Emerald Perth

... was to arrive on the Wednesday, go to the wedding on Saturday and move on to Chicago for the remainder of my trip. I had also booked a ticket to see Robin Williams, my favourite comedian, perform his stand up comedy. The trip was getting better and better. Mark, his girlfriend, Kym, and I were getting excited but Alicia was somewhat guarded. That was until Mark sent her his itinerary and she was bouncing off the walls. Well, at least we thought so. Emotions in internet chat are so ...

... Turns out I will be living on a farm and doing 2 hours farm work in the morning to cover my accommodation and fod costs and then in the afternoon I will be looking after his Dad who had alheimers (SP). Sounds alright to me. 'When would you like me to start'?? I ask. 'Why not hop on a bus down today and then you will be here for shearing tomo?' this Aussie voice booms down the phone. Wow I am leaving today. I better get my **** in gear.

I run back to the hostel and ...

... the loading operation in Johor didn’t take that long and by mid-afternoon we were heading south through the Java Sea.

Now I had noticed on the ships notice board that the area we were going through was a known trouble spot for pirates....that’s right pirates! We were at security level 2 which meant that all exterior doors & windows had to be locked at all times. Luckily we managed to avoid the pirates and sailed quite calmly through the ...

... kitorang. Tapi bagus la jugak, pemandangan dekat kiri-kanan was breathtaking. Aku duduk belah dalam sebab nak elakkan dari sejuk sangat. Tapi keluar jugak amek angin luar dan bergambar dekat luar. Banyak sangat marina yang penuh dengan bot dan yact dekat sini dan banyaklah kawasan rumah orang-orang kaya. At 4.45 we arrived at Barrack Street Jetty. Aku dok study buku ...

... There are some small trees but mostly the vegetation is low scrub. The island is renowned for having a large population of quokkas, a small marsupial, and we saw four. One of them was sitting underneath a giant spider's web (complete with large spider). We also saw a beautiful large bird of prey and assume it was an osprey as they nest there, and a kite hovering. It was quite hot but at least there was a breeze mostly off the water and it was probably cooler than Perth ...

... are many rivers and tributaries in this area, which combined with heavy rainfall, made the going difficult. Conrad drove carefully through the spectacular Karijini National Park. We watched the forces of mother nature unfurl - the sky changed from blue to black, mist shrouded the mountains and an electrical storm lit up the heavens. After 15 hours on the road we arrived safe and well in ...

... of general good weather, day after day both have something to do with it. We drove home in time to meet Laura's boyfriend Paul who had been working late at Uni and also in time to see the great car moving exhibition as up to 7 cars belonging to the various inhabitants of the house were rearranged to allow everyone to leave at the required time in the morning and to avoid their cars being soaked with borehole water overnight (which can stain the paintwork ...

Back to the Hilton - have to maximize my allegiance to the main chain. I was fully upgraded to the 2 room suite and had the manager come out to personally greet me (wow). He said he was sorry for not catching me last week. Boy do I feel important.

... glasses of wine before them! The dark nutty one really is one of the nicest beers I've ever tasted, what a shame it's brewed on the other side of the world!

We totally forgot about the desert wine we bought yesterday, so we'll have to carry that with us until we find a suitable time ...