Perth

---

20/1

We had to check out at 10, though our flight wasn't until 4.15pm! The motel offered a free shuttle to the airport, and as there was nowhere to sit around at our motel, we had to head to the airport- the weather wasn't great, so not like we could even go for a walk! We got to the airport around 10.30 and sat back in Darwin airport, in the same cafe we'd spent hours in just a few days before! We got something to eat, and then checked in around 1.30. We headed through to departures into the tiny lounge! We bought a couple of snacks and a puzzle book and finally boarded the plane, which left on time! The flight was about 4 hours long, and we touched down in Perth! Hooray! We collected our luggage and then met my cousin Debbie, to go and stay with her and her husband Jason, and just turned 2 year old son Jaxon. It was so lovely to be with family! We headed back to their house and had some dinner and enjoyed being in a lovely house with lovely company, including a cheeky and gorgeous Jaxon!

21/1

Jaxon made sure we didn't sleep in too late, forgot what it was like to be around children! He is just so cute that you don't mind getting up early to see him though! Jason went off to work and once we were ready, we headed off to a place called Hillarys- a lovely man-made harbour/ marina area with lots of little shops and restaurants. It was pretty busy because it was Australian summer holidays. We wandered around for a bit and had a lovely ice cream. Jaxon tested my running skills by running towards the water- managed to catch him before he went too far!! We headed back to the house for Jaxon to have his sleep and then in the afternoon we popped to a nearby beach. The water was a little choppy, so we didn't go in the water, as planned. So Jaxon played in the shower for a bit (a real water baby!), then we headed to a local crematorium where kangaroos live wildly. It was brilliant seeing them all there, including a little joey sticking out of a pouch. We also heard a kookaburra in a tree, and I got bitten on the foot by a huge ant- so we definitely felt like we were in Australia now! We headed back to the house and had a lovely home cooked meal- thank you Debbie! Had a lovely relaxing evening and enjoyed playing with Jaxon. Loving being with family and in a home!

22/1

This morning, we headed to a local swimming pool called Craigie. It had a huge outside pool and indoor pool, and a cool splash zone for the kids. It was very busy, but we got a space outside and went to go in the outdoor pool, but the water was freezing! Jaxon had a little play in the splash zone and then we all headed to the indoor pool, which was a lot warmer! We had fun running around after Jaxon, in and out of the splash zone and indoor pool. He is really great in the water, lots of confidence and a good swimmer. We sat back outside for a bit, before heading home to relax for the rest of the afternoon which was lovely. Jason cooked some yummy fish for dinner, feeling spoilt and nicely looked after! 😊

23/1

Today Jaxon went to nursery for the day. Debbie dropped him off in the morning, and it was lovely to spend the day together, not worrying about him over-heating in the 40 degree Australian summer heat! We went to King's park, which overlooks Swan River and Perth city. It was a lovely park, very green, with great views, and the weather was stunning- bright blue sky, and very hot! We had a look around the war memorial and then got a drink and ice-cream to cool down. We headed off and stopped on the way at Ikea, as Chantelle and Debbie fancied meatballs!! I didn't think they look appetising, so I stuck with a Dime bar, that I was happy to see they still sell in the Australian Ikeas! (Can't find them at home!) I also bought a few bits from the food market, including some reduced Christmas biscuits which were yummy! In the afternoon, we headed to Scarborough beach, which was beautiful- white sand, and bright blue water. We sat for a little while, then headed back to the house. Debbie went to collect Jaxon from nursery- it was great to see him after him not being there all day. He is a great character and speaks really well, with some great sayings! In the evening, Debbie, Chantelle and I headed out for a girls dinner to a nearby Italian restaurant called Fratellis. We had some bread and dips and a delicious risotto. It was lovely, but were so full we could barely move!

24/1

This morning we headed to the post office, so i could send a package of bits home that I didn't want with me any more. I got it all together in a packing bag, and the cashier asked me for $93! Ouch!! Won't be sending anything else home! We headed to Mullaloo after this, opposite the beach, to meet a couple of Debbie's friends at a cafe called Dome (chain in Australia a bit like wetherspoons). Chantelle and I got a milkshake and I got an Anzac biscuit. Chantelle and I took Jaxon over to the playgrounds across the road, which was fun, and he was very well behaved! We headed back for Jaxon's sleep, and then in the afternoon, we headed to Woolworths (supermarket) to buy bits to make a spaghetti bolognese. I also bought a cadbury's double decker and can of dr pepper, which made me extremely happy. Got to love the UK food section! In the evening Chantelle and I cooked a huge spag Bol for everyone, which seemed to go down well, and it was nice to be able to help out and cook too. Jaxon loved it- which is just as well as there was lots left- lunch tomorrow!!

