So we are now in Australia, and the first thing we noticed when we arrived was it was freezing!! Our bodies had got use to hot and humid asia and when we got off the plane in Perth at 6am the temperature was 4c!! We got to our hostel in Northbridge, had a little nap and then went on a van hunting mission, we felt like we couldn't really relax until we had looked around a bit, so we spent a few days viewing some overpriced rust buckets, we went to the Freemantle car market only to find one crappy van there and we bought a local ad paper called Quokka. Kam spied a van in the Quokka but when we tried to phone up about it we couldn't get through to anyone, so we left a few messages and hoped for the best. Another day passed and we were feeling a bit dispondant and not enjoying paying skyhigh prices for the hostel! On the off chance Kam thought he'd try the person in Quokka again and he got through, we arranged to go and see the van the next day! We had to get the ferry over to South Perth so at least we got to see some sights, we saw the little van parked in the street and a man called John came out to greet us, it was his elderly fathers van who was no longer to have it so gave it to his son , who was emigratting to Canada so wanted to sell it. The van was cool it was a Nissan Urvan and had a 'dove' conversion which meant it has been converted into campervan style, complete with Poptop, gas stove and grill, fridge, sink and seats that convert into a double bed!! We liked it as soon as we saw it, and the price was just right....3350 aussie dollars which is about 1400 quid! We were lucky to get a vehicle inspector out that day to inspect it for us and it only needed a little bit of work doing to it so we agrred to go ahead and buy it!! The next day we took it to a mechanic and by the next day we had a van! We think it was pretty good going considering we landed in Perth on a Thursday and by the following Tuesday we had our van all sorted !!!!

So we went on a mammoth food shopping spree at woolworths, stocked up on essentials and we were on the road! Kam was so happy to drive again and it felt so good to decide where we wanted to go instead of relying on buses and trains! We thought we would head down South, and drove down to just outside of Bunbury where we had our first night in the van, it was really cosy and warm. We then made our way down the coast to a place called Augusta. We had read that you can see whales off the coast here during the winter months but we didn't expect to see any, we parked up on the beach and looked out to sea, there was a whale spotting boat bobbing about in the distance and right near the boatr we suddenly saw a big gush of water in the air and then a black tail splash! We couldnt believe it! We watched for ages as now and again a big black tail would splash in and out of the water...brilliant!

We then went on to a place called Pemberton in the thick south western forests, we actually stayed in the forest but it was raining and really cold! After that we made our way along the coast through a little palce called Denmark which was really nice and then onto Albany. We stayed just outside of Albany at a place called Cosy corner which was right next to the beach, it was a bit to nippy for a swim though! Albany was a really nice place, we went to a small church there and met some really freindly people who told us the best places to see in Albany. We went up a hill that overlooked the town and the surrounding bays, we went to Emu point which was a really quiet little bay with picnic areeas and BBQs and we went to a place called the gap where there were massive cliffs that funnily enough had a gap in them where the water would gush in, there was also a bit called natural bridge where the rocks had formed a bridge! We also spotted another whale out at sea from here! We spent another night at cosy corner before heading up to a town called Manjimup which was a timber town and we thought it was a bit hillbillyish!!! We paid to stay in a caravan site so that we could have some showers and do some washing. We have bought this book called Camps australia which lists all the free places you can stay, most of them dont have any facilities, so we are going to try and stay at free ones most of the time but when we smell we will pay!! We met a really nice couple from Melbourne called Dave and Di who had a similar van to ours and they gave us loads of advice and tips for our long journey ahead!!

Our plan is to head up North from Perth to Broome and then up to Darwin and then travel through the middle via Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, then to Adelaide and round to Sydney!

One thing we've noticed so far is how big Oz is...we knew it was big but the distances between places is huge! I'm glad we have 5 months!

As you can tell from lack of blog and pics, its been a nightmare trying to upload any pics anywhere...just tried to do it now again and it wont work!

P.S We have named our van hooters (after my cat)