After what we considered a long lie we caught a taxi at 7.45am to the airport at Alice Springs to catch our flight over to Perth on Australia's west coast. We were very lucky to have been offered a roof over our heads from our friend Carrie-Anne (the girl we met in Sydney at new year). Unbeknown to us when we booked our flight we were traveling and arriving in Perth on Australia day, the day that commemorates Australia being founded and claimed by the white man. A little controversial some might say however that doesn't stop the Australians coming out in their droves to celebrate Australia's birthday. It is widely known that Perth's Australia Day celebrations are up there as one of the best in Australia and so by pure chance we had struck gold again! Carrie Anne collected us from the airport and took us for a whistle stop tour of some of the cities popular suburbs to check out the beaches that line the coast. We had been told that Perth has beautiful white sandy beaches and from what we could see from our tour we weren't going to be disappointed with our decision to include the west on our tour of Australia. We stopped at one of the beaches called Cottesloe for an ice cream and a walk along the esplanade. After a quick look around it was back to Carrie-Anne and Matt's flat to get ready for the celebrations in the form of a fireworks display down at the riverfront. We had kindly been bought Australia T-shirts to help get us in the spirit of things before packing up our flags, food and more importantly booze to take to the river. Once we arrived there was plenty of space along the massive riverside and so finding a spot was easy. We threw down the picnic rugs and got cracked into the drinks soaking up the atmosphere. Everywhere you looked there were people at differing stages of inebriation all dressed in Australian clobber from full Australian flag suits to skimpy flag dresses and bikinis. It was so much fun sitting watching everyone go by marveling at the efforts that some people had gone to in honor of their national day. There was a real mixed crowd of all ages and with everyone in high spirits it was great to be in the middle soaking it all up. At 9pm having had a few drinks and a delicious picnic the fireworks started and second only to the new year display at Sydney harbour it is without a doubt the best firework display I have ever seen and being right on the waterfront we had an absolutely fantastic view. The display lasted for over 30 minutes which is a really long time to be constantly setting off fireworks. We were all thoroughly spoiled with the amount and extravagant nature of the display it really was awesome and every couple of minutes there were surprised oohs and ahhs from the crowds as the next display outdid the previous one. After what seemed like an eternity the display was over and with military precision everyone started to pack up their things to make their way home. Taxis were out of the question as it was just too busy and so we began the 4km walk back to the flat relieved that the cool bags were considerably lighter than when we set out. After what had been a long and exhausting few days we were dead on our feet and so had to excuse ourselves and head to bed for what was the best and most complete sleep I have had since leaving home, I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow!
The next day was to be a bit of a non event as we had a few bits and pieces to sort out online as we hadn't planned anything for our 3 weeks on the west. After tinkering on the internet for most of the morning booking up places to see and a car to get us there we had one more chore to do before we could relax. The next stop on our world tour was Asia and some of the places we intend to visit have malaria and so a top priority was to sort out malaria tablets. We also had to get a booster for one of our twin vaccines we had in the UK before we left and having called the local GP surgery we had secured appointments for later that afternoon. The surgery was about 3km away so we jumped on Carrie-Anne and Matt's bikes and set off in search of the surgery. I don't have a clue why they bothered to give us an appointment time as it was clear that it was a drop in centre for every sick waif and stray in the area and about an hour after our scheduled appointment we were finally taken. Fifteen minutes later we leave $360 lighter in pocket with a pocket full of goodness only knows what to stave off the malaria and a puncture wound in the left arm from our injection. With no history taken, no advice or information given it was certainly very different to how things are done in the UK and a hell of a lot more expensive however we had what we needed so I suppose that's all that matters. After the doctors we grabbed a couple of sandwiches from a nearby deli and took the bikes down to the waterfront to find a nice spot for lunch before going exploring on the bikes. By the time we had cycled all around the waterfront and back to the flat I and my bum were glad to get off the bike and we spent the evening relaxing and catching up with Carrie-Anne (Matt works away from home so he wasn't there).
We were free the following day to go exploring around the city so with instructions on where to go to catch the bus we caught a number 31 into the city centre and having acquired a good nose to find the action we soon found our way to the main shopping district and spent most of the afternoon wandering around the town seeing what Perth had to offer in terms of retail therapy. Whilst it wont go down as being the most exciting shopping district there were a few nice shops and with the usual big centre's of Myer and David Jones (Fraser's and John Lewis back home) there was certainly plenty to keep us entertained. As a way to say thanks for giving us a place to stay for a few days we had offered to restock the booze we had consumed the previous night as well as cook dinner so having walked the legs off ourselves we caught the bus out of town stopping at the supermarket along the way to get supplies. We then headed back to the flat to cook up a storm and try not to make too big a mess while we were at it!