We arrived in Perth at around 4.30am and boy could we tell the difference in temperature! We knew it would be colder than Indonesia but it was so cold we shivering! We were met at the airport by Ged and Audey who we would be staying with over the next few days. Audrey was my mum's best friend from school who had emigrated to Perth 8 years ago with her husband Ged and their two children Alan and Claire. In fact, whilst we were there Audrey found a really old letter from my mum in which she wrote about not long meeting my dad! It was so strange, I would've been just a twinkle in his eye when she wrote it!!! I'd only met G&A once previously 3 years ago so it was a bit of a "blind" meeting, but we were looking forward to a few home comforts for the next few days. After them being so kind as to pick us up at such a early time in the morning from the airport, they then took us to their house which was the most amazing home with pool and ocean views... we really were being spoilt now! They gave us a guided tour of there home and showed us our room (with en-suite) which was amazing, the bed was huge and the mattress was so soft... we even had a heated blanket in case it got a biy nippy at night (which Laura was extatic about)!! And then to top it off, Audrey cooked us all a full English breakfast, the first one for over six months, all of this and it wasn't even 7am yet! Later that morning after chatting to them about our travels, we went and had a hot shower and a nap to catch up on some sleep whilst G&A went swimming. That afternoon, we all took a walk down to the marina and sat in the pub having a few drinks... Lau had her first proper glass of red wine since we left home! Then it was back home as they were having their son and daughter round and doing a traditional Ozzy bbq for dinner... and what a barbie it was too, we had everything from steak to prawns!! The following day we spent with Audrey, she kindly took us around the area and showed us some of the new estates going up... so whilst we were there we nosed around all of the show homes which was actually really interesting! That night we were left home alone as G&A went to the cinema, so we stayed in and had a spa with another glass of wine, then had dinner that Audrey had done for us! Bliss!

On Sunday Audrey and Claire took me and Lau into Perth for a look around whilst they did some shopping together. Perth city is a lot smaller and more compact than I had expected, I had visions of it being this huge city like Sydney that would take ages to get around, but infact it only has two or three main streets with malls on and its really easy to navigate around. So after we spent a hour or so round the shops and getting some lunch, we headed down to the port area for a wonder round... after there we hopped on the free shuttle bus and went round various places of interst in the city before meeting back up with Audrey and Claire to go home. Part of the following day was spent at the hospital... Laura wanted to see about her broken nose (from where the surf board hit her in Bali), the nurse said she had a deviated septum but as it'd be done over 14 days ago there's not much they could do in the few days we had left in Perth, so it may need to be operated on when we get home! For the next few days we lazed around the pool in the day as it was really hot, and at night we stayed in and had some amazing home cooked meals, all of which we ate around the table and Audrey would tell us stories about her and mum growing up, it was so nice! On the Friday night we were invited round to Claire's house for another big bbq which was nice and spent the evening with her, her boyfriend Marty and a few of their close friends.

We had only planned to stay with G&A for five or six days and by this point we had been there for over a week... all this comfort and good living was making it hard for us to leave, it was completey their fault we overstayed!!! But we were aware we couldn't stay here for the entire 10 weeks so everyday we were searching the internet for relocation deals on campervans heading up the west coast. Another 2 or 3 days had past and we were stilll here!!! We had been taken up to Yanchep National Park with Ged to see the wild Kangaroo's and Koala's, swimming with Audrey, spent the day around Hilary's harbour with Ged, had evening drinks down at Mindarie harbour... it really was time for us to get ourselves motivated and get a campervan out of here (not that we actually wanted to)... so a couple of days later we hired one to be picked up on the 24th May which will of meant we spent 12 days with G&A!! But before we left we had one more day trip out to Freemantle... a friend of mine who I used to work with at Mark Insualtions (Amy), had moved out here to work in Perth, so by the powers of facebook we arranged to meet on the Sunday in 'Free-o' for the day. It was great to see her as I had no idea she was here until we spoke online... we spent the whole day wondering round the streets and markets. We had fresh fish and chips for lunch by the harbour where we saw a lady leave her foor for 1min to get some sauce, and by the time she got back the seagulls were all over her food tearing it to peices, and she still ate it.. it was so funny! After lunch we went to a nice bar for a few home brewed beers, I can't remember what flavours we had exactly but they were all really good, then after some more shopping we went to a real chocolatier where we had proper cups of hot chocolate with ice cream in!! It was so thick it was like drinking melted dairy milk... Laura and Amy loved it! Then to top the day off we met a weirdo on the train on the way back who kept coming out with random comments like "I know someone from Leicester called Steve... do you know him??". So after a lovely day in Freemantle with Amy it was time to say goodbye and of we headed back to our luxury home! A couple more days later it was our time to leave Ged and Audreys and pick our van up to head north, so we said our goodbye's and headed off. We had such a lovely time in Perth staying at Ged and Audreys lovely home and they made our time with them so comfortable and enjoyable, we both want to thank you two so much for your hospitality and your kindness... it won't be forgotten. x