25/1

Chantelle and I decided to go to Fremantle today, as we wanted to visit Fremantle prison. Debbie kindly dropped us off at Whitfords train station, and we got the train into Perth city centre, and the changed lines to get to Fremantle. We only had to pay $11 between us for an all day travel ticket, which was great as it covered all our journeys. It took us around an hour in total to get to Fremantle from Whitfords. We followed the signs to the prison through Fremantle high street. It seemed like a nice town. We got to the prison, and outside, leading up to the prison was Fairbairn Street Ramp! It was named after a magistrate called Robert Fairbairn. We paid for 2 tours of the prison (obviously no longer in use!), which cost us $26 each. Each tour was 75/80 minutes so it didn't seem like a bad price for 2 tours. The first tour we did was the great escape tour, where we learned about (mainly failed) escape attempts from the prison. It was very interesting. We were shown the women's section, and were told how they had it pretty tough there- worse than the men indeed! 1 bath a week, sharing the water between 3 (lovely in 40+ degree heat I'm sure!)- and no hot water either, even in the winter. Men got to shower 3 times a week, or every day if they were on cooking duty! The second tour was called doing time. We learned all about the cells, yards and different jobs. We even saw the hangman's noose- last used in 1965, and also the flogging poles and learnt a bit about them- its where the phrase 'to rub salt in the wound' came from. As that's what they used to do to the wounds to stop infection, but it hurt almost as much as the flogging did! We really enjoyed our trip around the prison and found in very interesting. We had a little look around Fremantle markets and bought a few little souvenirs from there. We headed back to the station and went back to Perth city. We popped into the apple shop to get someone to look at Chantelle's phone as she had a problem with it. Then we had a look around the world food markets. There were stalls from loads of different countries, and we got some delicious satay from one. We took the train back to Whitfords, where Debbie and Jaxon picked us up. We got a pad Thai from a local take-away for dinner, but it wasn't up to Thailand or even Bali standard!

26/1

Happy Australia Day! For Australia Day today, we headed to a place called Moore river, with Jason's boat. It took us around 45 minutes to drive there, and it was very busy- no parking spaces! We dropped the boat in the river and left Chantelle to hold on to it and then went to find somewhere to park, and lug all the stuff back to the boat. Luckily Chantelle hadn't floated off, and we all piled in the boat and headed off up the river. We moored up alongside lots of other boats. There was a great atmosphere- lots of people in boats, kayaks and swimming in the water. It was baking hot, such a lovely day. There were a lot of home-made water slides down the dunes, one was absolutely huge- they were made of tarpaulin sheets with a massive water pump running from the river, up to the top of the slide. Jason went off to have a couple of goes down the slide, but we didn't fancy it, a little too high and the big mound at the end before going into the water put me off! We all had a little kayak and swim, and then we walked up the huge sand dune, which took ages and was very tiring, but we were rewarded at the top with a beautiful view, lots of lovely white sand and over the far side we could see the ocean. After a little while we headed further up the river in the boat to a big rope swing Jason knew about. We moored up and headed to the swing. Jason had a go, and I decided I wouldn't chicken out on this one so had a couple of goes as well. It was good fun, but quite a big drop into the murky river water! We headed back towards where we had been before and Jason took Jaxon on a smaller water slide, which he loved, of course! We headed back to the jetty, and I hitched a ride on the kayak, tied on to the back of the boat- I got very wet and a little chilly! But it was fun! We got the boat back on the trailer, and then we all had some yummy hotdogs, cooked by Jason in the BBQs at the site, which are free to use. A really great feature all around Australia, free gas BBQs for anyone to use, you just have to clean up after yourself! We headed back to the house and dropped the boat and a sleeping Jaxon off with Jason, then us girls headed out to try and find a spot to watch the famous Australia Day 'skyworks' fireworks. We managed to find a spot on the road and watched the fireworks over the city from afar. They did look very impressive. We headed back to the house after the fireworks, ready for a good sleep!

