Burnt Skin and Flies

Well we have left Perth after nine glorious days. Days filed with hikes, swims, museums and art galleries and many shopping excursions. Not so much for the shopping but for the fun of getting from one shopping mall to another. More then once we found ourselves out on a street we did not intend to come out on only to have to go back through a shopping tunnel, up one floor and out onto the mall we intended to find in the first place, as I said, great fun. In Perth we experienced sun and heat like no other times in our lives, 39 degrees one Sunday morning. We have moved from Perth to travel further down the West coast of Australia. Bunbury for three days, then to Margaret River and hopefully Albany before Christmas but we have no fast or firm plans.
There are two things we have learned so far as we have traveled in Australia. One is the sun is very intense here. We have both been burned even with several applications of sun screen. We have at times resorted to using our swimming towels as head and neck covers as we can feel the sun burning us long before we are ready to call it a day. It seems the best policy is to keep covered up even when temperatures are cooler, like 25! Covering up seems a good way to resolve our second lesson too. The flies! The flies in Australia are relentless. No that's not someone waving that's someone shoeing flies away. They seem to be common house flies but a little smaller and more plentiful. There have been times when Terry has counted 45 flies on my back alone. They are hitching a ride waiting for an opportunity to fly into my eyes or my mouth or my nose to ge that little bit of moisture they require. Covering up is the best way fo defeating them. They have worn us thin at times but have never stopped us from enjoying our time here, besides everyone is giving the "Ozzy salute."
Wes