We're off to see the wizard...

It finally arrived, our flight to Australia. Med had dreamt of this moment since he first picked up a surf board and took to the icy waters of the English channel. I was more excited for him than for myself - he all but kissed the ground as we stepped out into the cloudless sunshine from Perth airport.

Arriving from the whirlwind of dust, chaos, haggling and traffic of S.E. Asia is surely the best way to step foot on Australian soil; the pavements gleam, the windows sparkle and there is an overwhelming feeling of things being familiar, but better. This is Australia, after all. Land of golden sands, turquoise waters, big rocks, even bigger sharks, and Neighbours.

Australia is the world's sixth largest country and its largest island. It is the only island that is also a continent, and the only continent that is also a country (thanks, Bill Bryson). So it's big, exuberantly big. And there's no place on earth like it.

We skipped around the glittering streets of Perth, embracing the novelty of supermarkets, green parks and breezy, sunny days. However, there was nothing novel about the prices. Watching Neighbours at 5.35pm for 13 years does not teach you how astronomically expensive Australia is. Food, beer, accommodation, clothes all threatened to eat through our savings in one big, greedy gulp. Time to get thrifty, or as the Aussies say, "povo".

Thankfully, the best things in life are free, and that has never been more true than in Australia. We took in the views of high rises and the Swann river from King's Park, and pottered around the former convict port of Fremantle (or "Freo" to locals - if in doubt, just add an 'o') - a relaxed, eclectic and eco-conscious hang out across the river. And then came a moment we had salivated over when picking at stringy, indiscriminate meat in Asia: our first Aussie barbie.

Really, this was an Irish barbie shindig as we met up with Mark and Aoife, our travelling friends from Vietnam and Cambodia, and they introduced us to a whole bunch of their Irish pals for a feast and singalong. Perth is half Irish, it turns out. Thanks guys, we miss you!

With great relief, we checked out of our doss house of a hostel and went to a garage on the outskirts of town. And it was in that dirty, dilapidated garage that our Western Australia adventure began.