First weeks in the capital of Western Australia

So here we were, in Australia! First few days in Perth went by quietly. On Wednesday we slept the whole day and woke up in the evening. We went to buy some food but the store was closed :( We didn’t know they close shops so early. In Estonia you can buy food until 11 pm. But here the food stores are usually open until 8 pm. Other stores and shopping centres are open until 5 pm. During the first week we shopped a lot, bought a few blouses and hats and footware. I already had a lot of blouses so we overspent again. Anyway, now I have MORE blouses! But they are really beautiful and were so cheap. How could I have not bought them :) Clothes are cheap here compared to Estonia. You can find good jeans for only 20 AUD and blouses for 10 AUD. A good place to shop in Perth is Harbour Town which is in Northbridge district. It’s an outlet shopping centre and they have discounts all the time.

I haven’t told you about Perth city yet. It is really beautiful and clean, people are so helpful and friendly. They always smile and ask how are you. At first it was funny but now it’s a normal part of communication. I have noticed that I smile and laugh 10 times more than in my home country. People on the streets seem so happy and it’s contagious :)


I must describe our life in the Ocean Beach Backpackers, too. In the beginning we had a double room with one big bed. We could have cuddled if we wanted to :) We had our own bathroom and it was great. We paid 33 AUD per night per person. But then we moved to a dorm room which was awfully messy and there was like no room for our things. Somehow we managed to fit in and it wasn’t so bad. There were 6 people in that dorm room, others were from London. We paid 23 AUD per night there, it was much cheaper than a double room. The hostel was only 20 metres from the ocean. The beach was awesome, now I love the water even more. Clear water and foamy waves, sunshine and hot weather – it was paradise :) We miss that place…

Life at the hostel was really fun – so many people from different countries. There was a TV room, movie room, courtyard, cafe and next door was a pub. We went there a few times too. Nothing special but a good place to hang out. Mostly people from UK lived at our hostel but also Italians, Germans, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish etc.

As you can imagine we took thousands of pictures. I love my camera and taking photos, so it was fun for us. Almost every time we went somewhere we had at least one camera with us – on the beach, in the city, at the pub – you name it. One day on the beach we met two Brazilian guys – Carlos and Paulo. They took a lot of photos of us, that was fun fun fun :))

About our „short” route to Australia

Tallinn, Estonia
Riga, Latvia
Istanbul, Turkey
Doha, Qatar
Singapore
Perth, Australia

We left Estonia at Saturday evening and arrived to Perth on Tuesday early morning. So, we traveled 2-3 days. From Tallinn to Riga we went by bus. It was snowing when we stepped on the plane. In the capital of Latvia we met one Estonian guy who also went to Istanbul by AirBaltic plane. He also came to Australia but through different countries than us. It was his third time to come to Aussie. We flew together to Istanbul and then went our separate ways. We waited four hours and then flew to Doha. When we arrived to Doha I discovered something terrible. My wallet was gone! This meant that I had lost all my credit and debit cards, identification card, internet banking passwords, cash etc. I’m pretty sure I left it on the airplane cause the last time I saw it was on the plane. And I didn’t open my bags until then. We had 8 hours until the next flight, so I visited the information desk VERY often. But my wallet was not found :( I was extremely sad that my trip had started with a failure. But after a while I decided - this will not ruin my journey! Still, I came to Australia with no money :)

But let me tell you about Doha International Airport. It was really weird. Not the airport itself but the surroundings. People were walking around in linen „dresses” and their faces were all covered with headscarfs. They all had a strange smell and were very loud. Our plane was full of them. It was a bit uncomfortable being around them but then again – it was a new experience.
We flew with Qatar and Qantas Airlines. Both are five star air companies and their planes are provided with media centres and hot meals and drinks. So, we listened to music, watched films and the meals were also pretty tasty. We just enjoy flying :)


On Monday we were in Singapore airport which was really modern and beautiful. Singapore seemed great from the airplane also and everyone recommended to visit that place. Maybe we’ll do that on our way back home from Australia.

Finally, we flew from Singapore to Perth. We arrived 3 am and had to wait until the morning. Somehow we met there one American guy, Ted, who was a US marine. At first he seemed really friendly but then he got annoying. He wanted to do everything with us – go to lunch, go to the beach, stay at our hostel and so on. We let him take us to our hostel by taxi, we split the bill of course. Thank god, there were no available rooms in our hostel so he couldn’t stay there. Next day he left us a note to the reception and asked us to come to his apartment where we could stay for free.. Of course we didn’t go. We didn’t contact him and never saw him again.

Cost of plane ticket from Riga to Perth: 11 400.00 EEK
We actually got the tickets 2 000.00 kroons cheaper because we bought Estravel vouchers – what an easy way to save money :))

Where, when and why?

Our destination: Perth, Australia

Time of departure: 22nd November 2008

Time of arrival: 25th November 2008


Where did we get the idea to go to Australia?

We have always wanted to travel and work abroad - in a country with a different language and culture, nature and weather. We also wanted to practice our English and meet lots of people from other countries. Our dear friend, Karin, came to Australia a year ago and stayed here for six months. She went to the east coast and spent most of her time there. She recommended us to try something similar and we thought why not? But we wanted to take a different route and start from Perth. Anyway, with her support and guidance our plan came true :)