May 09 – present: This is Perth

And since my time in Melbourne things have settled down and become rather predictable, almost boring.

I returned to Perth on 5^th May and within a few weeks had found a job in the east of the city doing admin work for a big electrical company. I stayed with my friends Shannon and Troy in Kardinya initially, but soon I found a good house-share near Fremantle, where I’ve been living ever since. My social life has been a bit quiet but I’ve met a lot of new people and have kept myself busy with fitness training, writing and music recording. It's been a productive time.

Everything’s so easy in Perth. The city is big and spread-out, the pace of life is relaxed and thanks to the massive booms in industry there’s usually a decent amount of work knocking about. It’s like life back home but with all the rain, frustration and misery taken out; and with shitloads of beaches, sun and happy contented people thrown in.

Clearly I’m not the only one who felt this way – it has grown astronomically in size over the years, and the city is swollen with expats from the UK and all over Europe and Asia. Amazingly 1 in 10 people living here were born in Britain. You can’t move for bumping into Londoners. Strangely I've not encountered as many northerners.

Some days I love Perth and some days I hate it. It’s too quiet. It is one of the most isolated state capitals in the world. The big cities like Sydney and Melbourne are thousands of miles away in another time zone. Singapore is actually closer than the likes of Bondi Beach and St. Kilda. The city shuts down at 5pm every day and the shops don’t open on Sundays. Some of the pubs even close as early as 7pm! It’s a strange place, modern and clean with futuristic-looking buildings and transport systems, yet trapped in a draconian 1950s trading philosophy.

It was recently voted the fifth most liveable city in the world, but getting round without a car is hard work. The suburbs stretch on endlessly for miles and miles. Even the college students drive cars here. I found it hard to get to know the city and its people as to a large degree it lacks the culture, regional identity and social history we might take for granted in England. And the nightlife is bloody expensive - it costs up to $9 (£4.50) a beer in a pub! Drinking at home suddenly becomes a much more appealing option.

This brilliant clip, which local film-makers Vincenzo Perrella & Dan Osborn made, sums it up perfectly:

Yes! It really is that f**king boring!

On the flipside I’ve totally sorted my life out again and got back on track money-wise. I’m not complaining about how things have turned out, I know I’m fortunate to still be out here in this beautiful country. And so it is now October and summer is drawing near once again. I think I shall remain here for many months to come, completely hooked on Western Australia’s ample charms as I am.

The generosity of my family back home and friends locally has really helped me when things have looked bleak. I’ve been through a hell of a lot of adventure in the last twelve months, which I wanted to narrate via this blog; a task which took me many months. This story is now completed and up to date, but the tale is far from over.

Now, to use a bit of bland corporate jargon, I’m moving ‘onwards and upwards’ into the future; to get whatever is coming to me, be it good or bad. As the saying goes, ‘in life, plan to be surprised’!