Wow, I'm writing frequently now aren't I!! Actually this may be the last for a while as we're leaving Perth in the morning to start travelling up the West Coast.

We arrived in Perth on Friday the 22nd. Our flight from Adelaide didn't get us here until late though, but it's always exciting turning up somewhere when it's dark, especially your hotel, as you don't really know what to expect when you wake up . . . we were in the South of the City over the river and we had a fab view of the city skyline from our balcony - yep, we had a balcony! This was a real treat for us practiced backpackers!! In the morning we weren't disappointed. . . the view was still there, but this time instead of the skyline being lit up it was framed by the most amazing blue sky and we could see the river. We were feeling fit so decided to walk into the city. It was probably about a 5km walk, which seemed alot longer in 30 degree heat, believe me!

The city is really beautiful. Small, with more and more skyskrapers being built and the ones already here look new and shiny, but in between there are lots of old churches, a small cathedral (not sure it's officially a cathedral, but the sign says it's one?) and many other historical buildings to grab your eye, or camera lense.

We've been here for 6 nights so far. We had a second night in the hotel, as the balcony, in room tea and coffee and ROOM SERVICE was too much to pass up on! Then we had to think of the budget and checked into a hostel in the North of the city (just out of Northbridge for those of you that know Perth) for the remaining 5 nights.

Spending this amount of time here has meant we've had time to do lots of things . . . we went to see an Australian band that I really like (Youth Group) in North Freemantle (30 min train ride out of Perth City). I was so chuffed to stumble across an advert for it online and that there were still tickets available. To top it off they were playing in a tiny bar, so we were literally metres away from them. It was an awesome set and a great night.

We also went to the Moonlight Cinema one night to see Top Gun (ok we've probably all seen it about 30 times already, but you have to admit it's a wicked film! And how could we pass up an opportunity to see the Volleyball scene on a massive screen! James was begging me to go, so I let him twist my arm ;-)) The journey to get to the moonlight cinema was interesting! We'd already walked about 10km during the day and some stupid bus driver sent us on a wild goose chase, so all fresh and showered we found ourselves walking about 5km across various parklands and dusty tracks to get there! Not a brilliant start, but the film made up for it . . . however then we were faced with the journey back to the hostel? Interesting as now it was dark! We went a different way, as a few others were walking in this direction and luckily after about 20 minutes we found a main road and wait for it . . . a bus stop!! Hurrah! Not so bad after all!

Ok, what else have we done here? . . . Oh yes we went Kayaking one day in the river between the South and main City. This was a good laugh and refreshing to get occasionally splashed with water to take the edge off of the heat. We did however, spend about half of the time arguing over who was the best at rowing.

One day we took a trip to Freemantle on the train. We had every intention of visting the prison and various museums whilst we were there, but after walking around for a while, we were exhausted by the intensity of the heat, so we checked out the harbour and beach and then bought loads of water before jumping back on the train to Perth. Freemantle is a stunning town though, definitely recommend a look to anyone that's interested.

I think that's pretty much it for Perth, apart from sorting our Chinese Visa's, more walking and yes more walking! Overall, we have loved it here. However, maybe 7 nights has been too long as I think we're more than ready to move on in the morning. I think if you're here for a year then you'd settle in, but as we're moving around alot you kind of find yourself in limbo quite frequently. No complaints though, as it beats being at home (sorry guys!!)

Love to all and thanks for all the messages, keep reading folks! xxx