No Sea Poos Here

Dunedin was grey and wet. Very unusual for the time of year we were told again and again by everyone we met.

We had booked a rather posh place to stay called LivingSpace. It was a mini apartment really, all new and posh. Of course the obligitary accommodation photos are linked here through Flickr.

Dunedin apparently means Edinburgh in Celtic. The city is the oldest in NZ and actually has builidngs made of stone higher than one storey and over 100 years old. It also has a Cadbury's World and more panel beaters than you can shake a stick at(!?).

We visited the botanical gardens (in the rain) and spent a very happy 10mins on a see-saw. We found our first charity shop and had a good old rummage. In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are. We hijacked the 'state of the art theatre room' in LivingSpace in the evening to watch The Kite Runner.

Next day, Thurs 17 Dec, we spent a cultured couple of hours visiting the city's art gallery. There was a real flamin' Monet in there. Wasn't expecting that!

We flew to Perth that day, changing at Brisbane. We left Dunedin at 4pm and reached Perth at what should have been 5am to us, but was midnight Perth time. I utterly underestimated how long it would take us to reach WA. We fell into the Formule 1 we'd booked at Perth airport, and slept like logs.

In the morning we couldn't believe the weather. Proper sun with not a cloud in the sky. The weather forecast was 34 degrees! Whoop whoop!!

We hopped on a bus into Perth town centre, where we stayed for the day window shopping, eating lunch and lying in the park. We'd arranged to meet Lisa (friend from Birmingham UCE and London) and Jo and John (friends from Barratts, Camden) in Little Creatures in Fremantle. A great night was had. It's the best thing to sit in a pub on the other side of the world and your mates come through to the door to meet you.

Jo and John put us up that night. We walked back to their house in East Fremantle and crashed into bed. The next morning, Sat 19 Dec, the heat woke us up so we had some breakfast and went to Port Beach. The beaches are amazing here. I even will go in the water without any shoes on. There isn't a sea poo/slug/cucumber to be seen, and the water is the perfect temperature.

We were dropped off at Lisa and Dale's, in Spearwood, that afternoon. Was great to see Dale as he had his Xmas works night the night before and couldn't come to the pub with us. That evening we visited Gila and Pasqualie, the people we will be house and cat-sitting for.

They are lovely, so friendly and easy to get on with. We had tea and they showed us were everything was in the house. It's a great house, the upstairs has a mezanine with a sort of tv lounge. Gila paints and sews, she quite arty. Her pictures are up around the house. It's the best house sit we could have hoped for. It's walkable into central Fremantle and it's not too big for us to look after and keep clean. The cats are cute too.

Next day, Sun 20 Dec, Lisa and Dale took us to the supermarket for food shopping. It seems you have to have a car to be able to get around here. Everything is so spread out. Perth is enormous. I thought London was big.

That afternoon Lisa, Dale, me and James took Bella the dog to the beach. L&D are looking after her for family. We had another swim, the waves were bigger at this beach. Lisa had to pop to the pub she works at for a Christmas meeting, so we went with her, covered in sand, and had a drink outside.

Later on we had a barbeque of the best ribs I've ever tasted. I now eat all the meat! All of it!! Except the beef, which seems to be the promiment meat on sale here in the shops, but I still can't do the beef. Don't know why. It's a mental block.

Next day (21st) we moved into our house. We have the place to ourselves for 11 whole days! And the best bit is it's entirely free with unlimited internet access!! One our first day here we spend a lot of time uploading photos and keeping cool indoors.

Yesterday morning we walked to South Beach, which is closest to us and had another dip in the sea. There are dogs everywhere here. People have the space to keep them. Yesterday evening we went to the Moonlight Cinema in King Park with Lisa to see The Box. James and I were utterly unprepared with no food and hired beanbags. Everyone else had blankets and posh picnics. It did get a little bit chilly. We'll know for next time.

So now it's Wed 23 December. James has just worked out how to get the internet connected to the telly. He's rather proud of himself. We have guests coming for tea tonight. Jo, John and John's mum who is visiting for Christmas from South Africa. I'm making roasted tomato and garlic spaghetti and salad. I hope it works out. Wish me luck.