Perth & Kalgoorlie!

Well we've finally got round to updating the website after a rather hectic couple of weeks here in Western Australia! We arrived in Perth on 3rd December, to be greeted by lovely hot, un-humid weather and relativly normal people (well compared with those in Asia anyway!!).....

Perth itself is fairly small in terms of the town centre itself but the nearby suburbs are pretty close by and nicely accessible via a free bus, which is always a bonus! Upon arriving in Perth we stayed for a few nights in a rather swanky hotel, with roof-top swimming pool, where Louise had her birthday (whilst at the hotel, not in the pool!)....After that we stayed in a suburb called Northbridge, which is home to most of the bars and clubs in Perth.

After about a week in Perth we took a 7-hour train journey through the bush, to spend the weekend in Kalgoorlie, WA's main mining town. We stayed with Louise's Aunt/Uncle down there who arranged an amazing trip down the mines!!! Apparently the road underground took us over a kilometre deep, down underground where they mine all the nickel. We also went a place called Super-pit, where they mine all the gold. Unfortunately it was heavily surrounded by a barbed wire fence....

We also went in search of wild kangaroos after having not seen any on our train journey down. The first one we saw was in a packet on the supermarket shelf!! Tasted amazing with a bit of pepper-corn sauce!!! The second one we saw was at least whole, but had been smashed to bits by a local truck driver!!! Fortunately, we did manage to see some live ones in the bush, but within seconds they had bounced away, hence no photos!!!

After our weekend away we came back to Perth during the week of the Ashes, staying at probably one of the best hostels here, which turns into a bring-your-own bar with live music, pool table etc, which was conveniently situated opposite probably the best bar in town, the Deen! Our last night out almost got us in trouble when Louise won an Australian Cricket hat which we graffiti'd into an England hat!!!

During this week we also went on a few tours to Freemantle and Rottnest Island, home to some weird animals called Quokkas, which are cat-sized rats, which walk around similar to kangaroos! Not sure how they originated, but I dread to think!! Obviously we also had to make time for the beaches!

We also spent a day wine tasting, which was never a good idea just after a heavy night out, but hey, what better way to spend a hangover than to be drinking wine again from 10am!

Today we spent the day doing the touristy things, taking pictures of what will probably mean not much when we get back, but just had to be done! Tonight we fly out to Sydney for Christmas and New Year. However, we don't yet have accommodation out there so may well end up on the beach! Could be worse though!!!!