27/1

Today Jaxon had 2 birthday parties,so Chantelle and I headed into perth city as we had made an appointment for Chantelle to get her phone looked at. We got the train from Whitfords again. Unfortunately they couldn't fix Chantelle's phone. We headed to Dome for a milkshake and cake and sat for a while. We then went for a wander and bought a drink, cheese twist, and nectarines from Woolworths and then headed to a little park next to some big kangaroo statues. We sat in the park for a while and wrote some postcards, then went to find a postbox, which we found in a cute little street called London terrace, which had lots of old English style buildings. We had a look around the shops after this, then got the train back to Whitfords. We got collected from Whitfords after Jaxon's parties and went back to the house. We had dinner from the local takeaway, we do miss good English take aways!!

28/1

Today was a bank holiday as Australia Day fell on a weekend. We all headed to the beach in the morning, taking Jason's kayak with us. Jason took Jaxon in the kayak and they caught a few waves, which Jaxon loved. I had a go after, but didn't find it easy to catch many waves and also managed to capsize near the shore! After the beach, we went back to the house and got ready to cook a mammoth English roast dinner. My step-cousin Vicky (my uncle Jeff's daughter) and her family were all coming round for dinner. It was lovely to meet all of them- Vicky's husband Mitch, and their girls Ruby and Millie. They were all very friendly and the girls were really sweet (aged 6 and 4). The roast dinner was delicious, and we had apple crumble with ice cream for pudding- a really English dinner, it felt like being at home (except the 40 degree heat of course!!) It was such a lovely day being surrounded by family, very relaxing!

29/1

We had a lazy morning, and then Chantelle's old school friend Martine came and picked us up from Debbie's house- Martine is living in Perth too now, and not too far away from Debbie's. She took us to a place called Mindarie, a lovely little harbour with a few places to eat. We had a nice lunch and then had a little walk around the harbour and up to look over the beautiful beach- lovely white sand and turquoise water- the beaches here are all so pretty. On the way back to the house we stopped at Dan Murphy's (alcohol warehouse type place) and bought a few koppaberg ciders to have in the evenings. We spent the rest of the day in the house, sorting out some washing and had a lovely chicken roll with salad cream for dinner- yum!

30/1

Today Jaxon was at nursery again, so Debbie, Chantelle and I headed out to Hilary's and went to San Churro, which is a chocolate cafe. My heaven! We all had some lovely treats- milkshake and cakes etc! We went into the British shop and all bought some good old English crisps- monster munch! We the went to Woolworths to get some bits to make a risotto for dinner. Debbie has a great machine called a thermomix, which you can make pretty much any dish with. She used it to make the risotto and an apple tea cake. Debbie went to collect Jaxon from day care and we all had a delicious dinner, including apple cake with custard! Forrest Gump was on TV tonight, so we sat and watched that.

31/1

First thing this morning we tried to get Jaxon's hair cut, but there was no space for him until later on. We headed down to Hillary's and took Jaxon on the little land train that goes around at weekends and school holidays- he loved it, waving to people that we passed! So cute! After the train we found another British shop for some more obligatorIy monster munch purchases and also mini cheddars, which i had been craving since October! We had another yummy ice cream and then Jaxon went on the train with Debbie, whilst Chantelle and I had a look around some of the shops. We headed back to the house for Jaxon's sleep and then in the afternoon we all went with Jaxon for his hair cut with his post-op hairdresser, she was something else! After this we headed to the cemetery with the kangaroos again, as we didn't have our cameras with us on our first visit. We saw loads of Roos, all spread out in the shade to escape the heat. I somehow got bitten again on the same foot by a nasty ant- it really stung! We headed back to the house and then went in the giant paddling pool in the garden. We babysat Jaxon tonight so that Debbie and Jason could go out for a nice meal together. We had a lovely pizza from the local takeaway and Jaxon was good as gold- not a peep! We watched legally blonde on TV and waited like good babysitters for Debbie and Jason to get in (not that they were late!!)

