The flight to Perth was 09:05 which meant an early departure from the hotel. An uneventful journey saw us land in Australia 10 minutes late ready to tackle the stringent Customs and Border Control. In the event apart from the lengthy queues through passport control the main barrier was the dog and handler. As we have recently come from a farm in the UK it was an odds on certainty that we would be singled out for careful scrutiny but it is great that the country takes border control so seriously.
The dog sniffed the bags of the woman in front and promptly sat down, not a good sign. The bag in question was pushed to one side and the dog encouraged to check the remaining bags before returning to the suspect article. Again the dog sat down and the woman was taken to one side for further questioning. Our turn next!! Luckily we passed with flying colours.
Now to identify the relatives that kindly arranged to meet us. Ted and Beryl came to the UK in 1988 and we have not seen them since so identification could prove difficult but not a bit of it as the first sight through the Arrivals was the "Ted and Beryl" sign and 2 smiling faces. A great welcome.
With bags loaded into the ute we were on the road in no time.
The rest of the day was spent getting to know each other, catching up on family news and trying to keep track of the names of children, grandchildren and now Great grandchildren!
Beryl's sister Eileen and husband Phil came later and the serious business of planning the activities for the week began. Organised agenda so far includes visit to Fremantle, Kings Park, the Pinnacles, a farm tour, meet the wider family and hopefully a visit to an olive farm.