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Stoked - excited . The first time I heard "I'm stoked" I wasn't sure what the person meant - presuming they were full up on something. When an Australian friend was talking about her mum being "double stoked" it was the first time I had heard that in seven years living in Oz. Jane Minton, Lincolnshire, UKYes, Nelly and I are "double stoked"! Tomorrow this time (1/8/2016 afternoon) we will be on board the Sun Princes, getting ready to sail. The big news for us is that we were just informed today of an upgrade to our cabin. Yessiree, we will be living the life of luxury in our own BALCONY SUITE. But first, let's catch you up with Wednesday and today's walkabouts.  Wednesday, 1/6/2016. We decided to explore the Australian Outback. Yes, you read correctly. We went out as far as the Perth subway would take us. North we went to Butler, Western Australia. It Sounds like we went to the middle of nowhere in Australia, but we didn't. The subway only goes north for all of 40 kilometers. That is about 25 miles . But it was good enough for us. It took only 30 minutes to travel that distance. We were thinking of getting off and exploring, but there was nothing to explore. There was just a lot of sage and little housing. There is a lot of building going on. As the locals have told us, the further out, the less it costs to build. So we took a few pictures and headed back to civilization.Thursday, 1/7/2016. Today was museum day. Before going out to our intended target, we veered and took a detour to see St. Mary's Cathedral in Perth. The Cathedral is not too far from our hotel. We walked the few blocks and before we knew it, we were taking pictures of this vast structure. The first phase of the Cathedral was completed January 29, 1865. It has been been given a face lift as of 2009. We have included a few pictures for you viewing.Next, we walked to the Western Australian Museum. Again, not too far from the Cathedral. We hit pay dirt. The museum was holding a FREE admittance to the general public . So in we walked and took a few pictures.By noon we were famished and went back to our hotel to eat lunch. We have so much food in our hotel room. We have to eat as much as possible before Friday noon when we board the Sun Princess. I also collected six bottles of wine. The hotel was giving me a bottle of wine a day. Nelly does not drink wine and I just could not keep up. Don't you feel sorry for me? So I took the bottles back to the front desk. They could not believe I would give up such precious wine away. Oh well, win some loose some.On Friday, once we get on the ship, we have no way of knowing if we will have internet access. We will be five (5) days at sea before we reach our first port, Singapore. We hope to communicate with you at least by Singapore. Until then, keep those comments comming. We really appriciate them.  The comment leaders to date are Kathryn/Peter Chandler from Brisbane, Australia and Chip Cavelry from the US. Both have 20 Blog comments. Both have put a lot of effort into their hilarious comments . You can view their comments or anybody's by just going to the picture portion of the blog. To date we have received 309 comments (does not include Facebook). Thanks again! ! 

Everyday observation a la Nelly
Since we are leaving Perth tomorrow, I would like to add my two cents into the comments.
 
Perth is a clean and neat city with lots of tree lined streets and parks. 
Everybody is friendly. You can ask anybody for info, young or older and they will answer with a smile. This includes the hotel staff. Everyday they presented us with a bottle of wine, chips, nuts and chocolates. Since we don't consume those items except the chocolate, of course, they were so nice and started bringing us a plate of fresh fruits, bottled water and juice.
 
On the weekends everyone is dressed very casual. There must be a dresscode for workdays, because everyone is mostly dressed in black. Men in white or blue shirts.It's like a sea of penguins submerging from the subway station. Whoever is dressed any other color, you know they are visitors or don't work.
 
Talking about the subway, no eating or drinking is allowed. Everything runs on time.
Staying in downtown is great, because we had to use transportation only 2 times. Everything is in walking distance.
 
To live downtown is another story. Apartments are very expensive and a nice 3 bedroom condo you better shell out a couple of millions if not more. I would say the cost of living in the city compares to Manhattan. The food is also higher priced than in the US and so is clothings. For example, I checked on some Scetcher shoes which cost in the US $40 and up. Here they ask for whooping $100 and up. 

The weather is hotter then usual, so they tell us. Also the humidity is on the high side. I guess the global warming is also felt in Australia. Perth could also be called the windy city of Australia. No need to comb your hair if you have any.
 
Because of the heat, we always went out and about in the am and got back after 4 to 6 hours. On the way to the hotel we always had a hot meal at one of the many restaurants which are in abundance here. Also, it seems that on every corner there is a coffee shop. And next to them is a variety of cafes that serve a lighter fair. The hot afternoons we spent at the airconditioned hotel and after resting had a light dinner.

This concludes my 2 cent report fom Perth and sometimes next week there should be one from Singapore. Until then, this is Nelly signing off....