The Wild-West
July 11th, 2006
Hi peeps!
Just a quick update to fill you all in on the past couple of weeks, its been all go since I touched down in Oz and i’ve neglected the site, now to make amends!
Spent my first couple of weeks chilling in Fremantle, doing some odd-jobs labouring on building sites and painting, just earning a bit of cash - the first time I have lifted my finger to do any form of work in months, and the blisters proved it! 
Living the Ozzy life is great, surfing, BBQs and quite a bit of drinking too - the beer here is so much nicer than in NZ!
My brother, Pete, arrived on the 5th and we had a great couple of days in Freo, including participating in the hostel’s fancy-dress party with a cowboy and indian theme….there are some good pics from this night which i’ll be sure to upload when I get the chance!
Back to my bro, he and I are currently undertaking a quick road-trip up the west coast of Oz, we bought a car in Perth - which wasn’t without drama, the first time we filled it up with petrol it sprung a leak and proceeded to dump 20litres of fuel on the forecourt! Fortunatley the car dealer wasn’t too harsh with us and paid for us to sort the problem out…not a good start though and I was beginning to think that the car was jinxed!
Anyways, we set off from Perth on the 8th and I was quite nervous about what would happen with the car….all of which has proved to be needless as she has performed beautifully the whole trip thus far (and yes, I am touching wood as I say this) 
So with Charllotte (the car) running like a dream we have covered over 900 miles of Western Oz, driving first to Lancelin, then on to Kalbarri and finally reaching our main target destination of Exmouth - after a 9 hour drive from Kalbarri through some spectacular outback scenery.
On the way we have seen loads of Roo’s, mainly dead ones but had some near misses on some live ones too! 
We’ve also seen Emu’s, huge Hawks and hundereds of giant termite mounds.
We are going to stay here in Exmouth for a few days, diving the famous Ningaloo Reef (now rated better than the Great Barrier by some) and just chilling out on beaches until its time for us to turn round and head back to Perth - we will take a bit more time on the way back and stop at some places we missed on the way up.
I’ll upload all of my pics from the trip and more when I get back to Perth and let me tell you there are some good ones
TTFN
P.S. For my mates back home who like to know the particulars on cars….she is a 1984 Holden VK station-wagon, 6-potter with 3.3litres….roar! 
