UPDATE!!!

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Goodness me I really havn't written on here in aaaagggggeesss!! This may be rather long!!!hehehe

Sorry about that guys, I guess you've all missed my little updates over the last week (or were you secretly relieved :P hehe)

Lets start at last Tuesday when I travelled down to Margaret River with Laura (Han's cousin). Got up at 5am to meet her at the airport!!! It was totally worth it though and we really got on like a house on fire! Margaret River is soooooo beautiful, and although the weather was not at all in our favour I still had the best time there and was able to appreciate all of the stunning scenery etc...

We started of our Tuesday by hitting the wineries at about 10.30 - 11am ish!! haha This was fun, and some of the views from the winery were just amazing. We then went to the cheese factory (tasted some cheese....which was actually verrry nice) we also went to the chocolate factory (this time the authentic one that is actually IN Margaret River!!haha) This was loverly too! Later on in the day we went into town (well the street that is Margaret River town) and had a look in some of the art and furniture galleries/shops. Some of pieces were just breathtaking, and if I had had the money to but them and ship them home I sooo totally would have!! Unfortunately I couldn't take any pics so I guess that's a little insentive for you guys to come out here and see what i'm talking about for yourselves!!hehe

The next day I cycled into town on my own and had a wander and then we went to see Lake Cave. This was such a brilliant experience and the cave was just gorgeously stunning!! Kind of eerie at the same time too....the guide did stuff with the lighting so that different areas of the cave were focused upon and also used different colours. It was seriosly like being in a different world down there and definately worth a visit if you're ever there. Better do it soon too as the water is slowly draining out of the cave 😞
On the way home we stopped at some lovely beaches and also to see some wild kangaroos! They were so cute!! Didn't get as close as touching them this time though!hehe

Next day I had to leave....I had a really fantastic time there though and saw quite a lot in the time I was there. Laura was a fantastic guide and made me feel very welcome in her (verrry nice) new house! Han you're gonna love it when you finally get out here - it'll be worth the wait trust me!!

In the city I got to the hostel and then had a look around the city. It is soo small in comparison to most cities...I think this is down to the fact that most of the 'things to do' happen pretty much in a walkable area and then all of the housing is spread out outside of this area, making it seem small when it really does cover quite a large space of land! Anywho it was good having everything at a walkable distance from the hostel!! Whilst I was in the city I saw the Anzac Day parade (which commemorates the war from 1914-1918...I think) It was amazing to see the amount of support and pride at the parade, and the amount of effort that went into putting it together must have been immense!! It was about an hour long altogether and there were sooooooooo many people walking in it, and sooooooo much to see!! I also went to Kings Park and took a guided tram tour of it. This was really good, and it was nice to have a guide to explain everything!! There are lines of trees alongside the road that the tour takes you on dedicated to certain people that fought in the war. As it was Anzac Day there were flowers by pretty much every plaque, one tree even had 3 brother names by it which was really sad, as this meant that the 3 brothers had all died in the same war 😞 On a lighter note the views from the park were brilliant....you could see the Perth skyline, and had a fantastic outlook over the Swan River! I went out to a night club called 'Black Betty's' on a night organised by the hostel on Friday night ($11 all you can drink!!) This was really fun....I met some Irish girls and spent the night drinking free wine with them!! Oooo I forgot to mention EVERYONE at my hostel seems to be Irish.....they seem to gravitate there!! I think i've only met about 3 non-irish people there....now I have nothing against them but a little bit of variety wouldn't go amiss!! hehe On my last day in the city I went to see the Gold Mint (was too late to watch the gold pouring grrrr) but i had a look around the showroom....was quite scary how much this stuff costs!!! a piece of chocolate cost $5....yes 1 piece...not a bar not a box....1 piece!!!!! I didn't buy it!! As I was strolling through the centre I seemed to stumble upon another parade, this was for the Bejing Olympics, I didn't stop to watch as it wasn't very interesting, but there were lotts of police about monitoring the proceedings and the atmosphere was really quite good about the place!

