Day 12 (Perth) - Friday 30th September 2016

Roll up! Roll up! The circus is in town!

Sis managed to get tickets to the Joseph Ashton circus at short notice, so we spent the afternoon marvelling at the jugglers, the aerial artists, the contortionist, the tight-rope walker, the trapeze artists, and the trained dogs and horses, amongst others.

Youngest nephew was very concerned about the man who got 'shrunk' in the magic washing machine and became a mini-me. He wanted to know if he'd become a man again afterwards. 😁

Day 11 (Perth) - Thursday 29th September 2016

[Insert a-ha title here] ('We're looking for the whales', in case you didn't know.)

Ooh, look! We found one! No, two humpback whales!

Not a cloud in the sky. Calm seas. (Really shouldn't have sat at the front of the boat, though, on the journey out. But, hey - free! sick bags.)

Day 10 (Perth) - Wednesday 28th September 2016

Another day, another house viewing.

Before that, the nephews and niece played 'Let's bury the scooter!' down on Sorrento Beach.

Day 9 (Perth) - Tuesday 27th September 2016

Ho ho ho!

Wet and windy weather today, so the hatches were battened down and the toy box was raided. Niece is hoping Father Christmas will arrive soon.

On the second day of the school holidays, my nephews found other ways to entertain themselves.

This is educational, honest!

My sister has just read this blog entry and said, 'Oi! What about the painting they did this morning, the card games they played, their homework and the house viewing we did? They didn't start on the Xbox till 3.15pm*!'

(*That's in case my brother-in-law is reading this entry, too.)

Sorry, but - photos, or it didn't happen!  (I thought everyone knew that rule!) 😉

Day 8 (Perth) - Monday 26th September 2016

My Little Pony

Ponies. And worms. And dogs. Oh my!

It's a public holiday in Western Australia today (for the Queen's Birthday - why don't we get this back in the U.K.?!) and the whole of Perth turned up at the Perth Royal Show (or that's what it seemed like, judging by how far away we had to leave the car. Still, the local primary school was raking it in with their impromptu car park. Local residents were charging for people to park in their driveways or on their verges, too. Gotta admire the enterprising Aussie spirit!).

Preparing the worm farm

The Perth Royal Show is an annual fair and cattle show with events, fairground rides, competitions and stalls taking place in the showground. We walked our feet off today and came away with free popcorn (from the First Aid demonstration tent. Their theme song was The Bee Gees 'Staying Alive'), colouring books and some worms. I think the worms are still alive. If they're not, then we were obviously more interested in free popcorn than life-saving skills.

The dog was faster than his owner

Training for Robot Wars

Sheep shearing

Bubble Guy (+ Free! popcorn)

Wood chopping competition

The horse with six legs

Buddy & Tiny from Dinosaur Train

Day 7 (Perth) - Sunday 25th September 2016

Perth City

We headed into the city today and enjoyed the sunny weather in the city parks.

Day 6 (Perth) - Saturday 24th September 2016

Scott Chocolate

The name's Chocolate. Scott Chocolate (allegedly). He juggles. He jokes. He's funny. If you're ever near the Fremantle Market then keep an eye out for him (especially if his diabolo hits the roof behind on its descent and bounces off into the audience - good catch, Man In Hat!). His piece de resistance is juggling with fire batons whilst balancing on a plank on top of a cylinder on top of a suitcase table.

Enjoying doughnuts at the market

Ate out in the evening at 3Sheets. Youngest nephew (5) wanted a beer. Had to settle for wha-da (that's 'water' in an Aussie accent). Thought of my old CPD colleagues when I placed my order (can you guys guess what it was?! 😉) and my old school friend Trish when I taught my 7-year-old nephew how to play Squares.

Day 5 (Perth) - Friday 23rd September 2016

Managed to just about get up in time to attend my nephews' school assembly. Youngest nephew's class was taking the assembly, and they all dressed up in costumes from around the world (so cute!). Youngest nephew also received a merit certificate for 'Getting-A-Long'. He was too shy to collect the certificate himself, so Daddy and Little Sis had to help out.

Later, walked alongside Sorrento Beach - very, very breezy (though you wouldn't think it to look at the photo!). This beach is just a stone's throw (or two) from my sister's rented house.

Sorrento Beach

Day 4 (Perth) - Thursday 22nd September 2016

Duncraig library

A visit to a library wasn't on my radar when I envisioned my time in Perth, but I certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity today! Whilst my niece and sister attended story time, I checked out nine books on my sister's library ticket. (And, yeah, I've already finished one of the books! 😁)

Day 3 (Perth) - Wednesday 21st September 2016

Well-behaved nephews & niece

I arrived safely (despite my sister's attempts to get us lost on the drive back to her house from the airport. It was around 2am though, so I'll make allowances!).

After waking up at a reasonable time (for a sleep-deprived person. 10.30am, if you really want to know), I spent a chilled-out day at home. Lunch was a leisurely affair at the poolside with the sun out and not a cloud in the blue sky. And this is supposed to be the tail end of their winter?!

Not so well-behaved nephews & niece

Day 2 (Dubai) -Tuesday 20th September 2016

I was the envy of Economy Class on the first stage of my journey. Despite a very full plane from Heathrow to Dubai, I had a whole row all to myself. You bet I stretched out along all three seats! Same thing happened on the longer leg of the journey from Dubai to Perth - result! 😀

Dubai airport

Day 1 (Heathrow) - Monday 19th September 2016

And so my adventures begin!

As Dad couldn't drop me off, a very kind couple from my church took me down to the coach station in plenty of time to catch my coach (thanks, Paul and Lindsay!).

Mum accompanied us (mostly to make sure they really were getting rid of me for eight weeks). I think she might've rolled her eyes when I popped into Greggs for a baguette for my tea (I'm not going to have another one for aaaages - I'm going to suffer withdrawal symptoms!). I managed to snag the last tuna crunch one on the shelves - hoorah!

The coach was a little  late in arriving, and we didn't leave until just gone 4.15pm. Due to the rush hour traffic, we arrived later than scheduled at Heathrow, not getting in until 6.30pm.

I've checked my suitcase in and have cleared security. I'm now holed up in the multi-faith prayer room, waiting for the first leg of my flight to commence. It smells of feet in here.

Sign in bathroom near prayer room

One day to go!

One day to go, and I've nearly finished my packing. Thought I'd try writing a blog post on my Kindle as a trial run. Seems to work!

Here's a handy tip I picked up - pack your things in Ziploc bags, and you'll fit more in your suitcase once you've squeezed the air out!

The travel necessities

My holiday is getting scarily close now; I picked up my travel documents at the weekend from the travel agents. I've also got travel sickness tablets for the flights (& potential boat journeys), as well as some delicious hard-boiled sweets for take-off (must resist eating them all beforehand!).

One week to go - yikes!