OZ here we come!!

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We awoke to our alarm at 5am, packed our bags and jumped on the MRT around 6am in order to get to the airport in time for our flight. The airport was surprisingly simple to follow and before to long we were checked in and our bags were on their way to the aircraft!! We headed off to get something to eat and ended up in Burger King for one of their healthy breakfasts!! The place was really busy and we ended up sharing a table with 3 business men from the phillipeans!! They were extremely friendly and very well educated to the point where they spoke English with an American accent!! They were very interested in our trip and all would love to visit the highlands of Scotland and one of them ended up giving us his card which detailed that he was the CEO of this company!! Time passed by extremely quickly and before we knew it we were on the plane to Australia!!

First stop in Australia was Mandurah, about 70Kms south of Perth, to visit my great auntie and uncle who had emigrated out here some 30 years before. They were picking us up from the airport and we were greeted at the airport with friendly smiles and local gifts!! Although the odd Australian phrase such as "fair dinkum" was in their speech, they had still firmly retained their Scottish accents. As we headed to the car, the heat hit us and the sun was almost blinding!! It was fantastic!! hehe!!

After an hour's drive we arrived at their house and were greeted by a little Jack Russel called 'Elvis' who took quite a liking to us over the next few days that we stayed with them!! The dog wasn't the only Elvis themed household fixture though as a lot of the house was decorated with Elvis memorabilia and numerous pictures. It was great to eat our dinner everynight out in the back garden and we enjoyed a really nice BBQ on the friday night!!

During our time with Rita and Robert they showed us around the area and we enjoyed relaxing and getting to know them!! Robert had formerly been a fire and sword eating entertainer which was a pretty interesting back story. We looked at family photos from many years ago and they were fasinated in finding out about our trip so far!!

We also discovered the phenomenon of Australian bush flies shortly after arriving. Basically, small flies that pester you constantly when outside in most places (well in Western Australia anyway) and constantly land on your face, neck or any other parts of skin showing. Although they don't bite or anything, they were a constant nuisance as they were always seemed to be getting near our mouths. It was a downside of the heat, but for that heat, you couldn't really complain.

We visited the local shops and took a stroll down to the marina to see some of the local scenery!! Apparently if you go swimming in the area you are very likely to see a dolphin!! Unfortunately they were not out playing when we were there although I did keep an eye out for them!! We visited a few of the towns around Mandurah, such as Rockingham, and we even managed to fit in a cinema fix for Gary!! hehe!! Although I'm sure he would argue that it was really for me!!

We ended up staying here for 5 nights and were sorry to leave but we wanted to sample a bit of Perth itself before flying to Sydney. It was sad to leave as they had made us feel right at home and we'd already become accustomed to the home comforts and tasty meals they had been kind enough to give us. Before we left we gave them a recorded video message on the camcorder from my Nana back home and then in turn recorded a message from them to take back to the UK with us. It was pretty moving.

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Photos

Elvis
Ain't nothin' but a hound dog. He was still young so extremely energetic so he was a constant companion.

Gary
In his aussie attire, a gift from Rita and Robert.

Robert & Rita
I hope they enjoyed us being there.

Gary
It was a very hot day.

Bush Flies
There had been about 30 on it two seconds before but my back had just been shaken.