On Sunday Brad, Danielle and Ryan picked me up and took me to Freemantle (or Freo as the locals call it!) Not before I went to see the Bell tower that houses some old English bells! (The Bells of St Clements) The bell tower was really cool....fantastic views from the observation deck and loads of info about them and how using a clock to tell time came about inside!! It was crazy to think that hose bells once resided in London too!!

Anyways Freo was brilliant!! Although the weather was not!! Luckily the places we went to were inside and so provided us with shelter fromt he heavens!! We went to a few markets which were really cool, ecclectic and fun to have a browse around! Mum and Dad you both have something to look forward to receiveing when I return to little England!! :D The whole area of Freo was really noice and the atmosphere was brilliant. I think i prefer it a lot more to the city and if I were to come back one day (which I probably will) I would most DEFINATELY choose to stay here over the city!

Back and Brad's we had a nice night in! Yesterday Danielle was back to work, so Brad, Ryan and I all went to Toodyay which is this cute old country town about 40km's from their house/shed!!hehe On the way we stopped at the Avon River which is where the biggest kayaking race in Oz is held each year (might even be the biggest in the world!) Brad did it last year too! The river wasn't flowing as much as usual (infact apparently it was really quite low!) I guess as they've just had summer, they're gonna need a lot of rain to fill it up to it's raging rapids standard!! It was really pretty though, and cool to see something different rather than the usual touristy stuff! Toodyay was really cute and we went tp to the lookout from which you could see for miles!! Back at the house I went for a ride with Danielle (Yes Boz me on a horse at last!!hehe) This was really fun, and considering I havn't ridden for about 4 years I think I did rather well!! Duke almost had me off a couple of times as he decided to take me into a tree and I was basically flat back on him to avoid the branches!! He also was trying to trot too close to the fence and as I tried to slow him I almost bumped off....managed to hold on for dear life though!!hehehee At the end of the ride we took the horses into the dam that the fire engines use when there are bush fires and Duke absolutely soaked me!! Luckily the weather was really good so It was OK!!hehe Brad got some piccis of the whole event though, sop you can all have a good laugh at them when I put them up!! We just hung out for the rest of the day....Danielle and I watched Brad and Ryan do some manual labour and then we all watched the Big Brothewr Aussie style launch show!! No way as good as the UK version!! :P

Today Brad took me to Penguin Island which was totally gorgeous!! We saw Sea gulls nests and eggs, Pelicans and some 'Little Penguins' which are sooooo amazingly cute!!! We got to see them being fed and had a talk from the girl doing it too!! The island is really spectacular and beautiful to look at (although the squaking sea gulls can get a little annoying!!hehe) It's ashame the weather wasn't good enough for snorkelling, but although it was sunny, it was quite windy and the water was rather choppy....never mind...another reason to come back!!

Brad also took me to see some more of that part of the coast and good place to snorkel.....I really can't say enough times how beautiful and unspoilt most of the coastline is....the water is sooooo clear too!! The conservationists do a great job at retaining the natural beauty here.....especially on places like Penguin Island and other small islands just off of the coast. ooo i've got a little 'did you know' fact for y'all.......Did you know that the Western coast of Australia was about 20km's further out 100000 years ago!! So basically Rottnest, Penguin and all of the other little islands that we see today were once covered by vegitation and were really quite far inland, compared to the islands that they are today!! How kerazy is that!!!

Anyways I guess i've updated you on where i've been for the past week!! Gosh that was a lot to remember!!hehe Sorry it's not that detailed, or maybe it's too detailed....oh I don't know!!......when it comes down to it I have had a wonderful week and I guess that's what counts!!hehe :P

Off to Melbourne tomorrow......Neighbours tour here I come!!!!wooooooooo

As I leave you all I would like to say a special Happy Birthday to Bumper my Grand-father, I hope you had a lovely day and the sun shone for you :D

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlottts of kisses to you allxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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