I've arrived safe and sound in sunny Perth after a boring but surprisingly restful flight. For some reason there were quite a few seats free for two thirds of the flight so I got to stretch out over three seats most of the way. Kind of like traveling first class I guess. My new iPod Nano was also a saviour, I could tune out the usual background of crying babies and elevator music.

They did torture me a little with the inflight movies, a season of Keanu Reeves films. At least it wasn't what I had on the way to England a few months back, a season of Romantic Comedies.

Before I left I decided to take my Cannondale F800 over to Perth, I couldn't bare the thought of being without it, so I had to take the plunge and hand it over to the loving car of the baggage chuckers. I packaged it up using the traditional bike box and enhanced the padding with bubble wrap and clothing. I took it apart so that it would easily fit in the box; the seat post came out, the handlebars and stem came off, the Lefty stayed on and both wheels came off. I also took off the rear derailleur and bubble wrapped it and constructed a wooden support to replace the rear wheel spindle as support for the frame in case of compression. The bike came out looking remarkably intact, the box was even the right way up when it came out of the oversize baggage door.

With my new residency visa it was a breeze to enter the country. The only problem I had a customs, after declaring the traces of mud on my bike tires, was actually fitting through the exit doors into the arrivals lounge with my bike box. I got stuck in the doors and heard a number of people start laughing as I turned red. After manouvering for a while someone came and helped me stand the box up so it could get through the doors. Luckily Olivia wasn't watching at that point so I still managed to look cool as I strutted out!

Its been great being back so far, the weather has been beautiful and its been nice to catch up with some people. My bike is now fully assembled with some shiny new Shimano PD M520 pedals (those plastic platforms that came attached are a real bastard to get out - just had to force them in the end) and its just waiting to be ridden. Now, I should probably get some rest and head out for a ride tomorrow morning.