I was worried when I got to Australia…I was being picked up from the airport by Helen, my step third cousin once removed (or something like that!) but we’d only spoken on Facebook so I was worried that I wouldn’t recognise her or that I’d given her the wrong information. Luckily those worries were quashed immediately as I saw a familiar face smiling at me as I exited the doors and entered Australia!

We got in the car to head home but not without a stop to the Bottle-o. Now I know that Australia is expensive but it was TEN POUNDS for six bottles of beer!! Luckily they were delicious and just what I needed!

My first day in Perth, Helen took me downtown to show me around. We took a stroll around the riverside area, London Court made me feel a closer to home then we headed to the pub (which made me feel even closer to home!!) to watch the Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand. The atmosphere was really good and there was a good mix of fans for both teams but judging by the celebrations after the game, I would definitely say there were more English supporters!My first day in Perth, Helen took me downtown to show me around. We toThe atmosphere was really good and there was a good mix of fans for both teams but judging by the celebrations after the game, I would definitely say there were more English supporters! We even met a random guy from Bromsgrove!!

The next day we popped to the shops – I had to go to Kmart as I’d promised Erin from Brisbane that I would head to Kmart as soon as possible! She was right in her assumption that I would love it! We then did a bit of food shopping in Aldi and Woolworths!! I got very excited about the latter, though it was quite different to the ones we had – they didn’t even have pick n mix!! Even though it was 35, Helen treated me to my first roast dinner in two months! We had roast pork with proper crackling and we literally picked some of the veggies from the garden – it was perfect!

I had an early start the next day, I’d booked myself onto a day trip to the pinnacles, a group of limestone formations in the Nambung National Park, about 200 km north of Perth. We weren’t heading straight there though; we had a couple of exciting stops on the way.

First we headed to Caversham Wildlife park where we had a guided tour which included meeting the wombats, koalas and feeding the kangaroos. The kangaroos were my absolute favourite part, they were so fluffy! One of them even touched noses with me (which I’m taking as a kangaroo kiss!)

Next, we headed to the Swan Valley where we got to sample some of the areas famous … including chocolate, chocolate liqueurs and wine as well as having lunch at a vineyard. Then we headed on to The Pinnacles. The limestone structures were really interesting, there were some that towered over us, others that had “sunk into the sand” and they went as far as you could see.

On the way back to Perth we stopped off for some sandboarding. It was soooo much fun!

The next day I was up early again, this time I was taking a river cruise on the Swan River before heading over to Rottnest Island to go and meet the quokkas! I’d also booked an additional treat for myself – a trip on a …. To go whale watching. When we got on the boat, after the safety announcements, they warned us that they hadn’t seen any whales for the last couple of days and that it was coming to the end of the season but that they would do their best. Well, their best was definitely good enough! We saw four whales, two mums with their babies (who were massive!) It was absolutely amazing to see these animals so close up, I couldn’t believe how big they were! At one point one of the mums even swam towards the boat so we could get a closer look – apparently, it’s really common as whales are really curious so they want to get a better look too!

I spent the afternoon stalking another kind of wild animals – the quokka! Quokkas are marsupials (so they have pouches) and are found on the islands off the coast of Western Australia, the most famous of which is Rottnest. Rottnest was actually named after them as when the island was first explored, the sailors mistook the quokkas for giant rats so Rottnest actually comes from Rat-nest. As there are no natural predators on the island, the quokka population has flourished and as they aren’t scared of humans, they’re really friendly. There are even guidelines on how to take the perfect selfie with them (and also to protect the quokkas by not frightening them etc)

The weather changed over the next couple of days, Wednesday was very rainy but after Helen had finished work, Caz (her sister) came over and we braved the weather and headed to Scarborough beach. During a brief dry moment, I braved the cold and paddled in the sea! Then we headed for dinner….and what is the only appropriate dinner when you’re at the beach? Fish and Chips of course!! I’d been told I had to try fish and chips with chicken salt, which was nice but I think I’m happy enough with normal salt (sorry Australians!) and I also tried a “Chicko-roll” which is a bit like a massive spring roll, only battered and deep fried.

The next day the temperature really dropped – to TWELVE DEGREES. Let me tell you, 12 in Australia is different to 12 here. We have heating, they do not! I spent most of the day wrapped up, in bed, watching Harry Potter with a cup of tea waiting for the sun to come back!

My last day arrived but as I wasn’t flying out until the evening, I headed to Fremantle for the day. I started off by visiting the Fremantle Markets and then wandered over to the famous Little Creatures Brewery for a guided tour and tasting session. I was the only one on the tour so I got a one on one experience! I also got to try everything that was on tap! The most important thing that I learnt that day was that hops grown in the pacific region taste completely different to the ones that are grown in England and whereas I often find ales a bit too hoppy, even the hoppiest ones at Little Creatures weren’t too overpowering because the hops are much lighter in any case.

A little bit tiddly, I made it back to Helen’s in time to pack my bags and head to the airport – next destination The Philippines (after a 13 hour layover in Singapore airport!)