I arrived in Perth on the container ship Buxstar the night before actually disembarking. After watching the ship approach the port and dock from the bridge, I went to sleep and got up the next day for the customs inspection. The two immigration officers gave me a bit of a grilling, as I didn’t know where I was staying, didn’t know anyone in Australia and didn’t have any onward travel booked. Just to make themselves satisfied, they also went through all my stuff, asking questions about how much money I had saved and whether I could show them a business card from my last job. I think I answered the questions correctly, as they ended-up letting me in.

Once off the ship, a car turned up to take me and my fellow passenger, David, to the nearest terminal building. This was an office at the end of a short road and it was from here that David called a taxi. After waiting for 15 – 20 minutes, we decided to walk to the main road, as nothing had showed up. Once here, we had a more obvious address to give the taxi driver and one turned up in a few minutes.

The taxi driver dropped me off at the nearest train station, which took me to the central station in Perth. Despite being on a boat for 10 days with an Australian, it was strange being in the West again. At the train station I managed to get directions to the tourist information centre, where I went and bought a ticket for my journey to Adelaide a few days later.

Perth had everything that I needed but seemed a bit sterile. It took a while to find a good hostel and even though I was there for only 3 days, I had to think of things to do on the second and third days. It was very expensive and I didn’t feel particularly upset about leaving.

Whilst I was in Perth I went to the modern art gallery, the cinema, Freemantle and I got my hair cut (by an Irish girl).