It's been two weeks since I first arrived in Perth so I guess it is about time for my first blog entry. After a long and gruelling flight from London Heathrow to Perth via Singapore I finally arrived into Perth Airport on Thursday afternoon (4th July). Independence day! The first flight wasn't so bad and there was plenty of on-board entertainment such as music and movies to watch so the time passed relatively quickly. Being on such a long flight though means you have to endure three or four aeroplane meals and although I was pleasantly surprised at the standard of the food compared with Ryanair and other airlines I have been on (not a lot to compare with admittedly), by the third or fourth meal I was pining for a decent meal. Singapore Airlines are very good though and they regularly come around offering drinks and snacks. I would definitely recommend flying with them. Once I got to Singapore I was pretty tired, but the flight transfer was very straightforward. I didn't need to check my luggage in again, although I did have all my food and drink confiscated before I was allowed to board the flight to Perth. On arrival in Perth it took quite a long time to get through customs, although the Australian authorities did not check my bank funds or Visa confirmation which I was surprised about. More than likely that they have the Visa info on computer anyhow, so no problems getting in. Once I got through Customs and into the arrival hall in Perth I kind of thought - what next?!!! I hadn't booked a hostel or a hotel and hadn't had any sleep and just wanted to get my head down for a night in my own room. So I wandered over to the Tourist information centre in the arrivals area of the international airport where I was greeted by an older Australian bloke who asked me what I was looking for and where I had come from. "Near London" I said. "Where near London?" he replied. "Surrey" I told him. "Where in Surrey?" he asked. "A place called Woking" I told him. "Woking?" he said. "I used to live in Woking - went to school at Woking boys grammar school and lived in Westfield and Hook Heath". I couldn't believe that the first person I spoke to in Australia , a bloke called Neville ,had moved from Australia to Woking when he was younger and grew up in the same area as I did, albeit about 30 years before me! It certainly is a small world! Anyway, he helped me find a hotel in the centre of Perth and I took the shuttle bus to the hotel and went to sleep.

The following day I decided to head to Northbridge - a 10 minute walk from Perth CBD and had read on the internet that this was where all the action is. Also, I read on the internet of a hostel that sounded like it was one of the better places to stay. As it was the first hostel I had stayed in I really had no idea what I was expecting and had nothing to compare it to, so I wandered in and asked for a room. The hostel was called International Backpackers and the guys running it were very friendly so I thought I'd give it a whirl for one night. It was located very close to the nightlife and was actually located above a bar, I wasn't too bothered about that as I was expecting to meet a few people and go out that night anyway. The room itself was a four bed dorm, not very nice, dirty, shower and toilet was in a separate area which was shared with all and sundry and therefore was not very well kept. With it being my first hostel though I thought I'd go with the flow and see what Northbridge had to offer. I headed in to Perth during the day to open a bank account which was relatively straightforward and thought I'd leave the job hunting until the following week. Perth itself is a nice city. Lots of places to go shopping, lots of places to eat and you can tell that it is heavily influenced by it's closeness to Asia with lots of different cultures over here and lots of a Asian food influences.

So back to the hostel in Northbridge - it was an experience, and not one I want to go through again if i can help it! I'm sure there are worse places to stay. In fact I'm pretty certain of that. But looking back I think booking a hostel in a place I later found out was nicknamed 'death street' maybe wasn't the best decision I've ever made.....It was difficult to get to know people as many were 'long-termers' in the hostel and most were either absolute pissheads or druggies! Thankfully I did meet a nice couple in there who, like me, enjoyed a laugh, but realised that they may have made a mistake in booking this particular hostel. Unfortunately for them they had booked a full week so had to ride it out, whereas I had already decided that one night was enough for me! Having not had a lot of sleep the past few days, I didn't get much more during my night in Northbridge either. I didn't go out and stayed in that night as it was very difficult to get to know people who wanted to go out (and seemed relatively sane) but a few of us ended all up talking until about 4am when the music finally stopped and decided to get a few hours kip. A few hours kip would have been quite nice, but I didn't think about the events about to unfold, namely drunken arguments, fire alarms, more music coming from the terrace and pigeons. Yes, bloody pigeons making a massive noise above our room. Possibly rats as well. If I ever get around to writing a review of the International Backpackers in Northbridge it won't be a favourable one!

So after another night of no sleep I decided to cut my losses and head for Fremantle. A decision I should have made the previous day. My friend Andrea, who I know from my time working in Austria, is currently travelling with her boyfriend Phil and they are currently working in Freo so it was a chance to catch up with her and check out Freo. Freo is a fishing port about half an hour south of Perth and as soon as I got down here I realised that it is much more chilled out than Perth and certainly a lot nicer than Northbridge. The place has plenty of bars and restaurants, although they are a little on the pricey side. But the place has a really good feel to it so planning on staying here for a while. I booked myself into a hostel called the Old Firestation, a converted Firestation a couple of minutes walk from the town centre and railway station. I am staying in a four bed dorm which is much nicer than the one in Northbridge. It has it's own shower & toilet and even my own fridge. And no pigeons above this hostel which is always a bonus. The people in the hostel are a lot friendlier and after contemplating trying to find a share house in or near Freo I have decided to stay here for the time being and try to get a job in the City. The commute will only be 30 minutes into Perth and although Freo is quiet during the week it seems to come alive at the weekends which will suit me down to the ground. The main thing now is to find a job which I am currently working on......

I haven't managed to do any sightseeing yet. The weather hasn't been very good anyhow and sorting out a job has been the main focus so far. That and getting drunk. I have already visited a few of fremantles finest bars, including the fantastic Little Creatures. Little Creatures is a converted boatshed and they brew their own beer which is really, really good. The food and atmosphere there is superb and is definitely a place I would recommend going to. I'm sure it will become a regular haunt over the coming weeks while I'm in Freo. Clancy's is another great place - a fish restaurant/bar which plays live music. I'm on a mission to try the different types of alcohol at the moment and Clancy's serves a mango beer which is really nice. The 'Smokey bishop' wasn't quite as nice - a bit like John Smiths but not as strong. Not really my thing I must say but they do say try anything once! Which leads me on to 'Goon', cheap wine which is lethal. Especially if you are in a group and drink 5 litres of it in 15 minutes, which me and three guys Russell, Darren & Tom, that I met in the hostel, did the other night. You may see a picture of the empty carton on Facebook amongst a couple of other pics! Apparently it has fish bits in it as well - quality stuff that Goon and look forward to drinking more of it in the coming months........!

All in all I have started to settle in to hostel life now, two weeks in to my trip. The aim now is to stay in Freo and get a job in Perth CBD for perhaps two months before heading up north to Broome, Kimberley and Darwin, where the weather is much nicer (and hotter). At the moment we are in the Australian winter and although some days are nice and sunny, the nights are cold and it is raining a lot. The plan is to get a job and then start doing some trips at the weekend and doing some sightseeing around Freo. On the list are Fremantle Prison, the Maritime museum and Rottnest island, which is an island that the Aboringinal people inhabited and were imprisoned there. The job search is going well, I have registered for a number of agencies and hopefully something will come up soon so I don't eat in to my funds too much. I think I will stay in the Old Firestation for a while. It's a good way to meet people, free internet, free pool, big TV and close to Freo. Anyway, that's about it for now. Hopefully by the time of my next blog I'll have a job!