The evacuation and the extraction

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Perth, Dec 1 - Dec 4

We didn't get much sleep on our first night in Perth on account of the fact the hostel is practically on a train track and the train drivers feel the need to sound their horns as they pass. I had just about fallen to sleep when the fire alarm started. I leapt out of bed and grabbed the passports from my bag (and my makeup bag which happened to be close by) and had my shoes on before the other three in the room had even stirred. As the automated voice told us to evacuate the building over and over I glanced into the hallway and saw smoke. Obviously this was a bit worrying especially as Simon still wasn't off his bunk. Thankfully there was no major fire just a lot of smoke from some idiot leaving a pan on in the kitchen which is down the hall from our room. But it was a good lesson in always making sure essentials like passports are close to hand. One of the guys in our room didn't seem too concerned about the alarm but you can never be sure it isn't for real and I think it's much better to get out as fast as you can than hang around all nonchalant because you suspect it's a false alarm.

After a grand total of about 3 hours sleep that night I had to go to the dentist to have a tooth out. I had been suffering from toothache on and off so saw a dentist in Melbourne who told me I needed root canal surgery or an extraction! Neither of these options sounded particularly appealing (especially as at that time it was two days before my birthday) so I opted to get the tooth out once we got to Perth. It wasn't the best experience I have ever had and I spent the rest of the day in bed feeling very sorry for myself.
Hopefully it will start to heal now though and I will be able to move on to solid foods again!

On a more lighter note today we set off on an 18-day road trip along the west coast. We are going north first all the way up to Exmouth via the Pinnacles, Monkey Mia and the Ningaloo Reef. Simon has just gone to pick up the hire car and we bought snorkels and body boards yesterday which we plan to make good use of in the stunningly clear waters around here. After heading north we are coming back down the coast and heading south of Perth to explore the Margaret River, Albany and Bunbury. We are both looking forward to hitting the road and exploring a small part of this huge country. The flight from Adelaide was three and a half hours. At home that kind of flight time would take us to another country!

There are no pictures on this blog as I didn't think you would like to see a photo of my bloody tooth. Simon asked the dentist if we could keep it but I really don't think they have the tooth fairy over here.

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