Hi All,
We've been in Perth for two weeks now, and we have done loads! Perth is quite a mixed city really. There is the Central Business District, beaches, palm trees and rivers as well as a really nice esplanade. During our time here we have shared our dorm with a New Zealander and 3 Germans. As time went on we spent more time with the Germans, 2 of which were chefs. On one of the nights we all made pizza and played poker, with them and a few others from around the hostel.

After a couple of days of settling in and exploring the town, we ventured out to one of the many beaches around Perth, called Cottesloe. It's a really nice beach with a lot of cafe's and fish and chip shops along the sea front, though there's not that much else there! It was a bit like The OC, loads of young kids driving fast cars and carrying D&G handbags. Our only problem with this beach, and Perth in general, was that there are far too many flies attacking you face, everywhere you go!

On the Sunday we went in to Fremantle, an old shipping town about 20km's away from Perth. Over the weekend it is filled with markets (which are located on Henderson Street!) where you can buy anything from clothes to fresh fruit and veg. There were loads of book shops, cafe's and coffee shops around the area aswell. After wandering around for a while we sat by one of the churches and spent some time reading. I've just finished the Da Vinci Code, whilst Ro has read 3 books.. she's a lot quicker at reading than me!

Most of our time was spent exploring the city though. We got around on the CAT (Central Area Transit) busses, which were free and operated every 4 minutes! In Perth there are about 10 shopping malls, one of which has a massive food court, with nearly every type of food you could imagine! There was also a place called London Court, which was designed like London from centuries ago, where some Asians asked us "is England like this?".. erm, no! :D

Whilst we were down at the Esplanade we visited the Bell Tower where the bells hail from St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square. They also have a wheel like the London Eye, similar in size to the one in Brisbane. The Esplanade runs alongside the Swan River, where you can get boats to anywhere in the local area.

On our last day we visited Kings Park, the most visited tourist attraction in Western Autsralia. The park is situated on top of a hill, so you get some great panoramic views of the city. Inside the park there are many war memorials, one of which has a lit flame in the memory of Australia's soldiers contribution to WW1. There is also an Aboriginal Art shop and a Botanical Garden (another place to avoid if you don't like flies!)