Monday 12th May
My first thought when I woke up was of United's victory the night before, a mixture of happiness and relief. I spent another bit of time at the library before I went to the WACA cricket stadium to take the guided tour that I had found out about a few days earlier. I had seen the stadium on the TV before – it is one of the grounds that has banks of grass on either side of the pitch for spectators to sit on – and I thought that it would be reasonably interesting, and worth a look for $10.
Our guide for the tour was a bloke called Nigel, a really nice fellow who had emigrated to Perth from London in the 1970s and, although he still had the accent, considered himself a full-blown Aussie (you find many people like this in this part of the world, not everyone holds onto their previous identities). The tour was really good and we were taken all over the stadium: into the stands and changing rooms, onto the pitch and up to 'The Bradman Room' which is reserved for VIPs (and politicians). It was very interesting and well worth the money as it also included access to the museum which was full of great memorabilia.
I was due to be leaving early on the first leg of my 'Easy Rider' tour the following morning, so I went back to the hostel to pack my stuff. It so happened that one of the bus drivers/tour guides – a bloke called Jimmy – was staying there too, so I got chatting to him and he told me that he was a trainee who would eventually take charge of his own bus if everything worked out well. He seemed like a good guy and it made me feel a bit better about the trip as, to be honest, I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. Although I wasn't exactly apprehensive, the idea of the unknown still put me on guard a little, as it had done throughout my trip. In particular, I had never been on a proper bus tour before, let alone a backpacker bus. However, I had had so many positive experiences that, at this stage, I could confidently tell myself that these things always work out much better than I expect.