1/2

Today, we headed to a place called Yanchep, where there was a lovely lagoon on the beach. It was beautiful, the ocean had so many different blue colours in it, from the coral and the sheltered lagoon, and it was very calm. We had breakfast in the cafe before heading down to the beach. The sand was lovely and soft, but boiling hot. The water was pretty cold, it took a little while to adjust to the temperature, but was very clear, and we could see fish swimming around. We spent around 90 minutes on the beach and in the sea- it was nice to be able to swim in the water without having to worry about sharks, knowing that it was protected. We headed back to the car, and saw a huge lizard by the showers. We went back to the house and Jaxon had a sleep. In the evening, we all headed to Hillarys for a Friday night takeaway and to watch the sunset. We got a wok-in-a-box and all headed over towards Sorrento beach to watch the beautiful sunset. It was so relaxed and peaceful- Jason and Jaxon played frisbee and were running up and down a big sand dune. We headed back to the house to go to bed as we were getting up early the next morning.

2/2

We got up early today to go and watch Jaxon have his first 'surf life saving' lesson on the beach at Mullaloo. It was a great lesson, all the children were aged 2, and they taught them about water safety, and how to stand like a starfish in the water. After surf life saving, we headed over to Vicky and Mitch's house to see them once more before we leave. Ruby and Millie painted my toenails for me, excited to be allowed to paint a grown ups nails! We went back to the house for Jaxon to have a sleep, and had yummy bacon and egg butties for lunch. In the afternoon we headed to Adventureworld which is a water/ adventure park. We got there at 2pm, so that the entrance price was cheaper, but it was a boiling 40 degrees, and very busy. We found a spot to base ourselves and went in the children's area first- the water in here was freezing! We all went down the tube slides in here. We were waiting for Jason and Jaxon to come down together, when Jason appeared in his own- we assumed Jaxon was too small and we had to go back and collect him, but no, he just wasn't allowed down on Jason's lap! So down he came on his own, looking tiny, and face planting into the water at the bottom. We all made sure he was ok, but he was just smiling and said 'more'?! Hehe! A little dare devil! We all went in the big pool, then Chantelle and I headed off to a couple of big slides, which were fun, but had big queues. We went on most of the good slides- one was really good, in pitch black! We then watched Jason and Jaxon go on some little kiddy rides, including a little rollercoaster, which Jaxon was too small for, but was let on anyway! It was pretty fast, but he loved it- 'more'?! We stayed at the park until almost 7, and then stopped at a Sizzler buffet on the way home. It was an amazing buffet. We ate as much as we could- which wasn't all that much, then headed back, and everyone went straight to bed and crashed out- we were all exhausted!

3/2

Debbie took us out for breakfast this morning, with Jaxon, to a place at Hillary's called Jetty's, which does a yummy buffet breakfast, including pancakes and bacon and hashbrowns. We headed back to the house and Debbie went out to Woolworths to do some shopping. Chantelle and I went in the pool in the garden to cool down, and spent a while floating around and relaxing. We got a few bits ready for our flight tomorrow and made sure we had all our washing done whilst we had a washing machine and a place to dry it all. We had a lovely chilled out afternoon and evening and had a lovely dinner of chicken and chips with salad and a nice bit of fish that Jason had cooked on the BBQ. We were feeling very sad that our two lovely weeks in Perth had come to end and that we had to leave tomorrow.

4/2

This morning we packed up our stuff and got ready to leave, feeling a bit down hearted. We went to watch Jaxon have his first swimming lesson of the term. It was great watching him and seeing what he does in his lessons. We had some lunch at the cafe at the pool, then headed back and got everything ready to go. Jason came back at lunch so that we could say good bye and thank you, which was lovely. We headed to the airport with Debbie and Jaxon, and had an emotional good bye. It had been so lovely staying with them for 2 weeks and being around family, it was tough to say good bye. Massive Thank you to Debbie and Jason, we loved being part of your house for 2 weeks, and will miss you and Jaxon so much. (We still miss you now!) We appreciate everything you did for us and can't wait to see you all again and meet baby Clark.We checked in at the airport, feeling a little deflated, and got some snacks for the plane. The flight went fine, and it took about 3 and a half hours. We didn't land until gone 10pm Adelaide time though, as the time moved forward 2 and a half hours. Our bags were already waiting for us by the time we had been to the toilet. We got a taxi to our hotel, which took about 15 minutes, and checked in. The room was nice, even if the bed was a little small. It took us a long time to get to sleep, as we had jumped forward 2.5 hours, and eventually got off about 1am!

---