So here we are, no.6 in the series. We've had a few complaints about not keeping on top of things, but it is really difficult to find time, and money to get to an internet café! So get off our case! Only joking….. we last left you heading for Singapore.It was a pretty cosy bus ride, although we did arrive at our hostel very late, around 1 in the morning. But the receptionist was fine, showed us the ropes and escorted us to our 20 bed dorm, where everyone was fast asleep. We had to creep about trying not to wake anyone up whilst we made our beds (top bunks too!). We were also pretty starved after our journey, so we asked if anywhere would still be open. We were told about a small place just round the corner that supposedly did really nice food, so we took the guys advise, even so much as to order what he suggested. The food was really nice, all apart from the eyeball size (and textured) fish balls that came in the oily soup like liquid. On our second day, we awoke to a horribly drizzly day. It was pretty much the first time that we needed to wear our waterproof coats. We didn't want to do anything outside really, so we decided to jump on a bus and have a look around the city. It seemed alright, but we didn't get enough time to appreciate it as we were due to fly out the next day, and plus the weather wasn't doing this place any favours. Once the rain had subsided slighly, we took a trip to the local Chinese market. Here, Shona was able to pick up a few bargains and reuse her bartering skills. We spent the rest of the day looking around the shops in one of Singapores massive shopping centres. We were able to leave our bags at the hostel, and were told that we'd be able to stay there until our flight was due. What we didn't tell them, was that our flight wasn't until 9 in the morning. We had originally planned to stay at the airport again, but instead, we watched three films back to back with a few guys we'd met at the hostel. We finished the last one at about 5, which was when we went to catch a cab. So we were a bit cheeky as we didn't pay for an extra night, we just used their TV untill we had to go. They didn't seem bothered at all, in fact the receptionist joined in to watch a few films and also helped us locate a taxi. We managed to flag one down, and the driver turned out to be very nice and chatty (even at 5 in the morning). He was explaining his way of life to us, and that people are taught English as their first language, although they did have a local dialect, which had gradually faded out.We managed to board our flight with no delays, and were very satisfied with the on-board entertainment. Although Craig was really tired due to no sleep the previous night, he felt that he had to take advantage of all the goodies we had access to. Whilst Shona slept, Craig was playing the computer games linked to the screen in the headrest in front of him, as well as watching the many different series and films that were all saved onto the hard drive (Extras being the main one ("are they your real clothes, or did you have them made for you specially?")). When we first arrived in Oz, it wasn't looking exactly how we'd imagined. It was grey, drizzling, and actually a little chilly. After arriving at the immigration station, we were interigated about where we had been previously. They wanted to know the route we had taken, whether we had any fruits or plants on us, and they were also interested in where we had walked in our walking boots (incase of contamination)! After feeling a little uncomfortable for a while, and making us feel like criminals, it was fairly clear that we weren't Muslim Extremists, and so waved us through. We collected our bags and stood outside in the rain! Luckily our cheaufer didn't keep us waiting too long. Within 10 minutes, Shonas uncle Mark arrived in his soft top VW Golf. His house was only a little way from the airport. He gave us the low-down of the area warning about bush fires and other things to look out for, such as Redback and White Tip Spiders, as well as other creepy crawlies.We settled at Marks, had a cuppa, and met the family all of whom were very nice. They managed to make some space for us to sleep for the night, and were offered a blow-up bed. Unfortunately Mark couldn't find a pump, so we headed off to the nearest petrol station. Here we collapsed the roof, and continued to use the free air to inflate the bed. We then had to get it home, fully inflated. So there was Craig, in the back, hiding underneath the bed with it sticking up in the air. He had to hold on to it tightly to stop it from blowing away. It was decided that a Pizza and some DVD's was the order for the evening, so Craig watched the Simpsons movie with the girls, whilst Shona sat and watched a romantic comedy with her uncle and Mari. Having had hardly any sleep for over a day, it wasn't long before our eyes started to feel heavy, and we went off to dreamy land.Next day, we awoke to glorious sunshine, it must have been at least 36 degrees. We wanted to stick around, but both Mark and Mari have very busy lives, so we decided to head for Shonas nans. We were shown the way to Perth station by Mari, where we parted ways. We boarded the bus to Mandurah (about an hour from Perth), and took in the sights of Perth and it's suburbs. We were met by Shonas nan, Inez, at the waiting area. She seemed very pleased to meet us both, and was excited to explain about the local area and where everything was. She informed us that Don, her huisband, was feeling a bit better today. We had heard he was quite poorly and so expected the worst, but when we met him he was a lot better than we had anticipated. He was wandering about and helping out with things around the house. We were shown to our room, around the rest of the house, and were told to make ourselves at home. We were also shown to the nice sized indoor swimming pool (although it was quite cold, it was quite a luxury to be able to go for a dip). We stayed here for a few days, being shown around the various shopping areas and also the marina and very nice foreshore. It was nice to have a place that we could use as our HQ. Travelling around was awesome, but not being on the move for a little while felt pretty good too.However it wasn't long until our adventurous side got the better of us, so we decided to take a look around Perth City. So we booked ourselves into a strange little place called North Lodge just north of Perth main City in a place called Northbridge. We were warned off of Northbridge by Shonas nan, as it was the party hub of Perth, and things could get a bit rowdy after the teenagers had had a few shandies. We had no problems though with it being full of bars, cafés and resteraunts. It was here that we first discovered a) that beer was really expensive here; we assumed the Ozzies being complete alchopopers it would be quite cheap, b) that it was fairly difficult to get a pint; most bars sold "tinnies", "stubbies" and "scooners" (which I think is a little over half a pint?!?), c) that Fosters is practically non existant in Oz (not that we like it, but it's advertised as an Ozzie beer, no?).So anyway…… we arrived in Perth with our knapsacks, not really knowing where we were going. We followed the website directions and started our walk down the road which would later become very familiar to us. We finally found our accomodation and made our way to the front door, which was locked! Luckily I had my phone, and some battery (a rareity these days), so we called the number on the door. No answer. We waited a minute and then tried again. Finally an oldish woman answered. I explained that we booked on the net and gave her my name. "Oh yeah, I left the keys in the fusebox on the wall, underneath the letters [and other crap]." Sure enough they were there. This proved to be a regular procedure, and this woman became notoriously difficult to get hold of. We could understand it if we'd arrived in the middle of the night, but this was 2 in the afternoon! Luckily the room seemed pretty nice for what we paid, having a bathroom, basic kitchen (but no cooker) and TV (complete luxury). We spent a couple of nights here and finally got to meet the woman, who explained that she'd given us a free upgrade. We had a bit of a butchers around Perth, it seemed very clean and tidy for a city. We'll leave it there for now, but we promise that we'll update again by next week, it's all written, we just need to translate it in to tinterweb world. So check again in a few weeks you crazy kids xxxxx