Perth

Greetings from Perth blog fans. Some say that Perth, the capital of Western Australia, is the most isolated capital city in the world. I simply say it's a bloody long way from anywhere. It took us three hours to fly here from Adelaide, and it's only when you look at a map you realise just how far Perth is away from everywhere else, and just how big Western Australia (I'm gonna say WA from now on as it's easier to type) is. I saw a postcard the other day, showing the entire UK, the State of Texas, Malaysia and Singapore superimposed over the area of WA, and there was still room to fit in probably a couple of Belgiums. Yet, a mere 2 million people call WA their home, with over half of those in Perth itself. Yup, you may be getting the jist of this, there's a lot of nothingness in WA.

OK geography lesson over. You may have the impression from the last paragraph that Clare and I have regretted flying here. Not a bit of it. Perth is a lovely city with a very laid-back style thats so different to the rest of Oz's cities that we have visited so far. We've been here for a few days now, enough for a good mooch about. Here's a few piccies of the place:

Now, you may or may not be aware of Clare's quest to visit the 3 Welshpools of the world. Welshpool, Mid-Wales - an obvious tick. Welshpool, Victoria - tick. Welshpool, Perth? We had to go. We discovered to our delight that Welshpool, Perth was only 15 minutes train ride from the city centre, a mere 3 buck train ride. We arrived there to find that Welshpool, Perth is basically a big industrial estate, but it didn't deter Clare one bit:

So there we go. Mission complete. All 3 Welshpools of the world visited. Lovely.

The next day was ANZAC Day here, when Aussies have a day off to remember all the Aussie and NZ troop who fought (and died) in wars since WWI. This is where the Aussies really embarass the British. ANZAC Day is a REALLY big deal here, and everyone, and I mean everyone crowds onto the streets of their cities and towns in the morning and applauds the parade of war veterans as it makes it's way through town, with plenty of marching bands thrown into the mix. I think we should get remebrance day off back home, so we can make more of a big deal of it too. And not just use it as an excuse to spend all day in the pub. Well, maybe just the afternoon in the pub.

-Si

Adelaide

Ahh, Adelaide. The city of churches. The closest one to our hostel was actually hosting a Star Trek convention last weekend, making us wonder if trekkies are maybe starting a new religion here! Adelaide is a lovely place with a very 'European' feel, with the city being completely surrounded by some very nice parkland.

On our first day there, we had a bit of a mooch about the city, taking in the art gallery (get me for being cultured!), botanic gardens, a few museums and the local jail (spelt gaol here). No, Clare hadn't been finally thrown in the slammer, but she did have a kind of morbid fascination in seeing the notorious hanging tower there, where local ne'er-do-wells were hung in the 1800's for such heinous crimes as drunkenness and jumbuck rustling (that's nicking sheep to you and me).

Here is Clare our hostel room (no, its actually cell in the gaol, but they are generally very similar - only joking!):

On our second day in the city, we met up with our mate Amanda, who we met in Melbourne a few months ago. She kindly offered to show us a few sights of the surrounding area on the weekend, which was especially good of her since she works, like, a million hour week (no exaggeration there at all!). So, on Saturday, we all piled into Amanda's car and visited Mount Lofty (the appropriately named big hill that provides you with a spectacular view over Adelaide), Hahndorf (the oldest German settlement in Australia, complete with bratwursts, sourkraut and lots of German flags), the Whistling Wall (a dam wall, 150m long, where due to the 'unique acoustics', normal conversation at on side of the dam can be heard clearly on the other side) and the fantastic Barossa Valley. Now, for any of you wine buffs out there, you may of heard of the Barossa Valley, as it's one of the most important wine growing regions in Australia, and home to the Jacob's Creek winery, which I'm sure you will all of heard of, especially those of you who have visited a Wetherspoons (or two). Here we are outside the visitors centre, and there's a pic of the Barossa Valley too:

After returning to Adelaide that evening, we went for a few drinks in Amanda's local in Henley Beach, a lovely suburb of Adelaide by the sea. On Sunday, Amanda took us for a stroll around Henley Beach and Glenelg, another lovely seaside suburb of the fair city she now calls home. Here we all are in Henley Beach:

Amanda, we would just like to say from the both of us how grateful we are for your kindness towards us and for showing us round some of the sights of Adelaide. Stay in touch!

-Si

A trip to Welshpool...

Admittedly it took a while to convince Si that this was a good idea. Especially when we booked the ticket at the station and the the man kept checking that it definitely was Welshpool that we wanted to go to. I must admit I had a few doubts myself, but when the Melbourne to Welshpool ticket was in my hand, I knew I was doing the right thing!! 3 and a half hours later when I saw the first sign for Welshpool I was VERY VERY excited to fulfil my childhood dream.

We arrived in the dead of the night, and realised that Welshpool, Victoria, makes Welshpool Mid Wales look like a bustling city. We found the Welshpool Hotel/Motel. and went to the bar to check-in. As we walked in with our rucksacks EVERYONE stopped to look at us, the music went off, and maybe it was my imagination but I thought I saw a tumble weed.

The next day we were a little stuck to know what to do. We walked to the four corners of the town to take picture of the Welshpool signs, but that took all of 10 minutes. I was starting to think that my plan of randomness was perhaps just that. BUT THEN, I walked into the self proclaimed 'Milk bar' which was infact a gas station with a picnic bench inside. While sitting on this picnic bench feeling a bit of a prat I looked up to to see a post card of OUR Welshpool looking back at me. The fact that there was another silly bugger doing the same thing, filled me with hope.

