Sat 19th March

Another flight from hell! Why do parents insist on bringing kids with them? I had one sat behind taking great delight in kicking the back of my seat in between shouting at mummy how funny the cartoons were, and two kids in front of me who were crying in tandem. Alright, I was grumpy through lack of sleep and lacked toleration, but I wonder if there are any airlines which ban kids on certain flights.

So to Customs in Perth. Last year I did the right thing and declared my laptop and camera and ended up being put through all sorts because of my honesty. This time I thought "sod it", knowing my luck I would have probably had a body search this time (not that they would have to search very hard to find my body) and so I kept quiet. It worked as I sailed through and was glad to see Brad waiting for me. Out to the car park and I was surprised to see clouds in the sky. I am sure last year I didn't see a cloud at all, not that clouds affected the temperature! About 30 degrees and not humid at all.

When Brad suggested a cold refreshing beer I had to think about it for a moment. It was only half two in the afternoon, I had a lot of unpacking to do, I was knackered, but what the hell! So in we popped to the Foundry where I had to make my second difficult choice of the day. Which beer should I partake in? Guinness (Extra Cold) was tempting as was the barmaid. I mean she was tempting me to a new beer they had just got in called Coopers. Well I think that is what she was trying to tell me but my ears were still blocked from the flight and I hadn't quite adjusted yet to the sweet Aussie twang. A couple of refreshing beers and we were on our way again to Brad's new house. Very nice it is too. A 3 bedroomed bungalow, air conditioned with a large patio to the rear. Obviously builder's finish jobs over here, and not a duck to be seen (in-joke and I think the intended target will know what I am getting at). Luckily en route we had picked up a crate of tinnies so we were set for the night. Brad's mum and dad (Kim and Alan) called over for a while and then the bbq got fired up. One of Brad's friends came round and we got stuck into more beer until I had to admit defeat and went to bed at half nine.