Whenever I used to think of Australia, before I moved here, all I could really picture was the Sydney opera house and a kangaroo in a red desert. Oh of course I was aware that there were cities in Australia but there never any really useful information available about any of them so my mental picture went unchanged. Upon arrival I wasn’t exactly surprised to discover how big Perth was but it was certainly very different to what I had pictured. What I had also failed to take into account was how hot it was, how very hot.

So my first few months were largely becoming used to the Australian climate and learning how to survive 40 degree days. Then, just when I got the hang of the heat, nature seemed to flip a giant switch that turned the temperature from hellishly hot to unbelievably cold. People will chortle or snicker and say that they don’t feel the cold and I used to belong to that group. Living in England I’d sometimes go for a few days without seeing the sun come out from the dreary band of grey and the temperature at night could plummet to as low as -4 Celsius. But the big difference between England and Australia is that the houses in the UK are constructed to hold as much heat in whereas the houses over here are built to release it.

The freezing cold aside this holiday has been perhaps one of my busiest. This time next week I will be boarding a train that will take 3 days to get me to Sydney and I am getting quite excited. I’ve had a few suggestions about what I should do while over there and I will try to get as much done as I can.

I have no head for heights but this did sound like an amazing time. Unfortunately it will out of my budget so I won’t be doing that. I might try to chip a piece of bridge off as a souvenir. That’s legal right?

This was already on my list of things to see but I think I’d like to chip off a piece of the opera house as well; it’s kind of developing as a theme to the trip.

This one actually makes me a bit nervous as I have gotten into contact with their shadowy leader who has agreed to let me interview them. I was warned that if I make them look stupid they will kill me. I might dress Kieran up as me just in case.

Penguins.

There is a lot of other stuff I want to do while over there and I’m sure I won’t get through half the list but I’m sure I’ll still have a great time.