Hello Perth

Our longest - 4.5hr - Qantas internal flight was comfortable enough. As luck would have it, this was the only internal
flight that we didn't get allocated the exit row seats, so it was a little more snug than previous flights.

The in-flight lunch was a well thought out and carefully prepared chicken dish. It was disgusting. This was actually very considerate of Qantas, as it reminded us that we will shortly be returning to international travel, so we needed to be re-introduced to the standard that we can expect from BA! A couple of mindless in-flight movies helped pass the time and we soon touched down in Perth.

Another efficient airport/airline performance ensured that within an hour of touchdown we were settling in to our apartment in the centre of the city. We have heard much about Perth, a city of only 2m people closer to Djakarta in Indonesia than it is to the major cities on Australia's east coast. It does have a flavour all it's own. We'd met people in Sydney who even preferred this Western Australian capital to any other Aussie city.

The city is not really walkable. As it has grown, it appears to have grown outwards utilising the vast areas of land available rather than growing by increasing the density of buildings. There are a few high-rise blocks in a tight group right in the centre of the business district, but otherwise the city appears to spread out for miles either side of the Swan River.

It does, however, have the best of the weather. We are hearing about the worst floods in history in Queensland and it is currently raining everywhere along the east coast - Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. We've been really lucky with our timing as we've had ideal exploring weather almost throughout the trip.

Perth will be a chance to kick back and relax after a fairly hectic schedule throughout the other areas of the country we've visited. Here we will just take it easy in our apartment, catch up with our laundry and window shop in the city centre. This morning we will walk the half mile from our apartment to the Barrack St Wharf and pick up a ferry to Fremantle. This predominantly Victorian port looks like it might be fun to wander round.

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