Freo - Attack of the gall stones!

Our plans for WA left a couple of days spare for any change of plans, but with a few days in Fremantle, a day trip to Rotnest Island and then some wine tasting in Margaret river to look forward to, we were full steam ahead...nothing could stop us..

We managed to find a Triumph Stag right near our Hostel, this one looked nearly identical to one that, 27 years ago, took Mummy Tillman to the Hospital to give birth to Steph. The back seats are not the most suitable for a lady in labour!!

After a bit of exploring I found what I had come for... the statue of Bon Scott! The legendary AC/DC front man looked the part in the skintight jeans and jacket on top of a Marshal amp...

Unfortuantely, Steph had plans of her own which involved spending a week in the underated but value for money resort of Fremantle Hospital!

After 4 days and many jabs to the stomach, Steph went in to surgery to have her Gall Bladder removed. Two days later and with a  new appreciation of the Aussie health service, we headed back to Perth to recuperate!

Now making a good recovery, these four scars are all that remain...

A bit of a luxury (or should that be a bit more!!)

After nearly 2 and a half months in Asia, Singapore was our last stop, before heading to Australia.  We didn't really know what to expect because a lot of people had said how clinical the city was.  We really enjoyed it though ( it was a novelty going into a public toilet and it being clean as well as having toilet paper!!).
 
Everything was really easy in Singapore - the transport was really clean and efficient and the food courts were cheap and again very clean (all of the stalls are given a rating for cleanliness - 'A' being the best - which made it easy to find nice places to eat). However outside the food courts, food and alcohol was very expensive - a bit of a shock after getting used to the prices in Vietnam and Cambodia!!

We felt like proper tourists in Singapore, experiencing views of the city from the Singapore Flyer (billed as the world's tallest ferris wheel)...

...having afternoon tea in one of the city's grandest hotels...

...and going on a 'Duck Tour'!!

No trip to Singapore would be complete without a Singapore Sling and we decided to sample one at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, the place where it was invented!! With constant reminders around the city that littering would get you heavily fined it was strange that in the bar it was encouraged (people just dropped empty monkey nut shells all over the floor!!)

We were glad that we only spent 2 nights here though - not sure our budget could have coped with any longer!!