I don't like cricket... I love it!

We got back to Perth and the cricket began.  We had tickets for the 3rd and 4th day but Tim couldn't wait that long so he got a ticket to day 2 aswell.  I had a lovely day relaxing in Kings Park, the most beautiful park I have every been in.  We went to the cricket together the next couple of days and well, I think everybody knows we lost.  It was good fun though, we sat near the barmy army and chanted along.  I was disappointed Broad wasn't playing as he is very attractive! Here's some photos because they explain better than I can!

On the way to the WACA




Day two, all over at 11.30!




Some cricket on day 1



More cricketting around

On the west bank at the WACA

Jimmy! Legend. 



Western Australia

Free BBQ's are everywhere!

We have been in Australia for 10 days now and have covered about 2500km!  We arrived in Perth and stayed there for 3 nights, did a little bit of shopping, went on a student night out (a reminder of the good old days!) and walked around the city.  The best part was Kings Park which is on a hill over-looking the city so the view is great.  We are now having to cook and shop for ourselves which is a shock after 3 months of eating out, especially as everything is twice the price it is in England- except steak.  Our first meal was steak and packet pasta- very tasty! 

We hired a car on the 3^rd day and headed south towards Margaret River, via Bunbury and Bussleton.  The drive was brilliant, amazing views and it was great to have our own car – even if it wasn’t a fiesta.  We stopped when we wanted and visited a few different places ad beaches.  A highlight was visiting Bunbury Dolphin centre.  It was 10 minutes before closing, and they were undergoing a refurbishment so the lady let us in free.  There are wild dolphins there that you can interact with on the beach- but we were told they only come in the mornings.  However, when we went out to the beach there was a dolphin!  It was only there for a few seconds then disappeared but it was still impressive!  There are free gas BBQ's everywhere so we had a great BBQ in Bussleton by the beach.

Wineries for Timmy's birthday

The Friday was Tim’s birthday, we went for a walk near a lighthouse where the views were amazing, then went to a few wineries for some tastings in the afternoon.  You just rock up try the wine then leave- it’s great!  We went out in the evening for a few beers with the guys from the hostel too, a good day all round.  From Margaret River we went on to Augusta to another lighthouse and more amazing views – the photos just don’t do it justice, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  

Jetty at Busstleton

We drove on to Albany that night then in the morning explored a bit more coast.  There is a natural bridge in the rock which is spectacular and little beach was my favourite beach.  

View from the top of the Diamond tree, fire lookout.  

You can just about make out Tim on the Natural bridge!

We Stayed in Walpole on the way to Esperance, Tim climbed a fire tree which are used as lookouts for forest fires.  It was 52m high, I bottled it at about 10m and had to come down!  Tim got to the top though and you can see just how high it is from the photo- can you make me out on the ground?!   

  

From Walpole we visited the Valley of the Giants which is a tree top walk 40m in the air on a suspension bridge.  I managed to do this one but it took a lot of courage!  The bridge moves in the wind to replicate the swaying of the canopy- not good, but once again the views were worth it.  We had a guided tour around the forest floor afterwards and saw trees that had been burnt out by forest fires but were still regenerating and alive.  Some of the trees were over 300 years old.  

At the top of the Valley of the Giants.

300 year old tree burnt by a forest fire, but still living.  

From there we went on to Esperance which is really remote, we had to sleep in the car because we couldn’t find anywhere open to stay!  We spent the next day on the beach, then headed back via wave rock- a huge rock that looks like a wave.  After another night in the car (hot showers in the public toilets make it doable), we headed back towards Perth via Fremantle which is a port town nearby.  We had an amazing time driving around, Western Australia is just stunning and having a little t’banger has been brilliant.             

Tim surfing Wave rock!

Little beach- my favourite.  We were the only ones on it for the afternoon after these snorkellers had gone. They were fishing with spears!

On the road, amazing straight roads and views that go on forever! 

Kuala Lumpar, Singapore to Australia (all in a week)

Petronas Towers from the bottom.  

