My welcome to Oz

Australia… I am not sure what I expected, but knowing that it was a modern westernised nation with a relatively small population and large land area I guess I was under the impression that the country would be a modern laid back nation with all the amenities of Europe and an amazing range of fauna and flora… Well on arrival… It was certainly laid back ;)

Flying into Perth was AMAZING 0_0 the sky was a deep vermillion red and I mean ‘DEEP RED’ that is hard to explain, obviously the forest fires to the north west of the city had lit up the cloudy skies and the suns early morning rays were just dawning over the horizon at 5.30am as we started to make our final descent - I was mesmerised by the grandeur of the spectacle and found it hard to tear my eyes away until we descended enough for the spectacle to dwindle and depart from view.

Making my way through customs is quite a rigmarole as Oz is very strict on what comes into the country - however, I was one of the few to get through quickly with just a quick check of the paperwork but I did see long lines of people with bags open and contents strewn over tables for inspection.
Unlike Japan and China the public transport is (a) not cheap and (b) certainly not as easily accessible, clearly a car culture exists here… Entering the country at 6am there is limited choices on how to get to the city centre of Perth (my chosen starting point of my marathon across Australia’s southern coast. Luckily there is a mini-bus shuttle service but expect to pay $10 for the privilege of riding in an overcrowded bus with luggage trailer… Not the best start with my legs wrapped around my own backpack…
My accommodation is the YMCA ($50 a night/£35 would have been ok if the exchange rate against the £ was not so bad!! Currently standing at $1.40~£1). The YMCA is located right next door to the Perth general hospital and I can honestly state that I think many patients who need accommodation for ongoing conditions are housed here… I base this on my personal experience talking with ‘guests’ at the hostel. The room is small but has all the requirements for a basic stay (electrical sockets, FAN, TV (poor reception from basic Ariel), towel, cupboard, bed and writing desk. However, for the price I am paying the toilets and showers are down the hall (this would not be sooo bad if I was not placed on the women’s floor due to no rooms available on any of the men’s - this in effect meant that if I needed the loo in the middle of the night I needed to go up or down one floor and along two corridors, somewhat inconvenient and no discount offered!!). Overall, you are paying rather more than I would expect for accommodation in the YMCA and it compares poorly to all other hostels that I have stayed at across SE Asia (particularly those in China and Japan). Staff are generally polite but they are working in a building which needs some renovation and I had two cockroaches in my room last night… Anyhow - enough of a moan about costs of accommodation standards.