Arrived in Singapore and was met by Amy last night. Unfortunately I now have a proper cold/flu and am coughing and running a temperature, in addition to some inexplainable stomach problems. Despite this I’m enjoying spending time with Amy again and we had fun shopping in the city today. Monsoon is early this year, so currently it’s raining outside.
Also, a photo of Nancy’s lovely parents and brother in front of their house in Claremont (suburb of Perth):
Leaving Australia tomorrow to head to Singapore for 3 days. I’ve had a lovelylovely time here in Perth, seriously, mostly thanks to Nancy and her awesome family, who spoiled me rotten. π
More things I did here: Explored the beautiful Kings Park Botanic Gardens, visited the lovely Perth Zoo, another trip to Fremantle (or Freo, as the locals call it), a family outing down the coast, lunch with Chris and Gill from the Uluru tour and Scarborough Beach with Fiona (who I’d met on the bus to Monkey Mia) and her boyfriend. Oh, and played with Nancy’s three cute cats (Rogue, Melma and Lenny) and a lonely little dog named Alby on the way to the train station here. I might also have indulged in a little bit of retail therapy and caught a bit of a cold, which I hope will go away and stop bothering me.
As always, all photos can be found on Flickr here. And a cute little video of a monkey playing at the zoo:
On Monday I arrived at my final Australian destination, where I’m staying with my friend Nancy and her family. I’m enjoying myself a lot, and not just because I have my own room (even with ensuite bath!) and wireless internet… *g* On Tuesday I met up with Barbara (who I’d met in Broome) and we went to the pretty harbour town of Fremantle. Yesterday I explored Perth’s CBD (Central Business District) and went to see a concert – Panic at the Disco, Cobra Starship and The Academy Is… – which was awesome despite it getting quite squishy in the first few rows sometimes. Almost the best bit was that I ran into Panic’s drummer, Spencer Smith, in the street while out sightseeing. π
As always, all photos can be found here. Less than a week now until I leave down under and head to Singapore for a couple of days…
Also, I discovered another little movie I made in Monkey Mia – pelicans vying for fish leftovers at sunset:
All day yesterday I didn’t get internet, but now it’s suddenly working again, so I’m using the opportunity to get caught up with my photos. Staying here is wonderfully relaxing – after the dolphin feeding in the morning, all you can do is hang out on the beach, read or listen to an audiobook until a glorious sunset. I also met a few nice women here – Susie and Rebecka in my dorm room, who both volunteer here, and Shan (?) from England, who was on the bus with me. Both her and I are leaving tomorrow morning – at 4am, so that’s going to be fun, but I’m really glad I had the three days here.
As always, all photos are here on Flickr. Also, I made two little movies of dolphins:
After 25 hours on the bus I’ve arrived in Monkey Mia, a tiny tourist spot, and have already had the chance to feed one of the wild dolphins that come by the beach every day. This afternoon I’ve booked a boat trip to see some more wildlife and visit a pearl farm. Other than that it’s going to be a very quiet 3 days, but as long as the weather’s fine, I’ll be okay – and I even discovered an open wireless network that I can access from my dorm room (where I am now). It’s quite slow, but hey, it’s free! π
My 3 days in Broome are almost over already – tomorrow it’s 25 hours on Greyhound to Monkey Mia. I met a few nice people here, including Barbara from St. Gallen and Miguel from ZΓΌrich, so I got to talk Swiss German. I’ll also be on the same bus with Frederike from Hamburg, but she’s going to Exmouth, not Monkey Mia.
It’s been a relaxing few days. Monday evening I went to admire the “Stairway to the Moon”, which was incredible – I’ve never seen a moon that big or that golden, it was almost like a sunrise… On Tuesday me and Frederike went to Cable Beach, which is all white sand and turquoise water, and in the evening Barbara and I saw “Mongol” at the open-air cinema, which has been showing movies for over 90 years. Today I went to the beach again and walked along it to a place where you can see dinosaur footprints at low tide. Unfortunately the tide had turned when I got there, but it was still a beautiful place. As always, all photos are here on Flickr.
Also, Dave sent two group shots from the Uluru tour, which our guide Mike took at Kata Tjuta:
Left Darwin yesterday, spent 26 hours on the bus to Broome – the bus ride was better than I’d feared, as I had two seats to myself and it was quite warm. Wireless here at the youth hostel doesn’t seem to work, but they have ethernet access, so I was finally able to catch up on the photo uploading.
There are a couple of from the train, where I met Arin from Taiwan and Tina from Germany, quite a number from the daytrip to Litchfield National Park Tina and I did (where we met Vanessa, also from Germany) and of course some from Darwin, which I enjoyed a lot – sunshine, beaches (no swimming, though), stunning sunsets and meeting some old friends again: Gill, Chris and April from the Uluru tour and Mike and Lauren from Melbourne-Adelaide.
And a small movie from the Sunset Market, where we enjoyed two sets by the didgeridoo & drums combo eMDee:
As always, all photos can be found here on Flickr. I’m going to miss bumping into people I know now that I’m on the west coast! However, it seems very busy here, all hostels booked out. But because the tourism industry here is much smaller tours etc. are much more expensive and I don’t think I can afford any more daytrips. Luckily there’s a beach only a busride away from the hostel, so I’m sure I won’t be bored – if I can find a book exchange, that is, as I’m almost out of reading material! π