 From Penang, we caught the bus down to Kuala Lumpar (KL as everyone calls it) on a really plush bus.  We found a place to stay but were finding you get less for your money the further south down Asia you go and capital cities are always more expensive so this place was a bit grotty.  We stayed in china town which was really busy and bustling but filthy!  The food was great though. 

View from the petronas towers sky bridge on the 41st floor

On the first day we went for a walk around the city, it isn’t too big so you can walk it all.  The city is really beautiful and the greenest city I have ever seen.  There are trees everywhere.  The architecture is great and there is a mix of old, colonial buildings and brand new skyscrapers which makes it interesting.  We got caught in a huge thunderstorm in the afternoon and had to shelter in the entrance of a five star hotel.  The thunder and lightning was just overhead and went off simultaneously.  It was so loud, I have never been in a thunderstorm like it.  As we sat there an ex-policeman came over to talk to us and told us he was escorting the Malaysian prime minister to a meeting, then a police escort arrived and the prime minister got out and went into the hotel.  It was quite surreal as they were lots of people trying to shake his hand and say hello, then me and Tim loitering about!

With the 2 Rachels in Singapore

 The next morning we got up early to queue for Petronas Tower tickets.  They are given out on a first come first served basis and only a certain number of people can go up each day.  After a couple of hours of waiting we got to the sky bridge and the view was really spectacular.  You can really see how green the city is from there.  In the afternoon we went to look at the KL tower and for a walk in the park surrounding it, it was nice but we got ravished by mosquitos!  We got really lost trying to get back to the hotel and caught in another thunderstorm, then told there were no train tickets to Singapore so we would have to get the more expensive and less convenient bus.  Not the best afternoon we have had!  We decided to go to Singapore the next day. 

Sky bridge in Singapore

So we packed our bags again and in the morning set out to go to the bus station.  We were told that we could get the bus from the stop just outside our hotel, great we thought, we don’t have to carry our bags far or change buses.  The bus came and took us straight to the bus station we were going to anyway then stopped there for 2 hours.  At 12 we set off again and everything was going well, we had to change buses at the service station but that was ok.  When we got to the border crossing we got off the bus with our bags but not my book or Tim’s neck pillow and proceeded through the crossing picking up passport stamps on the way.  All this took about 10minutes, so we went outside and waited for our bus to pick us up again… and waited, and waited.  We couldn’t see anyone from our bus and after asking security it became apparent that our bus had gone without us.  We were told we would have to pay to get the local bus into Singapore city centre, which we did whilst lamenting over how this would never happen in England!  The bus took an hour and a half to go 20km and we arrived in Singapore very tired and cross and found a hostel; Singapore is really expensive so we had to get dorm beds for the first time. 

Singapore at night and the F1 track from the skybridge
However, it was all ok because we met up with Rachel and Rachel, who we went on the elephant trek with in Chang Mai and had a really good catch up over a couple of beers at the quay.  It was great to see them and compare travelling stories!  The next morning we saw the girls off then went for a walk (in the rain) around Singapore.  It is the cleanest city and everywhere looks really new.  We went to Orchard road, which is a really posh shopping road, and had a great time people watching.  Some peoples outfits were amazing!  Then as the rain cleared up in the afternoon we went to the Marina Bay Sands sky bridge, which has no roof so is open to the elements!  We watched the sun go down and all the lights come on in the city which was pretty spectacular.  We could see the F1 racetrack from there too, which impressed Tim. 

'Sleeping' in the airport- not the best idea we've ever had!

The next day we waited around in the hostel for the day and met a couple from Rochdale and Burnley (a Burnley fan but ok!) and after talking for a while we discovered the lads little brother went to my old primary school and had been taught by my mum! Very scary just how small the world is sometimes!  We set off to the airport at night and got a couple of hours sleep there before flying to Australia in the morning.  We are now in Perth and going to get a car to explore the south west coast over the next week before heading back for the cricket.