Perth

We finally made it to Perth, after thirty or so hours of traveling... we are definitely as far away as you can possibly get. We left on Feb. 8 @ 5:00 pm and arrived in Perth on Feb. 10 @ 12:00 pm. In the process of traveling we lost a whole day, to us Feb. 9th never existed. We are still trying to recover from jetlag. It is a 15 hour time difference in Perth from Utah.
Perth is amazing! It is such a beautiful city. It has a very European/America feel. There are cute little shops all up and down the streets, and people walking every where. Our hotel is located in the heart of downtown Perth, which is pretty neat. It is fun to watch all the people busseling to work. Nobody drives to work here, because it is too expensive to park. Everyone either takes public transportation, rides their bikes or walks to work. People in Australia seem to be very outdoorsy. The pictures below are of a running trail that wraps around the swan river, a five minute walk from our hotel. From morning to evening it is full of people running and riding bikes. This inspired us to be more active, so yesterday morning and this morning we went running. we are definitely out of shape, and the climate difference doesn't help. We have gone from freezing temperatures and snow, to 90-100 degree weather with high humidity. This morning I went running at around 7:00 am, which you would think would be early enough to avoid the heat, not so my friends... I went running for an hour, nearly passed out from heat stroke and came back with a sunburn. ha The Aussies are out there running all hours of the day, and it doesn't seem to phase them, so apparently we're just not acclimatized yet.
Today we went on a tour around Perth and looked at some areas to rent. Our favorites areas are South Perth, Como, and Applecross. They are close to Curtin University, and to Brandons office. We also saw an LDS church in Como!
We love Perth! We are having a great time immersing ourselves in Australian culture and exploring this beautiful city. In the short three days we've been here, we have learned some valuable lessons. 1. how are you going, means how are you? 2. Do not ask for water at a restaurant. They do not serve tap water here, and it will cost you a shiny penny for bottled water. We spent $16.00 dollars in bottled water the other night when we went out to dinner, yes you read right, $16.00. When we got the check all we could do was laugh... definitely won't fall for that again. 3. The whole town shuts down at 6:00pm, seriously. If you need some milk from the store, and it's 6:05 you are tough out of luck. They do this because they want people to go home to their families.
Well that is all for now. More pictures to come!
Miss you all

View of Perth and the Swan river

Swan River

Down town Perth