We got up at 3am, and loaded the car with the assistance of a cup of tea (thanks Anne!). Then off to the airport for 4am to check in before the 6am flight. Cath got randomly chosen to be screened for explosives. (Cath - Can't think why they thought I was potentially explosive!! LOL. ).The plane was luckily fairly empty and we could move around and even use 4 middle seats as a bed. The flight didn't seem to take too long to me, after all it was only 11 hours! We landed at Dubai and got everything off the aircraft. It was very hot as we came down the steps (42C!). We used the free wifi in the airport but it was only a couple of hours. The next flight did seem long although it ... read more

Today we started at a more normal time, and went down to Fremantle to the Maritime Museum which included a tour of a diesel-electric submarine. We were accompanied around the submarine by a volunteer ex-submariner who told us all about life on board. We saw the torpedo room, the cramped bunks, a very small kitchen, the control room and the engine room. It all looked quite claustrophobic, and was apparently very smelly after a while as water for showers was limited to once a week. Then we had a look around the rest of the museum seeing various exhibits including Australia-II the Americas cup boat. Then we went to get some lunch, and went to a beach for some of the afternoon. Then back to Anne's house where we were to go out to a very ... read more

Another slow start to the day. After a lazy breakfast we headed off to Kings Park in Perth city. Its quite a large park with lots of little places to stop and do things. We started with an aerial walkway through the trees with some great views of down town Perth. Then on to a dinosaur themed playground, and then after a quick snack for lunch at the cafe, we went on to the DNA tower where we climbed both helices. Then, as the weather was still good, we headed for the beach. Scarborough beach, to see how it compared to the one back home. There we watched some surfers on the big waves, and a couple of kite surfers. Then we drove up to look at the harbour and aquarium, although it was now shut, ... read more

This time it was a 7:00am start, as we needed to get to the airport. So that was the time we had to get up to get packed, get breakfast and get to the airport in time to book in. We got a taxi back to the airfield in the middle of nowhere, and got sorted with the luggage. There was free wifi at the airport, but we didn't have too long before the flight, so we only managed a few quick email checks and a small blog. Then, onto the plane - which bizarrely had the same crew on as we'd flown in with 3 days earlier. They recognised us. The plane was only half full, so we were able to move around a bit and take photos out of most windows. 15 minutes after ... read more

So 5:15am came, and Liz knocked on all our tents to get us to wake up. We then ate breakfast, got together a few things (it was still dark) and set off for the Olgas. The Olgas are a set of mountain/hillocks which were formed at the same time as Uluru, but are made with all the big bits of erosion. So they appear like a huge form of concrete when inspected closely. A conglomerate of huge stones and boulders surrounded by a red cement make up these, as opposed to the fine sand of Uluru. We were in time to watch the sunrise on the Olgas, and the cold of the morning quickly disapeared through the exertion of the climb to the viewing position and the first rays of the sun. After that we walked ... read more