Perth (and then Sydney again, briefly) - 28th October

After getting a lift to the train station with Rick at 3.30am, a train at 4am, a second train at 5am, and arriving at the airport just after half past five, we are hungry enough to eat a Harry's Cafe De Wheels tiger pie while we wait for our Virgin Blue flight.Luckily, there's a concession in the airport, so we eat just that...

Arriving in Perth, we are lucky enough to catch a cab with the grumpiest taxi driver in the southern hemisphere, although he is no match for our enthusiasm about arriving in what feels a bit like home.We arrive at the hirecar company and pick up a white Corolla, and then head to Steve's via Dominoes to pick up our usual - Tuesday night is pizza night afterall!

This time round, we are sharing a house not just with Steve, but with two 22-year olds from Tuscon, Arizona; Grace and Jess. Grace is the daughter of one of Steve's good friends in America, and the girls are in Perth for a few months to sample the sun, sea, and nightlife.It's lovely to catch up with Steve, even though we are forced to scold him for sacrificing his spare room for us - the girls are in the other two rooms - he won't hear no for an answer, and spends the night on a camp bed in the kitchen!

The following day, we have a quick whizz around our old haunt of the local Westfield shopping centre, and Dave drops me at the train station on the way into Armadale to catch up with some of his work friends.I commute over to Freo to catch up with my friends, and after a catch up lunch (they of course, have to get back to work), I nip for a haircut and do a bit of shopping before catching the train back to Steve's - it feels just like old times.

This evening, we drive over to Caroline and Flemming's short term rented house for a buffet dinner, and it's great to catch up with them and meet their respective families (Flemming's mom, Caroline's mom, two sisters, and sister's partner), before the wedding on Friday.We spend Thursday shopping for wedding outfits and bits and bobs in Fremantle, Dave happily managing to get his entire best man's outfit from a recycled clothes shop - the unofficial men's dresscode is Billabong, afterall.We meet up with some work friends again briefly, before doing a bit more shopping and hurrying off to fetch the wedding meat - it fills a giant esky in the back of the car.

After a swift after-work drink in Rosie O'Grady's, we drive on to Caroline and Flemmings for a pre-wedding pizza (I know it seems like we're eating a lot of pizza at the moment, but bear in mind we're off to Japan next week, and will be suffering pizza drought for at least two weeks).After another trip to the shops to pick up some last minute wedding supplies (and a present!), we get dressed up and head to Caroline and Flemming's for some last minute preparations.

After cheering on the blushing bride and coughing at Flemming's liberal hairspraying, we are awarded the very scary responsibility of transporting the wedding cake to the beach for the ceremony.Everyone is pretty relaxed though, and the cake makes it in one piece.Caroline's dress has been handmade by her mom, and cleverly conceals her 6 month baby bump.We set up on City Beach, and although it's a bit windy, it's a perfect setting - the day proceeds like a chilled out picnic with a ceremony just before sunset.The celebrant manages to contain his surprise at Caroline being pregnant, and aside from a few problems getting the barbecue going, it all runs without a hitch.

The only hiccup comes at the end, when Caroline's mom loses the housekeys (they are soon found), and then we can't get taxis for love nor money - it's Friday night and Hallowe'en, so they must all be kept busy in town.Everyone gets ferried back in our car or with the bride and groom, and after a coffee and chat we leave them to it - Flemming has thoughtfully supplied his and Caroline's families with a pair of earplugs each for the night!

The next day we spend at Mia's, her new husband Anthony cooking us up a barbecue from a couple of the leftover meat packs from the wedding.After a bit of relaxing and good company, we pootle back to Steve's and get packing, ready to leave tomorrow evening.Our last outing in Perth before we fly back to Sydney is to take the train to the City with Jess, and to meet Mia and Anthony to watch the Red Bull Air Race from King's Park.The planes nimbly hop from obstacle to obstacle on the river, and some huge jets swoop around in the breaks, showing off.

We catch the train back when it's over, saying a sad goodbye to Mia again, and after a quick check in at Steve's and a visit to Angela and Kevin (Dave's mom's sister's husband's sister and her husband), up at Hillary's Boat Harbour, we load up our rucsacs and get a lift to the airport from Steve, saying yet another goodbye.

Dave is especially pleased today (apart from because he's at an airport), because he had lost his sunglasses on the plan flying in - the Virgin Blue staff at the check-in desk go out of their way to find them from lost property for him, and he's relieved that he doesn't have to shell out for another prescription pair.

After a four hour flight and a two hour time difference, we arrive bleary eyed back in Sydney, and catch the two trains back to Diane and Rick's, where they kindly pick us up from the station at 9am.We collapse into bed for most of the day, only resurfacing to eat and repack our bags for our flight to Japan in the morning.