From the rellies to Rome (Perth)

At mid day, the plain touched down in Perth and me and my new friends parted ways, where my uncle Tom collected me. Tom is quite a humorous character. Upon arriving at his, he gave me the grand tour of where I would sleep for the next three days. Showed me where he had renovated the house from the previous tenants digressions, and introduce me to his pet wooden gecko, who has gained considerable reputation for keeping down the levels of wooden flies, wooden mosquitoes, wooden insects, any other wooden creepy crawlies that had the misfortune to wander into the house.


We went round to Granny's, hugged and said hello. She was struggling with her new vacume cleaner after her last one caught fire! I've been told, this need for replacement had nothing to do with her approach to repairing gadgets... everything can be fixed with a good hit with a hammer... or several.


Tom took me to see both of the football teams he couches play. One game was called off at half-time due to a deluge uncharacteristic of Perth. Someone would kick the ball, and it would stop in a meter or two, hitting a puddle.
Afterwards we shared a couple of nips of whisky together. I thought I had had some nice whisky before, but nothing I had ever tasted was quite like the 18yr old Highland we had. Absolutely incredible!!


We ate lunch together over the next few days, went to the casino. I think I have learnt casinos can be glamours and intriguing but, poker is definitely not my game, at least when real money is at stake! Afterwards I caused my uncle some alarm at our evening meal, who is adventurous by nature but not a fan of a goat curry. On the last day before leaving Perth, I got a chance to cook for Gran and Tom, which meant a lot to me. Pan fried trout with potato salad, asparagus, baby carrots and hollandaise sauce.


Two flights later I was arriving in Rome. I took a taxi to my hostel. It took a moment to adjust looking at the cab line to realise that, the cars were not all occupied and to remember in Europe they dive on the wrong side of the road! It was amazing driving though the city and seeing what was once a dream to visit becoming a reality in front of my eyes. After finding my hostel and dropping my bag. I bought a couple of post cards. Found a wonderful cafe, where the staff were friendly and helpful in teaching me a little Italian, sat down and started to write my journal.


(13/9/13)