Perth

My first stop was Perth in Western Australia on an eight hour direct flight. Longest flight I've been on so far. I flew with Air NZ who are always great, watching films to pass the time (highly recommend The Perks of Being a Wallflower). With a five hour time difference, I was tired pretty early! My Nan picked me up from the airport and we went to a mall so I could sort out a sim card for the phone I had so I could keep in touch with people around the place.

The first day of my holiday I caught the bus then train into the city of Perth and went exploring, wandering and catching free city circle buses. I ended up at Kings Park which had amazing views of the city and a beautiful Anzac memorial.

The temperature was about 41 degrees Celsius. Walking from an air conditioned house or shop to outside felt like you started breathing through a hair dryer. But it was a very dry heat so it wasn't as bad as it sounds. The landscape was a dry brown colour with very little green grass around. And at night it was too hot for even sleeping with a sheet with the bedroom window open.

The suburbs in Perth are really spread out, I noticed, but that could've just been the side of the city I was on.

I caught up with a friend who I used to work with in high school who is a musician. He played me some of his songs which was awesome. His style has changed a lot since I last heard him. He's now a 'looper' which is a completely different style of live music than I've seen before. Pretty neat stuff.

I also had lunch with some family who live there which was nice. I met my cousin's wife and daughter for the first time, which seemed to be a recurring event on this trip, with everyone settling down. I had a kangaroo steak for lunch which was different. Kind of like beef but gamier, easy to overcook which would turn it very chewy. It was served rare so it was great. I'd definitely have it again.

I didn't spend long in Perth so I think I've still got a few things to do and see if I go back for another visit.

Three words: dry, parks, sprawling

Prior to departure

There were several of reasons I wanted to travel around Australia. I had friends in Brisbane who I wanted to visit, whom I had met on my volunteer trip to Fiji in November 2011. I have family all over the place who I hadn't seen in years. I bought a ticket to Soundwave in Melbourne. And I've got the travel bug and was starting to get itchy feet.

My itinerary had me flying out of Auckland on the 31st January. The weekend before I left my little sister came to stay, which was fun, and we both flew home to Tauranga on the Monday. Tuesday, I drove back to Wellington with my new car. Keeping busy before I'd even left the country! Not to mention the fact I'd moved house only the week before.

It was just my luck that on the 29th I got a toothache. I managed to get a dentist appointment the next day and, after drilling and filling, my dentist tells me there's a 50/50 chance of whether my tooth would get better and I might need a root canal while in Australia. Not ideal. Luckily nothing came of it and I've survived the trip w no further problems.

I flew up to Auckland that evening, drugged up so the cabin pressure wouldn't make my tooth hurt more, and spent the evening and the following morning with my dear friend, Richard. He took me out for breakfast before taking me to the airport for my flight to Perth.

In order to save on costs, my trip has been done with only carry-on luggage. Thankfully, because of the number of family and friends I have around the place, I have been able to do as much laundry as needed and actually ended up posting some things home because I just wasn't going to use them. I've also been staying with the aforementioned relatives to save on accommodation and food costs. Bonus.

I might do a post on what was in my luggage, for those of you who think traveling for a month with such a small amount of stuff is impossible.

Another reason this worked for me is because I haven't done any shopping. As tempting as it has been, self imposed budget and space restrictions have prevented this. Also, I don't need any more crap to fill up my house. My memories and photos will be enough.

More next time
Michelle
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