It was a mammoth struggle to get from the hotel to the hostel on Saturday, walking in the midday sun, 21kg bag on my back, 8kg rucksack on my front, all in my flip flops, it was nearly the end of me.  I've got a massive blister on both feet, but it has to be said I also got a sense of achievement.

The hostel is OK, there are people from all over the world staying here including a few locals who live permanently, it's quite small with only two communal areas, a kitchen and a bathroom.  I'm currently in a 4 bed dorm room, which is also quite small (I think the beds are very close together).  I've got on well with a couple of blokes in particular, both looking for work at the moment.

I'm going to a different hostel tomorrow though, despite meeting some good people here there are a few bits I don't like.  The bathroom is bad, it has three showers in front of a single sink (so for example if someone is brushing there teeth there's no room to get out the shower). More importantly though it's hot, there is no air conditioning in the rooms and at the moment I share with 2 others so at night I'm permanently sweating - so I'm going over to 'Banjo's Backpackers' tomorrow, it (apparently) has air con and also is a lot bigger so hopefully has a bit more going on.

The main event here in Australia has been 'Australia Day', a national holiday to celebrate the founding of Australia - that being some British bloke turning up in Sydney, setting up a penal colony and pathing the way for the systematic destruction of the aborigine way of life (they call it 'Invasion Day' and there are a few protests here and there in Australia).

Australia Day was on Sunday and they had numerous events going on down at the waterfront and had set-up a sort of fair ground.  Main bits being an air show and circus in the afternoon, and a fireworks display at night.  I went down with a couple of people from the hostel in the afternoon, it was a very disappointing - the air show was a plane every 15 mins, if we watched the whole thing we would have died from heat stroke and the circus never actually got started, so in the end we just walked around for about an hour then went back.

I went down again after dark to watch the fireworks, which were actually pretty good, they lasted 30 mins and I must say were the best I've seen.  Must have cost a fortune, a local told me they were making a point and spending money made from the vast mineral wealth they have in Western Australia.  After the fireworks we just got a few beers and chilled at the hostel.

I haven't actually done anything today, a mixture of tiredness, blisters and sunburn has put me off going out so I've just sat in the hostel all day drinking tea (Tetley - it tastes the same!!).

One great thing about here in Australia is due to it being so hot your cup of tea stays warm for aaaaaages, honestly it's brilliant - forgot about your brew for 30 mins? No worries it's still piping!  It's the little things you have to appreciate.

I'm hoping the other hostel is OK tomorrow, and I really need to start looking for work....but it's so nice out.