More like Perth, Scotland!

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I've spent the last few days in and around Perth, and for the first time since New Zealand the weather has felt distinctly British. Windy, a bit of rain, and generally pretty chilly! Can't really complain too much and I've just flown about 750 miles north up the coast to Exmouth (to go diving) and it's over 30 degrees again! I'm nearly back on the same latitude as we were when we were on the other coast around Cairns about a week ago. If you've seen the photos I put up you'll have seen how great our diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef was there. For a bit of a treat for the end of Rachel's trip we stayed in a plush hotel too, and spent her last day chilling out by the pool and finishing our books. Sadly last Tuesday we flew in different directions, Rachel on her mammoth 36 hour flight home via New Zealand and me to Perth, via Sydney. Her flights were long and tiring, but my flights show just how large this country is. Cairns to Sydney was 3 hours, covering the 1,600 miles plus that we'd driven over the preceeding 3 weeks, and Sydney to Perth was 5 hours! Pretty glad I'm not driving that distance too. I'm now just 7 hours ahead of the UK, 2 hours different to Sydney. As I'm now on my own the sleeping options are a bit more limited! In Perth I stayed in a pretty ropey hotel and then had a couple of nights in hostels before finding a bargain price for one night in a 4 star! Perth was very cool, not so much going on, but pretty laid back and scenic, especially Kings Park, a huge space close to the centre. On my second day there I went down the coast to a place called Safety Bay and had a day kitesurfing. It's a really cool spot that's great for beginners as the water is so shallow and calm, and I managed to get up on the board and do a few decent runs for the first time - great fun. I also explored the coast around there a bit and the city beaches. On a day when the wind was forecast to be weaker I went further down the coast (about 200 miles) to the Margaret River area. The coastline there is spectacular, amazing limestone features especially around Bunker Bay, although the weather wasn't condusive to relaxing on the beach. I had hoped to kitesurf again the next day but the wind was blowing at around 40 knots, bit too much for me, so I relaxed in a cool little place called Fremantle, just south of Perth. It's famous for hosting the America's Cup and was also a naval base for US and British subs during WW2. I did get some more kitesurfing in yesterday, steadily improving, but still a bit gung-ho, so a bit bruised and tired I went to the posh Perth hotel to relax. Today I flew north to Exmouth. I've got a few days here, basically just to dive the Ningaloo Reef. It's very different up here, hotter (!), very quiet and very few people. Perhaps my little slice of rural, outback Australia before heading back to the southern, well populated coast from Adelaide to Melbourne. Only a month to go, home soon!

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