from Kings Park and crossing on the ferry to south Perth for a cheeky drink.The place we stayed was nice and pretty chilled out, except for one night where there was a big fight and one of the guys in our room apparently pulled a knife on someone… nice!

When we got into the city we began our (skint backpacker) tour of the free BBQ's.Northbridge, the area we stayed, is completely geared up for backpackers, so pretty much every night there is something on somewhere, some nights you get free drinks and BBQ's and literally don't have to spend a penny and others you pay something like $5 for a pint and a barbie.Some were naff and some were great… although I still can't bring myself to eat steak… even though the free stuff here looks better than the stuff you'd pay a fortune for back home!

We've been to Fremantle to the markets and beach, to Cottesloe, which has a gorgeous beach and the sea is perfect for a swim.We took a train to Mandurah one day to get fish and chips and take a walk along the front.It's about an hour south of Perth and a bit in the sticks.The train station's quite far out so we jumped on the free shuttle bus to the waterside and the deliverance tune was playing which was very amusing, ding-a-ling-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding…

I've been working for Woodside, a really big company over here as a Geophysics Assistant for the Science & technology Division…. Which sounds very impressive… but I'm really just the PA to the chief geophysicist for a few weeks while the real one is on her hols… and Mel is working for Bank West.

We've met loads of nice people here (some of whom went through a phase of waking me up to serenade me with Burt Bacharach's finest when they get in from the pub!) and have had many a drunken night out… followed by many a terrible hangover (black betty's nightclub is a killer!).

Anywho, our work and partying in Perth is done now and we're gonna head up the coast to Broome… I'll let you know how we get on!