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I've been meaning to write a proper update for a while, but due to a combination of laziness and time constraints, it just hasn't happened. However, I now have lots of time and I'm feeling less lazy. If I remember correctly, I was in Melbourne when I last e-mailed. It was a really nice place, I'd quite like to go back at some point. Didn't have the same feel as Sydney, but not in a bad way. Next up was Adelaide, which was a day's train ride away. Thankfully, the train was during the day, rather than at night (like Sydney-Melbourne) so we weren't tired when we got there. Unfortunately, our hostel was a little bit of dump. It was right above a seedy pub, the room was cramped and they'd only given us one double bed and one single bed. And everyone else staying there was either over 60, mental, or both. But it's all part of the experience, I guess... And also, we were there on Good Friday which meant that literally nothing was open, which was a bit of a shame. But I'd rather be in Adelaide when nothing's open than anywhere else, if you see what I mean. The trams were running though, so we we weren't completely stuck. We were hopeful that pubs would be open in the evening, but as it turned out we lucked upon (apparently - well, according to the pub) the only place in the entire state which was licensed to sell alcohol without it being served with a meal. The Saturday was much better though - weather was lovely and we watched a bit of Aussie Rules at the Adelaide Oval (it was only a second division match so cost about 3 quid - brilliant) and went round the Don Bradman exhibition. We were quickly learning that there really isn't that much to do during the day in Adelaide. The night was much better, we found a good few clubs and pubs and after putting Nick to bed at about 11.30 (bless him) me and OC managed to rope a couple of unsuspecting girls to show us the nightlife, which was better than I had anticipated. Next day, we had to get the train to Perth (a mammoth 36 hours) and I'd only had about 3 hours sleep after getting to bed at around 5am, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to the train. In the end, it was pretty grim - 2 nights with barely any sleep, going across the outback (we stopped in a 'town' with a population of exactly 4), with the same landscape repeated endlessly. It was interesting, but I was completely knackered most of the time. Glad I did it, but never again....
So, into Perth. Perth is really nice - it's a lot smaller than Sydney/Melbourne but there's still a 'city' feel about it. And the weather is consistently lovely. We were going out every night being a bit disappointed at the lack of people out, but then on the weekend the whole city was completely rammed from 6pm onwards. We were going to eat in a restaurant/pub we liked, but it was heaving at 6, and so was pretty much everywhere else. It was quite a shock. A couple of days ago, we went to an AFL match at the Subiacco Dome - 35000 of us cheering on the Freo Dockers against Adelaide. We (Freo) lost, unfortunately. It was still great to go, even though most of the rules completely bypassed me. Me and Nick spent a day wandering round Kings Park, which is basicaly a massive park with all manner of loveliness scattered around. OC's great-aunt and uncley said I could stay with them whenever I wanted, and Julie (the daughter) has given me the name of her friend who lives somewhere vastly north of Perth, so I can stay with her too if I want! And also went to the Perth aquarium.
Yesterday the lads left (by myself for a year now...), so I met up with my old mate Steve. I got the bus into Rockingham (slightly south of Perth - 45 mins on bus) and he met me at the station. He's been really great and his girlfriend Lauren is a lovely girl. We spend all day yesterday in their back garden drinking beer, having a barbecue and catching up on the good old days. They're both at work today, so I've got control of the house! I'm on their computer at the moment, it's nice to be able to e-mail in peace! Steve's not coming back tonight because of work, but Lauren will be back later so I won't be lonely. Tomorrow is ANZAC day - a public holiday - so the plan is to go out with Steve and Lauren and all their friends for a bit of all day drinking. Steve's got Thursday off work, so we're going to do something then too.
Still not entirely sure of my future plans - I'm thinking I might stay in Rockingham for a week/10 days, then stay in a hostel for a week or so in Perth while I look for a job - I'd like to stay in Perth a bit longer, but I might move north for a while after advice from various people. Apparently, there's plenty to do, but that's as far as I've thought ahead, thinking more than 2 weeks ahead would hurt my head.
I'll leave it at that, I might go for a little trip round Rockingham. It was raining earlier so I couldn't face leaving the house! It's only 10 am now, so hopefully it'll have stopped by now...
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