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First impressions of Perth when we landed were the vastness of the sky, its blueness and the brightness of the light. Artists come here to seek out this crisp dazzling light I gather, it is quite startling. The other shocker was the heat – it was only 7am in the morning but we certainly felt out of place in our fleeces and jeans in the 25 degree heat – not as bad as others who had ugg boots on though!

Having not slept on either flight and therefore meaning we had not slept for three days we have been catching up on some of that – quite tricky in this heat (it has been 41 degrees today). But that has not stopped us enjoying the differences; the beautiful exotic birds such as galahs, kookaburras & rosellas with their raucous screeching, the stunning variety of beautiful eucalypts and flowers and fruit trees. We are staying in Andrew’s sister Jill’s house, who is currently away on hols herself, and are loving the lemons & figs from the garden! It is a lovely old wooden colonial style house on stilts with a beautiful veranda & porch, and lots of interesting pictures dotted round the walls from their own travels.

Having been thrilled by the weather when we arrived, a stark change was experienced last night and early today; a turbulent tropical cyclone in the north of the state (Western Australia stretches 1000’s of miles) impacted on us down in Perth by bringing a large storm and shed loads of rain, with exciting thunder & lightening. It was a real deluge – and I felt quite smug that they do indeed get rain here (even though it was the first January rain for 60 years !), having been told on so many occasions how sunny the weather always was here by our family! Unfortunately, this has turned the bearable dry heat into quite uncomfortable humid heat, also crippling the air con in the house which can’t cope with the humidity! Doh...

It is always wonderful to experience the food in another country, and here is no exception with the fruit and veg seemingly two to three times the size of ours back home and with taste second to none. Delicious! However, a downside is the weak pound meaning the cost of things for us is exorbitant; for instance, our 100g jar of ordinary Nescafe coffee cost $10-50, the equivalent of about £6.50! Everything is a silly price – all down to the mining boom that Western Australia has experienced in recent years the local shop-keeper informed us. We shall have to keep foraging in the garden and seek out some bush tucker when out and about!

Well, we have managed get out and about a little already; a swim in the Indian Ocean was a must on the second evening and drying off on the beach whilst watching the beautiful sunset. Perth / WA is known as the sunset state and they are stunning views. We have also been to meet ‘the locals’ in a nearby National Park; the koalas, wombats , kangaroos & other assorted indigenous fauna – certainly something Adam & Michelle had been looking forward to so nice to get one ‘must do’ ticked off early. Hopefully as we travel around we will see some of them in the wild anyway (have already seen the ‘roos’ in the bush on the outskirts of Perth).

Anyway, in short the three days in Perth have been a feast for the senses! Next stop, Margaret River....

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