January 29, 2019

Tuesday 29th January 

We are sitting in a bar in Elizabeth Quay Perth. Pint in hand overlooking the river (Michelle is pretty good with pints since the lack of decent wine In Thailand. Mind you she has managed to quaff a few of Martins pints in recent months at home…!

We are now ready to move on again to pastures new. We are thoroughly excited about being in Fiji  tomorrow. Wahey. 

However… sad day as we have said goodbye to the Kelly gang. 🙁

We have had a terrific 10 day holiday with Kelly, Cristian, Alana and Scarlett. The latter two sleeping in our hotel room for the last two nights. They have now flown back to Sydney with skool tomorrow and work shortly after. We will not see them again for probably two plus years…….. That’s a big sad thing. We have been so close over the years and our holiday has reinforced that family bond. We fully agree that Oz is a better place to live and bring up the girls but it is a long way. Very long way. Thank you Kelly’s for the fun, cuddles and entertainment. 

So…

Our last evening in the Margaret River area was a superb Australia Day fireworks display in Bunbury. Free half hour of amazing fireworks in the park. There was a large funfair with a classic Ozzie Sheila girls fight nearby..! Henna tatto for Alana. 

 Next morning.. up and away again. Heading north in our trusty hired Toyota Torago. How did all of us fit in there with all that kit…?!

We arrived in Perth via a short visit to Fremantle. Walk along the front, big wheel ride and ice cream. Managed to get a medically trained pharmacist to look at Michelle’s red eye. Her medical opinion after many years of training was.. ‘That’s a doozy’ ! Thanks. … but yes it is one of those things that happen when one wants to divert attention from ones husbands bad foot…! Thankfully there is only minor discomfort and the embarrassment of people staring at her. You could pay a fortune for one of those zombie contact lenses over Halloween.. !

Our hotel was the Pan Pacific near the centre of Perth. Real nice and a little posh. Two rooms. 

We did ‘paper, scissors, rock’ and we benefited from having the girls stay in our room and Kel/Cristian benefitted from the best river view..!!.. doh…must practice that game more. !

Kelly and I took the hire car back to the airport..failed again with Uber so took a regular taxi back to the hotel. These things are so expensive here. 

Actually we loved sharing our room with the girls. Think the girls did too.  Alana manages to break dance for the first hour and a half of sleep. Made a right job of screwing up the sheets. !

Sunday was basically arriving, very tasty buffet dinner £30 each (A$55) at the hotel and early night.. 10.30.

Monday was a bank holiday for the Australia Day weekend. We were none stop and the weather was hot. As in 38 degrees hot. Phew.  The best part was a small area for the kids in Elizabeth Quay with fountains for the kids under large umbrellas. Well…me and Cristian loved it..soaking wet fully clothed. Scarlett described it as ‘The best day…EVER’ we must have been rolling around in the water for an hour..! 

We took a ferry ride to south Perth which wasn’t too exciting but it was cheap…!

The Perth area is so lively and full of really nice people. Well worth a visit. 

This takes us up to the present day. Sad farewells after breakfast as The Kelly’s overloaded a taxi with 18 suitcases, two surf boards, 25 bits of hand luggage and 15 cuddly toys. Kelly managed to offload their 11 year old childs car seat (retained the child.!) with the concierge meaning one less item to lug around the airport. 

We have booked a hotel in Fiji not too far from the airport as we only have four days there. Not only is Michelle a whizz on the financial wheeling and dealing for this trip she is damn good at finding accommodation.. Even with one eye. 

Weather looks hot, sunny, stormy.. but no snow. … we now enter the second half of our tour. 

Bring it on. 

Did you know….Perth is the sunniest capital city in the world with an average 8 hours per day with sunshine a mahoosive 365 days per year.

Happy Birthday Simon. 😀