This afternoon we said "good-bye and see you in a month" to our new Perth friends. Exchanging stories and laughter with Rob and Carol, made for easy recovery from jet-lag. We boarded the sleek Transperth commuter train which whisked us to Rockingham, a city about 8 station stops south of Perth. The Transperth train is somewhat like our Westcoast Express from Vancouver to Mission; the significant difference is the Trans-Perth trains operate all day at 7 - 10 minute intervals and there are other lines to outlying towns. Rockingham is our destination because our campervan awaits us here. We intentionally selected a rental company outside of Perth to avoid driving on the 6-lane Kwinana Freeway. Our strategy is to gain driving confidence - on the opposite side - by starting in a less densely populated area. ... read more

Our stopover in Melbourne was sufficient to get one night of sleep to begin our adjustment to Australian time and head west to Perth. The 4.5 hour flight from Melbourne to Perth was similar to flying from Montreal to Vancouver. After studying google maps at home we knew our destination would be the south-west tip of West Australia starting from Perth. To put it in perspective it would be like traveling from Vancouver to Jasper, then Banff, and looping back again to our starting point. We received a very warm welcome from our Perth hosts, Carol and Rob. They had done house-sitting in Abbottsford, BC so they knew exactly what cool, rainy conditions we had escaped. On our second night they surprised us with a picnic at a park on the shores of the Swan River ... read more