Arrival in Perth

Okay we've been here a week now. The first few days were spent getting used to the house and stocking up on things we needed as most of our stuff was in a container en-route from the UK but we've had a chance to drive around and familiarise ourselves with local amenities, primary school and college and are settling in just fine.

Dad had to go back to work on Wednesday so we had to find our own way into the city to visit the bank, get pre-pay phone cards, etc. The buses run regularly and only take 5 minutes to get into town so no problems there. They're comfortable too.

It's the middle of winter here and gets quite cold at night but during the day it gets up to around 20 degrees C so hardly anything like the winters we're used to. Still need a cardigan and a brolly when you head out for any length of time, just in case.

Chloe disappeared with a friend to the zoo.

The river is at the end of the garden (literally) so the view is fantastic. When we returned this afternoon there were dolphins jumping 10 yards from shore, which is only about 50 yards from our front door. Fantastic! Wasn't quick enough with the camera so didn't get any pictures unfortunately.

On Saturday we went to Caversham park, which is about 30 minutes North of the city centre. There were plenty of animals to see and you could even get up close to the Koalas and Kangeroos, as you'll see from the photographs. On the way back we went via the coastal route so we could see the beaches. In the evening Chloe went to the movies with her friend and the rest of us visited Dad's friend and his family, where we had a wonderful meal. Kaitlyn played for hours with her new friend, who we discovered is only 5 days younger than her. Not bad for our first Saturday in Australia.

Sunday was a terrible day. The wind blew hard and it rained and rained and rained. The Swan river was quite choppy and spray blew across the Kwinana freeway as we drove past. We headed up to AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) seeing as it wasn't really a day for going outdoors. It's slightly further North than Caversham Park but because it's mostly on the freeway it doesn't take as long to get there.

Did you know that you're more likely to be killed by a bee sting than by a shark in Western Australia and that the venom of the stone fish can be worse for some than others. According to the information at AQWA the symptoms can range from mild bee-sting like irritation to excrutiating agony. Hope I fall into the bee-sting category as the other extreme sounds quite sore!!!!

Another great time had by all.

SMILE!!