Hello & goodbye

Lots has happened in the last 2 weeks since I finished my exams. Needless to say it has been very good, though occassionaly a little hectic. I have been relying on the goodwill of some very gracious friends after being kicked out of my college room not long after my exams were finished. In between various trips out of Perth with Stephen & Jo (to whom the 'hello' refers), I have slept in various beds, left my bags & luggage in various houses, & borrowed various possessions from kind & trusting friends! Right now I'm staying at the house of one of my good friends from college. A lovely place with a pool, so will have to make use of that this afo - especially as its a beautifully hot day.

I think Stephen & Jo enjoyed seeing around Perth & meeting some of my public down under. It was especially cool for them to come to church, & for us to have a meal with Rory & Susan, who have been good at looking out for me since my arrival (not saying that just because they might read this!). We also hired a car & headed up north to see some more of country WA for a few nights. You have to do a lot of travelling to get anywhere near anything in this country, so it was quite a mission to cover the km's in the time, but also a good adventure! We saw some typically Australian landscape, some very cool laid back country towns (consisting of a population anywhere upwards of 200) & some beautiful beaches & national parks. The weather was hot, camping was fun & it was cool to get away for a few days even if we were moving fast.

Earlier this week, my cousin from Melbourne (Phil) flew over to visit the 3 of us for a few days. We used the chance to escape the city again... this time to a small island just off the coast - Rottnest. We sealed an amazing beach hut as our accomodation at a steal of a price, hired bikes, cooked BBQ's & generally chilled together. We spent our days cycling from one bay to the next - snorkelling, swimming, sleeping, reading & sunbathing! All slightly redder but very well rested, we returned to Perth on Wednesday.

It seemed sensible to us to leave our bags at the ferry company depot for the day on Wednesday, whilst we explored the local port town of Fremantle. It was a really good idea because we enjoyed the day there without having to haul our bags about. So, after a drink in a very cool brewery/bar called 'Little Creatures' (it aint no Bratton, the Duke!) we returned to pick up our bags just before 6pm, thinking there was an evening ferry yet to arrive. To our surprise & frustration, it was all locked up with our bags inside! Unfortunately, Phils flight to Melbourne was the following morning before the place opened. We spent ages calling various numbers - security people, the ferry company, port authorities etc, but to no avail. So, we roughed it a bit longer (i was wearing a pair of swimming trunks, which can become fairly uncomfortable after a few hours!) & collected our bags in the morning, freighting Phils back to Melbourne. When we did collect the bags, it didn't take long for Stephen, Jo & I to have a shower, brush our teeth & change our clothes - needless to say it felt very very good.

Yesterday the 3 of us visited Perths aquarium together which was fun & interesting - some massive fish! Then I said good bye to Stephen & Jo, as they have headed down south in a camper van for a week. I am now preparing to fly to Sydney tomorrow for a week of mission with a local church, which will be very exciting. Not only have I said goodbye to Stephen & Jo, but also many friends in Perth as I am now on the road until Feb 23rd.