G'day Perth

The Perth skyline
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The flights to Perth were surprisingly good.  The first flight from Bangkok to Singapore was with Cathay Pacific.  Left at at 11:45am and arrived local time just after 3 (so just over 2 hours).  Just did the usual at the airport - looked round the shops, gave myself a facial, quick squirt of perfume and read most of the glossy mags in the shop.

Had a four hour wait at Singapore which went really quick.  Gave myself another facial, etc.  Flight for Perth left at 7.25pm and lasted 5 hours.

King's Park
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Arrived in Perth and had one of my giddy 'omg, I'm travelling moments!' - had a huge grin on my face as I went through passport control.  Got a minibus into the city centre which dropped me off right outside my hostel (Coolibah Lodge).  It was 3 in the morning and I was greated by a drunk Irish man waving a plastic sword, who introduced himself as 'Sparticus.'

Despite the lack of sleep, I was up fairly early. It took about 10 minutes to walk into the town centre from Northbridge.  Perth city centre is actually surprisingly small.  There is central pedestrian square surrounded by shops and restaurants with the streets running away from the square lined with offices and more cafes.  I queued for ages in the immigration office and changed my flights with Qantas, before I had some lunch in Central Park.  June is winter in Perth and compared to Asia it is really cold, but as long as it stays dry, it is nicer enough weather to walk around in with a t-shirt or long sleeved top on.  I then went for a walk around Kings Park, which overlooks Perth, which was really nice.

Rottnest - It was soooo cold!
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On Tuesday I reluctantly moved to a dorm room.  Hostels in Australia are very different to the accommodation in Asia.  In Asia, you got your own room usually with a bathroom and there were no real communual areas or kitchen facilities.   On average I paid about 4 pounds a night.  In Oz, most places offer dorm rooms with big communual areas.   Dorm rooms cost about 10-12 pounds whilst the cheapest single room is about 25 pounds.  No more single rooms for me and the advantage of dorms is you get to talk to more people.

The clear water and white sand of Rottnest Island
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After moving my stuff, I walked up to Beatty Park leisure centre for a swim.  They had an outdoor 50m pool and even though I was the only one doing breast-stroke (very slowly) and not wearing goggles, I enjoyed being out in the sun.  I also discovered that modesty, along with queueing, is a very English thing.  Australians don't do shower curtains!  Seen as though it was 'tight-arse Tuesday' and in the interests of some cultural research, I went to the cinema to watch Ocean's Thirteen.  I can happily confirm that both Brad and George are still in fine form!

On Wednesday I, along with Jasmine (a girl from the hostel), made the trip to Rottnest Island.  From Freemantle, the ferry took about 40 minutes and it was very choppy.  About 5 people had their heads in sick bags by the end of the journey.  Rottnest was a beautiful island and it was a shame we'd picked a day when it was raining.  It meant we were confined to seeing the island from a bus and couldn't take advantage of one of the many walking trails.  The sand was white and the water very clear - a popular area for surfing too.  Shame we couldn't make the most of it.

Travelling in Australia is alot more expensive than I thought it would be.  Far too many visits to the ATM already.  So Thursday was going to a 'budget day.' I went swimming again (but ended up buying a new costume!) and then read my book (after spending $20 at the supermarket).  In the evening I ate out and went to a bar that had a live band and salsa dancing.  Spent another $30. Doh!!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were very lazy and low-key.  The weather didn't help as it rained alot.  Went out on Friday night to a 'backpacker night' - too much like a student night out for my liking.

There are still things for me to see and do around Perth but I need a change of scenery for a while.

(24th June - 1st July 2007)