We’ve said a couple of times how meeting people has been one of the best aspects of our trip so far. We’ve been lucky to meet some fabulous people so far, some of which we know we will keep in touch with long after our trip has finished. Bill and Belinda and their family are definitely these kind of people. We met them in Kalgoorlie over Easter, and again at Cape le Grand and when they offered for us to park up at their house when we arrived in Perth, it was a great opportunity, not only to save some money in accommodation, but to get to know them better.

We spent four nights staying with them and given their proximity to Rockingham and Perth, it was the perfect base to catch up with some other friends that we wanted to see whilst we were here.

Heading to the Rockingham Foreshore, I was able to catch up with my beautiful friend Farrah.  Having met over 16 years ago, we both worked for the Olympic movement in our respective states (me – Victoria and Ms F – WA). Having had a really rough twelve months thanks to Stage 3 Breast Cancer (diagnosed just before the birth of her second child!) and more recently, a number of surgeries, it really made my heart sing to see Farrah looking and feeling so positive and free.  She is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met and has a gift with words that is more than enviable. And, because she’s just an all-round super awesome chick, she took out the last year’s Mother & Baby Magazine’s Mother of the Year competition (check out her appearance on Today here. Farrah has been incredibly open about her journey and you can learn more about her story on instagram and facebook.

Needless to say, after chasing our babies around the playground and having fish and chips for lunch, we had an awesome catch up and I’m so glad we were able to see each other whilst I was in her neck of the woods.

The next day, we headed off to Barbagallo Raceway with Bill, Belinda and their three fabulous kids to watch the Perth round of the V8 Supercars.  It was such a fun day catching the train, and then a bus to the track where we found an awesome spot and spent an awesome day.

On Sunday it was off to meet another awesome girlfriend of mine Kate. Kate and I met in Mildura and have been fabulous friends ever since.  When she moved to New York, I looked after her mail and now that she’s back in the country, I knew we couldn’t go past Perth and not stop for a catch up. The last time we’d seen each other was two years ago when I was in WA for a wedding and she’d not met the girls yet so we all met and had lunch at Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle.

I realised after we left that we didn’t take a bloody picture but we did go to check out the Bon Scott statue before we left, so here’s a pic of that instead!!

When we arrived home, there was a fabulous roast dinner waiting which capped off an awesome stay at Bill and Belinda’s.  After extending the return invitation should they ever find themselves in Mildura, we said our good byes and headed over to the other side of Perth for a few days near the hills.

Kings Park and the botanical gardens were on our hit list and so on the Tuesday, we spent the morning exploring one of the most beautiful parklands we’ve ever seen!

After lunch at one of the cafes, we then hit the coast road for a drive up through Cottlesloe and Scarborough.  The next day was a chill out day and then it was time to really get into the part of the adventure that we we’ve been looking forward to – Northward bound.

Have you ever had the fun of exploring Perth? Do you extend invitation for people that you meet to stop and visit you one day in the future?