amazing perth

perth is truly a wonderful city. it is beautiful, vegetated, clean and stylish. a great place to live! and i'm quite happy that i got to visit here. i'm quite lucky though to have been staying with friends, as otherwise i would have hardly seen anything of the city, and for sure i would have missed all of the great things further affelds. see, unlike in asia, it's very hard to get around australia unless you have wheels or heaps of cash!

my hosts have been treating me very well, more than well even. we've been out for drinks and great food around the city, the beach and surrounding towns. i've tasted great beers (thanks to ian, my official drink adviser) and even ate kangaroo (tasty!). overall it's been lots of great times... and a very different type of vacation than what i had experienced so far. in a good way, of course!

yesterday was a particularly great day though. rawinia took the day off work and showed me around the swan valley region, WA's oldest wine region. we started the day at a conservation park, where i got to see the wildlife of all parts of australia. i got to hold a wombat, feed kangaroos and pet a koala. it was like being a kid again, i was just so excited and i had the biggest smile on my face. they're all so cute! can't i take them home??? afterwards we headed to the jane brooke winery for a relaxed lunch, where we sampled some wine and munched on a gigantic platter of cheese, dips, veggies and terrine. and afterwards, we headed to a chocolate factory for some free samplings. a great day out!

today though i have taken it slow. i had meant to head out to rotness island but i slept in... and didn't feel that it would be worth it with the time left. so i decided to relax instead, which is good in a way because tonight i am taking the red-eye to sydney, from where i will fly out a few hours later to auckland, new zealand. a new country! yet again. i can't help myself!


hugging a wombat!


feeding a kangaroo!


petting a koala!


rawinia and our huge platter!