Blogs from Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 181

Having spent yesterday recovering from the Friday BBQ drinking session, I decided to head on over to Cottlesloe beach (20 minute $3.10 train ride from Perth) for the infamous Sunday Session with loads of the people I'd met at my hostel in Perth. A few hours on the beach, swimming in the sea (no sharks) and then across to the Cottlesloe bay hotel for some afternoon drinking - although not too much - not at $7 (£3.30) a pint anyhow :( We then retreated back to our own hostel i the early evening for Pizza and more beer. As it was our last night staying in the hostel it transcended into chaos with a bit of a pool party with a few getting thrown fully clothed into the pool - Sorry Marie-Claire/Paul/Sam if you're reading this ... read more

We had read in the papers that South Africa were playing Australia at the WACA ground (Western Australia Cricket Association) so decided to go down and watch the game. Such a match hadn't been played at the WACA for many years so it was quite a big fuss, although to be honest we probably would have seen more on the live tv coverage, but it was just to say that we had been there I guess. We paid $50 (£23) each for a ticket, but we had the best seats in the house, under the cover and inthe shade from 30+ heat which we could see had certainly made a few people sore looking on the neck. Personally, not being the worls biggest fan of cricket (I would rather stick hot needles in my eyes) I ... read more

We spent this morning hiking around the Botanic Gardens, set in the spectacular Kings Park on a hillside which overlooks the Perth City landscape and the Swan river. Having spent quite a while searching for weird creepy crawlies in the undergrowth and dissappointedly having seen none we trudged along the path almost stepping on a lizard that was in the middle of the path basking in the 30+ heat. The park is in a beautiful setting and it is here that the Western Australian war memorials are situated to mark the first and second world wars and invasions of the Japanese. We spent a little time at the memorial and discovered that sadly amongst the servicemen and women lost at war there were 4 Hamptons and two Nash's amongs the many thousands that lost their lives. ... read more

Well, After chatting to a Romanian guy who checked into my hostel I have now found an internet cafe/pool hall/snooker lounge 5 mins away which also charges $3 p/h for internet but has a max of $10 for the day. Awesome! I'll be working from here now. Had a lengthy chat with the owner too and he is looking at selling up to pay for a messy divorce. He only wants $95,000 for it (£40,000) and that includes 8 pool tables, 7 full size snooker tables, a reception/bar/cafe and an internet cafe with 15 terminals(pcs) and workstations, 1 table tennis table and an upstairs living area. Everything is included in the price lock stock and two smoking barrels and it seems like a good price to me (certainly got me thinking too. 10 mins from beach, ... read more

Having landed in Perth Domestic airport following a 3 hour flight from Adelaide I couldnt seem to find any public transport to Fremantle where I had provisionally booked a room for tonight and Sunday. It would have cost me $25 for a shuttle bus and would have to wait 1.5 hrs for the next one so I decided to phone another hostel (The Billabong Backpackers resort) in Perrth and book 3 nights there (thius included free pick up from the airport). I then cancelled the hostel I'd booked in Fremantle and journeyed on with Warren from the Billabong after he came to get me. The Billabong is a large hostel with upto 250 guests, mostly foreign European (French, German, Spanish) as it is attached to an english language school where they all study during the summer ... read more