The Drive to Perth was a lot more populated than we've been used to than of late.Had to get used to traffic again albeit no where near Sydney standards.

We found a campsite in Freemantle which would be described as Perth's equivalent of Manly.It seems a vibrant town and has kept a lot of its maritime origins through the architecture and port although now a more bohemian charm seems to echo through the streets.We looked around the craft markets and found our way to the Maritime Museum.It was a bit boring until we recruited ourselves onto a submarine tour.It was the same class of British sub that sank the Argentinean ship the Belgrano during the Falklands war.Gem was, quite frankly, s***ting herself at the thought of going into the confined space, but she was to fare well compared with other members of the tour.Form the start it was obvious we had the pleasure of Geeks who asked far too many questions like "how many Batteries does it have"… WHO CARES!!!Gem and I amused ourselves, sniggering at one of the men's wives who seemed to be going through a mid life crisis by dressing like a train wreck in hot pants.Half way through the tour she had to get escorted off the sub (unfortunately not by the fashion Police) as she suffered a panic attack, presumably claustrophobia.The tour ended with more questions but the entertaining parts were over by now so we not in any hurry to visit a maritime museum any time soon.

The evening was pretty uneventful, talked to my sister whose birthday it was, had Pizza and in our rock and roll lifestyle went to bed.

Gem's Note: Seriously, those hot pants were so short, there was middle aged bum cheek on show, I defy anybody not to piss their pants at that display.

Sat 12th

I took the equipment off the roof rack ready to venture into Perth expecting some awkward carparks.Little help it was as it still took us over an hour to find a car park we could fit in with just the roof rack on.Think we had a driving tour of most of the city.

The drive into the city was impressive, cruising along the shores of the Swan River, the skyscrapers toweringin the distance.The build up to the city was as I said impressive and that build up was, I think, what was missing in Adelaide.We walked through the city sensing more of a British vibe than any other Australian city we'd been to and it made us a little home sick (emphasis on little…sorry mum).We scoured the streets for a few hours soaking the ambience of the Bustling city.We ended up at the Swan Bell 'the largest musical instrument in the world. Now (get ready for another rant)by using the word instrument you would imagine that a tune would be Produced.However, no melodic tune was emitted by the so called instrument just noise that sounded like ropes form church bells were carelessly tied around unsuspecting epileptics at a strobe light convention.The result polluted the otherwise quite beautiful setting.

We boarded a free city bus (known as CATs) for a quick look around the city.Foolishly we thought this may be a good thing…soon into the trip realizing there were far too many Americans on the bus.Now I haven't got anything against Americans (until they speak)but after listening to an older man trying to convince a child that a cement lorry was a pizza making truck enough was enough.We got off three stops down.

We had another quick walk around the town, especially the London Court (a street resembling Tudor London).Then with out the need for any shops to keep us there and happy that we'd taken a shine to the place we were back to freemantle.

Gem's Note: I personally think that Rich is a bloody grumpy sod, the Swan Bell was very impressive and we were lucky to be there while they were ringing, Perth was lovely…but not quite Sydney.

Freemantle 17th Feb

Freemantle boasts one of the original Jail houses built by convicts for convicts sent over during the early 1800's.So, no trip to Freemantle would be complete without a trip to the Jail.The Jail itself was built, as I've said, entirely by the inmates and in recognition of its history has recently been given heritage status. Conditions for the inmates at the time of erection was pretty bleak and even up to 1991 when it stopped being a working prison, things had not improved dramatically.We went into the hanging room where I'm sure spirit medium Derek Ackhora would have had a field day.We saw the Hanging rope, Hanging beam and trap doors and was glad to walk out, unlike 60 or so people hadn't.

With our thirst for capital punishment satisfied we had lunch (and a power nap) and we went back into Freemantle town for another look around and got lost in the avenues and alleyways. It really is an enticing place (mainly due to loads of pubs).

The evening came and we ventured upto Perth Hills, Kalumunda, to visit Justin, Sophie, Jane, Peter, Vicky, Andrew, Grace, Rosy and Molly the Dog (see if you are nice to us you get a mention).These lovely people were great company and I can see how my grandparents had such a lovely time when they stayed with them for a while (also got loads of stories about my grandparents so look out Nan!) Justin and Sophie's house was very impressive and as time rolled on the wine flowed and Peter's shouts of 'Gypsies' became even louder.Time soon got the better of us and we had to say our goodbyes surely to bump into them again, somewhere in the world.

Gem's Note: I want a dog too!