We arrived in Sydney at 5.30am. Had to get bags and
go thru Customs. I had 4 hundred cigs so I was
panicking but they just asked me about foot and mouth
and checked to soles of my trainers for cow shit. Mine
were fine but Claire had to get her shoes taken of
here and disinfected. Imagine bringing shit in your
shoe half way round the world. Not very good for
internatinal relations.
The Flight to Perth was ok, the view from the window
was just loads of nothingness. Weird. Arrived in
Perth 1.30pm and got bus to Britannia Hostel. We
slept for a couple of hours and then went to a shop
and bought spuds, an onion, mixed veg and butter and
made a decent dinner. Boy was it nice. After 3 and a
half weeks of eating out it was paradise.
At ten we went to the BOG BAR. Irish bar of course. I
wore my derry jersey. Before we had even order a
drink we meet Elaine Burke from Ballinasloe (she was in
Claires class in school). We knew that she was in Oz
but had no idea where. We had a great nights craic
with the gang she was with.
I checked the internet when I got back to the hostel
to find out that Tyrone had beat Derry. I decided not
to contact home for a while. Id just let them enjoy
their moment of glory.
Mon 18.06
Got up late due to a few too many beer the prevous
night (Victoria Bitter gives you the worst hangover
imaginable). Went for a walkabout. Beautiful city,
very clean and relaxed. We down to Barrack Street
Jetty and walked along the Swan River. Although the
weather was not as hot as South East Asia it was still
22 centigrade. A good day at home. And this is their
Winter!! We saw a few jelly fish in the water. Yuck.
Dont know if they were Box Jellyfish, theyre the ones
that can kill, but I wasnt going to find out. Ive
made a promise to myself that I will not go into the
sea whilst in Oz.
Went back to hostel and made spuds again!! Ah, be
God, ye can't beat the schpud!! as Claire says!!
Watched Television. Neighbours. Weird Realisation
moment. I'm watching Neighbours and I'm actually in
Australia. They have theyre own version of Who wnats
to be a Millionaire and Big Brother. They even have
their version of The Weakest Link. Their presenter is
Morag from Home and Away!!
Tues 19.06
Claire got up and went to the agency. They offered a
job in Bunbury (2 hours south of Perth.)
In the afternoon we went to King's Park, this in a
massive area of wild bushland on the edge of Perth on
a hill. There were some amazing views. We were a bit
worried about snakes but didn't come across any.
We went to the cinema that night and saw Pearl
harbour. We walked home through the shopping precinct
at 11.40pm and it was empty except for a few
aborigines lying full in shop doorways. We were a
little nervous!
Wed 20.06
We got the train out to Freemantle. It only took 25
mins. This is a quieter, smaller port town. We had
lunch on the Cappocino Strip and dandered around. We
went into the FREE maritime museum. Claire and I had
both read Bill Bryson's "Down Under" book and lots of
the stuff in the museum were from the shipwrecks he
talked about. The main display was the remains of
Dutch boat "Batavia" that sank in 1639. Really
interesting stuff.
Thur 21.06
Up at 7am and caught ferry to Rottnest Island. The
sea was very choppy and it was a bumpy ride. Talked
to another fella on the boat who said that this was
nothing compared to other days. We made our way to
the hostel, out of the main settlement and saw our
first Quokka. These are little animals half way a rat
and a kangaroo. When I get photos developed you'll
understand!
We rented bikes and cycled around the whole island,
about 15-20 kms. Sore Arse for sure! The place was so
quiet as there are less than 10 cars on the whole
island. Some of the beaches were fantastic. We saw
some sort of large lizard on the road. Loads of
shipwrecks about this island.
Fri 22.06
We cycled into settlement from hostel. (The hostel was
formally an Army Barracks). Rented a rod and went
fishing. So funny. Using Prawns as bait, I cuaght
one in about 3 minutues. Then Claire had a turn.
When it bit she swore it was really big and when it
came out of the water she had to eat humble pie. The
word TIDDLER springs to mind. I caught a few more,
throwing them all back of course, when a duck appeared
on the scene. When I caught the next one, and brought
it out of the water he latched on to it. The poor
fish has me pulling him one direction and the duck
pulling him the other direction. After that trauma we
decided that was enough. We coaught the Ferry back to
Perth that evening.
Sat 23.06
We went shopping. Claire had to get uniform stuff for
the job and I had to buy a sewing kit!!! I need to
make a few repairs to the cheap t-shirts I had bought
on Thailand and Bali. They were disintegrating.
A whole shabang from the hostel went out for a few
drinks.
Maria - Liverpool
Sophie - London
John - Southampton
Cheree - Sydney
Natalie - Melbourne
We went to the BOG. Whilst Claire was at the toilets
I chatted to two girls from Kerry, Elaine and
Catherine. They were from the same village as Jackie
Healy Rae and sounded just like him!! The four of us
and a great nights craic. They invited us over for
dinner the next day. Left bar at 4.15am
Sun 24.06
Up at 1pm with worst hangover yet. Rang the Kerry
women to see if invite was still on and went round.
They lived in a nice flat with a view of the Swan
River. We watched videos of their road trip with two
other friends from Adeliade to Perth. We went to mass
in Perth Cathedral and then went back to hostel.
We met James (the fella from London we met in Bali).
He'd left his wallet in Bali and was a little
concerned but Zoe his girlfriend who was still in Bali
was to send it over.
Mon 25.06
Bought train tickets to Bunbury for trip next day.
James told us that Zoe met Posh and Becks at Bali
Airport. She got to hold Brooklyn. Dont know whether
it true but there ye go !!! Better than meeting the
fella from Countdown !!!