Perth (25 July -10 August )

Finally landed safe and sound in Oz after our 5-month stopover. Funny thing is we're unprepared cos we haven't thought about what we're going to do here and don't even have a guidebook to hold our hand. After 5 months of living cheaply and easily, in decent guesthouses, we're now going to have to slum it in a hostel, cook for ourselves and (no!) get a job....
It's really cold here, coming from Southeast Asia, raining too, we don't have any cold weather clothes, it feels like home, what's going on?!
Perth's a pretty nice city: big, but spread out so that it feels small and is easy to get around and it has some big skyscrapers which, if nothing else, means that you can always tell where you are.
Have discovered that Aussie pies are, in fact, the best in the world (we'd heard rumour)
Went to a chocolate-tasting evening in the city; welcomed with chocolate coated strawberries and sparkling wine. The evening then carried on in one big chocolate eating feast, with the host for the evening keeping up the pretence of teaching us about chocolate.
Had our first tentative dip in the aussie ocean, or at least Rory did, rolling up his trousers Scarborough beach style and having a quick paddle before the ice cold sea froze his toes.
Thought about getting a job here, but got fed up of the city and decided to head up north...