By mid-day we had seriously run out of things to do, and our plan was simple. Kick our heels till the pub opens. I really wanted to speak to some locals to tell them where I was from, but none of them seemed that bothered, one lady even said that there were loads of Welshpools (she obviously has not research the matter, there are 3, and I had now been to two of them!!).

I was deflated by the whole thing, but then while browsing in an Op Shop (charity shop to me and you)we met our saviour - a lady called Prue. She was very excited about me coming from Welshpool, and her logic was that meaning that I had travelled all the way here just to see the town, the least she could do was show us the surrounding area. Here I am with Prue:

We had a fantastic afternoon. We went to see Agnes Falls (its a water fall, not a mean old people home like I initially thought!), and the surrounding Gippslands. Then she took us back to her house to meet her animals and husband, in that order.It was a brilliant day, and truely confirmed my love of staying off the beaten track.

Our evening was spent in the Welshpool Hotel pub, where Si had the delicacy that is Sausage Curry and Mash. This crazy little town MUST be related to ours.

For those of you true Welshpool fans who may be wondering where the other Welshpool is, It is actually in Perth, Western Australia.

Guess where I am now?

LIVING THE DREAM!!!!!!!!

On the Road Again...

Well now we are back to the backpackers life, and it seems like ages since we were living out of a rucksacks, and sharing a kitchen with dozens of other backpackers making beans on toast and pasta. It is even stange to spend time with people we do not know, as for 6 weeks we have been spoilt by being surrounded by friends and family.

Having the Girls over has been great. We spent most of the time eating, drinking and laughing, with a fair bit of sight seeing inbetween.

Whilst Si and Clare H were at Sydney, we went to the Grampians, as I had missed going with Si. It was amazing!!! We stayed at a hostel which was fantastic. It's run by Tim and Pudding (Pudding is a dog, but he does claim ownership!) Everything at the hostel was free, including bike hire, which we took full advantage of. To those of you who know me, you will guess the next part of the story... Yes. I fell arse over tit off the bike, and landed at the bottom of the bank I was trying to cycle up. The irony that the two trained nurses (Joey and Sandiman) did not rush to my aid, but found the whole thing highly amusing. 2 weeks latter my legs still look like I have been kick boxing with a donkey!

As Si has told you, we went to the neighbours trivia night, but he missed the out the most important part of the story. When I met Dr. K, he actually recognised me from our day trip to neighbours. A very VERY poor claim to fame, but I was really impressed, and admittedly felt a little special.

The scary thing is that we are now 6 months into our travelling, an unavoidable half way through. Admittedly it does seem a while since we were home, but the thought that we will be back there in the same time again is crazy.

I promise I will post some of my photos soon. It just might take a few days.

Our last few days in Melbourne...

After an action-packed two weeks taking in the sights of Sydney, Melbourne and the often-traveller-neglected-but-well-worth-a-look Canberra, my sister went home on Tuesday with a happy smile on her face and loads of great holiday pictures. Speaking of pictures, here's the group shot we took prior to her departure:

(For those of you not in the know, the front row from L-R is Becca, Clair (AKA The Sandiman) and Joey).

Since my sister's departure, we went on a sunset cruise to look at the little fairy penguins. Unfortunately, as it went dark pretty quickly, none of my pics of the cute little penguins came out very well, but I did get a nice sunset shot:

Today, Joey is going to swim with the sharks. A terrifying prospect for the rest of us, but she seems to be happy to risk life and limb to get up close and personal with some really scary big fish. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures at least!

-Si

Meeting Dr Karl and some more delights of Sydney...

Well, don't hold this against me, but earlier on this week, me, my sister, Clare and her friend Jo, Clair and Becca went to the Neighbours Trivia Night in Melbourne. A bit 18-30 holiday-tastic if you ask me, but a really good fun beery night nevertheless. We got to meet Doctor Karl (another big tick on my 'to-do' list of Oz!) along with Libby, Darcy and Izzy, for all those of you who actually know who those people are. Here's our group shot with them:

And here's a quality cheesy snap of me and Darcy:

After the quiz, Dr Karl and his band (the aptly-named 'Waiting Room') came on and treated us to a selection of quality covers, form such greats as the Fratellis and Kasabian. Can I just take this opportunity to say Waiting Room are Rockin' with an entirely justifiable capital 'R'.

On Tuesday me and my sister flew to Sydney for a few days, taking in the Harbour Bridge and Opera House (of course) and a trip to the Blue Mountains yesterday. Here's a good snap of us in front of the Three Sisters rocks:

Today we're planning on a trip down to Bondi Beach. If it stops raining. Boo.

-Si

Our last few weeks in Melbourne

Well blog fans, since I last spoke to you, I've been enjoying the freedom of not working any more, and showing my sister round some of the delights of Melbourne. Here's a few more snaps for you. They are, in order, us lot down at the Shrine of Remembrance, with Melbourne at night as the backdrop, me and Clare from the viewing deck of Rialto towers, Melbourne's (now second) tallest building, Clarey and Clare in the Hard Rock Cafe, Clare (wo)manning the gun on HMAS Castlemaine, me at the helm of the same ship (don't I look appropriately nautically-themed in my sweater) and part of the 60,000 crowd at the MCG watch one of the first Aussie Rule footy games of the season. An awesome experience, and a good excuse to eat a pie and drink beer.

-Si