Down under...

Well, i have officially been in Perth for a week now.  My journey to Singapore to catch my flight was not straight forward... i had anticipated catching the train - and had attempted to buy a ticket when i was in Bangkok, but they insisted i buy it on the day and assured me it would not be full - so when i arrived and went to purchase a ticket, i was told it was full.  So a mad dash to the bus station to catch a bus instead... The one directly to Singapore was full, so i had to get one to Kuala Lampur in Malaysia and then catch an onward bus from there.  The bus arrived in KL at about 4.30am, so i spent a few hours waiting around for a connecting bus, which left at around 7am and arrived in Singapore at around 1pm.
My flight was only scheduled for the following morning - that was definitely the earliest i had ever arrived for a flight!  I had intended to just sleep at the airport - Singapore is expensive - but when i was there i decided to see if they could get me on the evening flight instead, and so it was that i got to Perth at 1am the following morning...
I did my usual catch up of movies on the flight and attempted to sleep at the airport when i arrived... But first customs... i had heard all the stories about how they are, so i had posted all 'offensive' material home from Thailand... but that was before i went shell collecting.  I wasn't sure if they were going to let me keep them but i thought it was worth a try.  So when it came to declaring what i had, i ticked everything, declaring boots, shells, medication... i was sure that i was going to get searched thoroughly and have various items confiscated or sprayed - however, i ended up just breezing through without them even checking me!  So the half eaten pack of Oreos in my bag did not cause me to get a AU$250 fine!
My school friend whom i was staying with did not get my message about the change of flights, so i just waited at the airport for the time to pass.  They had free internet terminals, so i was content... ;-)  The food there was so expensive though!! i payed AU$4 for a muffin (R30, £2,50) - coming from South East Asia, i was in a bit of shock... and hungry!
My friend Lee, and i spent lots of time catching up - after all, it has been 22 years since we had spent time together!!
Lee had some gardening that needed doing, and i needed some odd jobs in order to earn some $'s in order to pay for the rest of my holiday, so it was gardening time!  We also drove around the area visiting the orchards and managed to find a couple of fruitpicking jobs.  I also found a shop assistant job and someone responded to my add for a cleaner or gardener... so all in all, i managed to find 4 jobs (and that is excluding the work that Lee had for me to do)... wow - i don't know how anyone can be on the doll in this country... there is just so much work that needs doing...