Well here we are in Australia( in Perth NOT Rottnest Island - but the blog software has decided we're in Rottnest even though we're not and it won't let me change it ! ! ) and by popular request (following the resounding success of our NZ blog ) this is the beginning of our Australian blog.

After a very comfortable flight via Dubai we arrived in Perth about 20+ hours after leaving Newcastle, with both of us feeling ok on the Monday evening.

Next day we visited Perth, a very pleasant but incredibly small(compared to Europe) city. Western Australia is very sparsely populated and so its capital city Perth can be comfortably walked around in a day. The old buildings from the 19th century when the first pioneers arrived have now been « walled in » and dwarfed by modern skyscrapers. It was very hot and the sun was very fierce so we were both looking like boiled lobster english tourists by the end of the day.

Thanks to a tip off from my cousin's grandson Matt Vaughan who lives in Perth (but was in Vietnam) highlight of the day was dinner in a bhuddist vegetarian restaurant where payment was « by donation only ». when asked how much we should pay, the man replied « pay what your heart tells you ». Most people were paying in coins but I gave him a note which he seemed more than pleased with. We were pleased too as the food was excellent and it was still the cheapest meal we're likely to get in Australia.

Next day we picked up the hire car - despite the size of the city we got lost (« Lost in Australia part 1) but eventually found the carhire office then headed south but before that a quick trip to Freemantle the port of Perth located about 15km from the city. This needed a drive through 15km of urban sprawl - and in fact Perth's compact little city centre, much like all the Australian cities is surrounded by a huge urban sprawl - 90km X 90km of it. Freemantle was a suprisingly relaxed and pleasant port with some beautifully restored colonial buildings. It deserved more time than we gave it.

Then the fun started - « Lost in Australia » part 2 ». With no GPS and armed with an absolutely terrible map the carhire company gave us we could not find our way out of the endless housing developments/shopping precincts/traffic lights/terrible road signs. At one stage we had no idea if we were heading north or south. A lot of shouting ensued. We eventually found the road south but then after 90km ran out of map - more shouting ensued - until we eventually stopped at a service station and bought a good quality small scale map of the area. No more shouting.

Down in the south west of the state are huge forests of native gum trees. We based ourselves in Pemberton a tiny little one street town in the middle of the forests in the middle of nowhere. We went as far as the coast where access to the beaches is by 4X4 vehicles only - just one road was accessible to us in a normal car. Apparently at the right time of the year you can watch the whales swimming past. The beaches were empty, not a soul on the roads. And just like NZ, very few roads were tarmac so we ended up on gravel tracks in our little Hyundai hire car, jolting along worrying if the wheels were going to fall off it.

Highlights were a visit to the treetop walk in Walpole where an incredible walkway takes you 35m high into the tops of the giant Tingle trees. Then on to to Frankland National Park - 35km down a dirt track in the ancient forest where we saw ONE car all afternoon. We saw our first wild kangaroo - unfortunately a dead one at the side of the road, run over by a car (very common here, especially at night, they are a real danger if you get a 80kg kangaroo through the windscreen). It was very strange seeing this huge animal ( huge compared to a rabbit or cat/dog that you might see in Europe) with its long tail and big feet lying at the side of the road. Our luck (or at least the kangaroo populations luck) improved 10min later when we suprised 2 live ones on the road. They hopped into the forest too quick for us to take a photo. We parked the car in the completely empty carpark and climbed to the top of mount Frankland. Other than the man in a little cabin at the top of the mountain who was the look out for forest fires we saw no-one, absolutely no-one. Then 35km back along the dirt track where we saw……no-one. This place is seriously empty.

Next day we visited the Gloucester Climbing Tree. These « climbing trees » are huge trees that were used as look outs to spot forest fires. There are metal stakes driven into the side of the tree to form a sort of primlitive ladder and you can climb up to 60metres( ! ! ! ) high to a lookout cabin at the top. Absolutely no supervision, no climbing harness, nothing . It would NEVER be allowed in the UK - Health & Safety would close it in milliseconds. Over here the sign said « Your safety is our concern - but YOUR responsibility……………..and don't go up in flip flops ». Great country - they have their priorities right over here !

Last day of our trip to Western Australia, we called in to see an old friend/colleague from domnick hunter days. Wow ! ! ! His architect designed house on the beach just south of Perth was stunning. A glass white concrete and stone palace - it felt like we'd spent the afternoon on the set of « Grand Designs »

After a week and 1500km it looks on the map like we've been nowhere compared to the huge scale of the place. Next stop Sydney - a 4 ½ flight on the other side of the continent.