Perth

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It's 9am and I'm in an internet cafe in Perth, about to set out on my second and final full day in this city. The temperature here has reached 20 by 8am and gets up to around 35 in the middle of the day. Luckily there's a lovely cool breeze! Although it doesn't feel particularly hot, the sun is stronger than I've ever encountered and I've managed to burn a patch on my hand which normally wouldn't be affected at all.

So, Perth. It's a lovely friendly city and very pretty down by the river, where I spent much of my day yesterday. There's an amazing bell tower by the jetty that is shaped like a big glass spire, and long cycle/foot paths by the water where you can walk or sit on benches in the shade and breeze. I walked a long way yesterday morning round to a small island in the middle of a lake, where it smelled of lemons and there were waterfalls. Gorgeous!

The city centre itself is nothing special - it's mostly office buildings and shops and as with the rest of Australia there's just so little history compared to the UK. I did however find a funny little shopping arcade called London Court where all the buildings are mock tudor and they sell Heinz souvenirs! I can see why the residents love living here, but it's so far from anywhere else and there's nothing here that could really keep me interested for more than a couple of days so I don't think I'll be back in future. It's been a good place to visit though and I've certainly had the hot weather that I was looking forward to.

I can't upload photos here as there's nowhere for me to plug the camera in, but I'll try to do so within the next few days. Thanks to everyone who's sent me messages and emails so far - it's been lovely to hear your news!

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