Blogs from Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 183

So first impressions of Australia! The people are great. Its soo nice to be back in a place where you can speak your own language and people care about customer service. After yet another argument with Lan Chile whilst boarding the flight from Santiago to Sydney (its too annoying & frustrating to repeat...I'm still going through therapy ha ha!) it was fab to arrive in Sydney where the Qantas staff were so helpful, we even got some of our other flights changed for free :-) First impression of Perth where that we had arrived in an old peoples retirement village - bungalows as far as the eye could see. I was a little concerned abut this and eventually decided to ask Phil (Alex's step uncle who had kindly collected us from the airport) why there were ... read more

I have now made it to Oz and after some heavy questionning at immigration was allowed into the country! My first stop has been Perth. So far I have found it to be a lovely city. Easy to get around especially with free buses and friendly people. Spent a day at Fremantle or "Freo" as the locals call it. A really nice, relaxed port where I enjoyed walking around the famous markets and eating fish and chips at Cicerello's on the harbour. The museum was also really interesting and I enjoyed learning all about the immigration policies and the 10 pound ticket to Australia. Spent the evening watching Pride and Prejudice at the cinema and today I have been to Kings Park and the Botanic Gardens. Lovely with breath taking views of the city. Great to ... read more

My first trip for Firepower was to India, it was very interesting... I will never forget the 6 days of hell I went through in Jaipur, diagnosed with Salmonella poisoning and basically wanting to die! I used to have this vision of India as being a mystical place with beautiful scenery and dishes to die for...well, the 'wanting to die' part is right on the money but as for the rest...I was very young and nieve. Since then I've travelled throughout Europe (western & eastern), Asia, Russia and the outback downunder. Russia was the most interesting to date, and the people are infact quite friendly. Ever since I was a little whipper snapper back in Sicily my dream was to visit the USA, being an avid Chicago Bulls fan it was the best thing a little ... read more

- FOOD: Free cereal for breakfast (but no milk); no kangaroo for dinner for me - cheap Dominoes pizza instead; Black Cherry Tim Tams - THE BEST. - AREA: King's Park from a distance in the rain; free art gallery with a mixture of good art. - PEOPLE: Helpful ferry people; bitter Aussies at losing the cricket to the Brits! - WEATHER: Rain Mon 12th Sep: This hostel gets better - free breakfast. Cereal too although it was only after I'd poured it so excitedly that I realised there is no milk. Dry cereal is good though! I had a faffy day wandering up and down the same stretch of road searching for my lost sunglasses (a lesson - don't buy expensive sunnies for travelling the world). The ferry people were very helpful but they were ... read more

- FOOD: 2 minute noodles - PEOPLE: Loud snorer as a dormmate; sprawled out dormmate, weird Japanese dormmate, loud hostel mates, patronising woman telling me how to use the obvious to work cooker, drunk man pouring his heart out (get me outta this hostel!). - AREA: Manky hostel with an impossible to reach top bunk; laid back city that I love - Bell Tower, palm tree lined financial district, peaceful and modern buildings, generally nice feel. - WEATHER: Back to the grey and cold Fri 9th Sep: I didn't get much sleep as there was a major snorer in the dorm and it was bloody hot. But I managed to get up in time to catch my flight to Perth. I was very surprised to find that the weather was grey and cold! I found the ... read more