Hi all.

Damian is now 38! Happy birthday to him!!

We are now in Margaret River which is a lovely place on the South West coast of Western Australia, about 3 hours south of Perth and renowned for its wine - can't think why we chose to come here!

We spent our last full day in Hong Kong on Lamma Island. It is a small, quiet island where no cars are allowed, a pleasant change from the hustle and bustle of China and Hong Kong. However, true to form of the theme of our trip so far, we got rained on rather heavily and the boat trip was rather rocky - due to the area being caught by the edge of the typhoon which hit the Philippines and Vietnam. Despite this, we had an enjoyable walk across the island followed by a delicious seafood banquet of very fresh, prawns, scallops, clams and squid whilst sat looking at a very wet harbour and watching the fish jumping out of the water.

Before arriving in Margaret River we spent a couple of days in Perth. Since arriving in Australia the weather has been much cooler, around the late teens and low 20s and again a bit overcast. Apparently their spring has not been very good so far and it has only just started heating up. Perth is a very nice city on the banks of the Swan River, we have seen several pelicans and cormorants (or shags as they call them here) swimming and diving in the river. It is quite a modern city and has a huge park which they tell us is bigger than New York's Central Park.

We are really enjoying being in Margaret River and we had a great drive down although seeing the train overtaking us inbetween the two carriageways of the freeway was a little surprising! The coastline is picturesque although we have not ventured out on the beach for long yet because of the strong winds coming off the Indian Ocean but it's great for the people we watched kite surfing - not sure if we will be trying that!

We had a great day yesterday. We went on an excellent wine tour which also included stops at a chocolate factory (as much free chocolate as you could eat), a cheese factory and a brewery, as well the four wineries! Talk about the perfect day out!!! Only about 116 more wineries to go! We also saw a few kangaroos in the wild near the side of the road after having had some for lunch as part of our tour. Unfortunately we didn't get to eat the witchity grub as there was only enough for two people and we didn't put our hands up quick enough - what a shame!!

We are now in the process of deciding what to do next as we are not totally sure, possibly a few more days around Perth, as we have to drop the car back off there, and then maybe further along the south coast to Adelaide and Kangaroo Island to hopefully see a bit more of the native wildlife.

Damian is spending his birthday afternoon watching the Austrailian rugby league grand final and then Liverpool and Chelsea at about 11pm tonight - just like being at home!! He will also be doing the ironing whilst watching these - also , I am happy to say, just like being at home!

Hope you enjoy looking at the photos. We'll get some more on soon.

K & D XXX