ANZAC Day and the journey West

Yesterday (25th April) was ANZAC Day in Australia (and New Zealand), a public holiday, similar to Remembrance Sunday. We spent the day relaxing with Gary, Belle, Daniel and Claudia in their lovely home. We finally had our "lazy day"! It was lovely not to be rushing around trying to see as much as we can and not to have to rush Solana to get ready, eat up, walk faster, etc... We ate some Anzac cookies (biscuits traditionally made with ingredients from the days of war rations - much tastier than they sound). In the evening we had our first Aussie barbie for dinner, washed down with the last bottle of wine we brought over from New Zealand - a fitting Anzac meal! This morning we said our fond farewells to Gary, Belle, Daniel & Claudia. It was really lovely staying with them and we vowed not to leave it as long 14 years (Laura last saw them in 2003!) before we meet up again. Perhaps next time we'll meet up somewhere exotic in between UK & Aus?...

Today we flew from Sydney to Perth; the flight took 5 hours and covered 2,045 miles. Five hours to fly across one single country... This journey across Australia was longer than the journey from New Zealand to Sydney (Sydney is only 1,340 miles from Auckland). In fact, Perth is actually closer to Jakarta (Indonesia) than it is to Sydney! Although, as my sister Jen pointed out, it will take her and her husband Phil longer than our flight today to drive down to Dorset for the weekend. Big world, or small?... We are staying in North Fremantle (not far from Perth city) with Sandy and Mo, an uncle and aunt (by marriage) of Laura's. After we arrived we went for a short walk along the banks of the Swan River, then went out for a quick dinner. We're all tired early tonight,, after the journey and 2 hour time difference. Today was our last flight before we make the long journey home in 3 weeks time. Meanwhile, we're looking forward to exploring Western Australia for the next 3 weeks.Read more