AAARR! They don't make em like they used to!

Being back in Perth again after a few weeks down south has reminded me of how hot it can be, its been in the mid thirties every day. Whats been great though is the wind, its been pretty good kitesurfing conditions on the river every late afternoon, so my kitesurfing has been continuing to improve. I'm now grabbing the tail during my backloops going one way and starting to land backoops dry occaisionally on my weaker side. I'm getting pretty close to doing jumping transitions too, having landed a few. Its all good fun. But my 14 metre kite has been disappointing of late. Its great to fly but whenever I crash it and theres any slack in the lines it always seems to roll over and get tangled up, meaning having to take it back to shore and sort it out before continuing. Yesterday I was trying a front loop and crashed it quite hard and I think I burst the leading edge bladder. The whole kite deflated, which could have been disastrous had I not been in my depth. Luckily at the river, by Pelican Point where I used to work in 1999/2000, its waist deep for a long way out so I could walk back in, dragging the deflated kite behind me. I'd had a great session, it was a shame to end it in such a way due to a poorly manufactured kite. I might have to flog it and buy a Flexifoil or something if problems persist.

Its quite different being in Perth this time round since I'm not staying at the hostel. Matt has been very good to allow me to crash here for a couple of weeks, especially since his friend Adil is also crashing here, and Nick until he leaves on Monday. Its meant being able to save the expense of accomodation for a couple of weeks, but unfortunately my money is being drained elsewhere. The white dragon has finally shown me the financial sting of owning a car abroad. I found it had a flat one morning this week and had to replace two tyres, at a whopping $220 each (thats about £100 each) and theres also a small hole in the radiator somewhere that has been a persistent problem for some time, I took it in to be repaired today and they're going to have to strip the radiator out to repair it, another estimated $450 down the drain. They also reckon theres a gas leak, and they're probably right, I did hear a hissing recently and it does smell a bit. Lets hope that doesn't cost too much to sort out, otherwise this could be a very expensive couple of weeks. In the big scheme of things I'm not too worried, I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to get near enough what I paid for the white dragon back when I sell it, so long as I leave myself plenty of time. If I do then it will only have cost me what I've paid for servicing and repairs, which will be a hell of a lot less than renting a car for 6 months would have cost. I'll also be able to take the money I get when I sell it and get something in New Zealand, where I'll be working and repairs and services wont be quite such a blow. It could be a lot worse anyway, and after 10,000 kilometres in the white dragon, exploring the west coast from Perth up to Gnaraloo and all the way down to Esperance, I don't have any regrets. Its been amazing.

So the next couple of weeks I'll be getting the car sorted, hopefully doing lots of kitesurfing, and some more windsurfing if I can get up to Lancelin again, and tomorrow I'll be celebrating Australia Day! Should be good, and then its off across the Nullabor for a complete change of scenery!