Pete in Perth

A big thank you to Kalasue, who was so very generous with her time and petrol yesterday. She was the perfect guide, full of a background story to everything I saw.

And we saw quite a lot. The Art Gallery and cultural precinct - as an aside, I'm so very glad I got even a quick look at the collection, some really mouth-watering paintings ther, and the buildings themselves were just fantastic! - the city, the foreshore, Kings Park, including a mindblowing trip along their elevated walkway through the treetops, the gathering in the restaurant, and then a trip along the shore of the Indian Ocean to Fremantle.

I don't have time to do it all justice, but as I sat later that evening in a Perth park admiring some multicultural dancing displays and eating some delicious Jamaican Jerk Chicken, my heart (and tummy were full).

I released my submarine book at the slipway used by the Americans in WW2. An added bonus was that the slip was occupied by a submarine, albeit one slightly newer than the wartime vessels.

The YHA hostel was brand new and very comfortable. Recommended to all.

And the BookCrossers! Thank you all for coming out to meet me. Kalasue, Libertine101, Murrmurr and and American lady whose screen-name I didn't quite catch. We had some wonderful tucker in the Botanic Gardens restaurant, a bit of bookswapping, and the pleasure of each others' company.

For me, it's not the books, nor even the wonderful locations. It's the BookCrossers!

Onto the world!

OK. I've finished my Australian flights, and now I'm waiting for my Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong. It's an overnight flight, and I'm hoping to get a bit of sleep. We'll see. Last night I kept on waking up, wondering if it was time for me to leave. I managed to beat the alarm, and slipped out for a quick shave and shower before changing and completing my packing with minimal disturbance to my room-mates. I'd done most of my packing the night before, so it was just a matter of making sure my towel and pyjamas were included and I hadn't left anything behind.

I may have lost one of my travel padlocks. Then again I may have put it somewhere. I'll find out, I suppose, if I ever unpack completely, which is unlikely before I end this trip.

I'm at max weight now, with my big bag at 30 kilos and the tote bag at 17. I'll be leaving books and chocolate in Osaka, and hopefully I won't be getting too much in exchange, as it's very difficult to move with such a weight! And so few hands. Bless the man who invented roller wheels on the bottom of bags!

Perth to Melbourne was a good flight. A lot of cloud, and a lot of dry Aussie land. I think I flew over the mouth of the Murray, but I'm not sure.

Melbourne to Sydney was a bigger aircraft - a 767 instead of a 737 - and I overflew Canberra. Usually I fly in and out of Canberra, so I'm never aboard on of those dots leaving contrails above my home, and I made sure I was sitting on the correct side to look down on my home.

Took a photograph, which may have turned out, but taking pictures out of plane windows is chancy!

Released a few of my smaller books here and there. Have to leave one here, I guess. I've got one with me and one planned for Hong Kong.