Our Last Day In Perth But The Journey Continues

We arrived back in Perth a few days ago after an amazing 5 weeks away, and now it's our last day here in Perth.

It all happened very quickly and tomorrow we'll be returning to Sydney to be close to family and all our loved ones, it's very exciting!!

It's not that we haven't enjoyed Perth, it's been a fantastic experience but when you're away from everyone you care for, you know there's something missing in your life and you want it back. We have both loved all that's to offer in Perth including the surrounding areas and we've met some very special people, but we've promise ourselves that we'll be back visiting sometime not to far in the distant future.

The blog will continue with adventures in the East.

Arlington House Washington

New years eve New York 

Annecy

St Foy France

Paris 

Seligenstadt Germany

Marina Bay Hotel Singapore

A Day At The Zoo

We're still pretending we're tourists!

Yesterday we left home at 9.30 to take a leisurely walk to Perth Zoo, located in South Perth. It's a spectacular walk from our home as we need to walk through Kings Park where we noticed people claiming their piece of grass by leaving blankets and other items to come back later for picnics. Then down Jacobs Ladder which is well know as the steps for fitness, there were people of all shapes and sizes attempting to run/walk the stairs as many times as their bodies would allow. Then we crossed the Swan River over the Narrows Bridge and through the cafe strip of South Perth to the Zoo.

It's a very small zoo open every day (even Christmas Day) and hasn't missed a day since it opened in 1898. It's family friendly with beautiful gardens and while we were visiting the elephants, orangutan's and the cheetah were the only animals that seemed to be active, all the others were taking it very easy and resting.

We then visited the Windsor Hotel for a great pub lunch before heading home.

Swan River with the view of Perth City from South Perth

Picinic at the end of the day Kings Park

Playing Tourist

We've been living in Perth now 11 months and haven't visited the Perth tourist attractions that are on the agenda for most visitors, so we had a weekend of playing tourist.

Perth Mint is located in the centre of Perth CBD and was established in 1899 to refine the gold found in the eastern areas of Western Australia, it is the oldest operating mint in Australia.  Our experience of the mint was all the more richer having previously visited Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie where gold was first found in 1892.

It was then down to Fremantle to visit the Maritime Museum and the Fremantle Prison; the museum was interesting but the prison was very sobering and memorable in many ways.  The prison was built by convicts in the 1850's and was still operating as a prison until it was decommissioned in 1992. Prisoners spent 16 hours a day in their cells, which were very small, bare and primitive; prior to it being decommissioned there was no running water and only a bucket for a toilet in each cell, electricity was only installed in the 1980's.

A Hidden Gem

A couple of weeks ago I commenced a pattern making course at a campus located at Heathcote Applecross. This location is a hidden gem of Perth and one that is not on the tourist map!

Heathcote is located on a hill with spectacular 180-degree views of the Swan River where in another life it was a locked mental health institute in operation from 1929 to 1994.  Since it's closure it has been taken over by community activities such as play group, adult education classes, studio, gallery, cafe and restaurant called Blue Waters.

We went to Blue Waters yesterday for lunch, sitting outside watching the sailing boats fly along the river, enjoying the view towards Kings Park and the city while eating one of the better meals I've eaten since living in Perth.

The buildings are of historical significants, as the manager of the restaurant was telling us one of the rooms in the restaurant has a mural that someone in their wisdom painted over. Restoration has began but it will be a very slow process with only two small squares having been completed, it's costing $800 per square inch. As there are many many more square inches to do I don't think it will be completed for a very long time.

View across to Kings Park 

Remains of lunch

Blue Waters Restaurant facing the river

zoom shot of the city

outside the restaurant

A square of the mural

Pinnacles

For a long time I've heard that The Pinnacles is a highlight of Western Australia and a place to visit, but after talking to some locals they suggested "don't bother it's boring and there's much better places to visit".

Well on the weekend we ignored the locals advice and took to the road approximately 250 kilometres north of Perth to The Pinnacles. On the way we stopped at Lancelin which is a beautiful quiet coastal village that relies on the fishing industry and tourism as it has ideal wind and water conditions for wind surfing and has made a name for itself internationally. We enjoyed sitting on the grassy edge of the beach, having a bit to eat while watching the wind surfers out on the turquoise waves, the fish being caught along the white sandy beach and soaked up the sun before heading back to the road traveling north.

We went directly to Cervantes which is a sleepy coastal town named after an American whaling ship wrecked nearby in 1844. There's not much happening in Cervantes besides the fishing industry and accommodation for visitors to the Pinnacles. We decided to stay the night and visit the Nambung National Park where the Pinnacles are located the following day.

The Pinnacles are said to be a unique sight with the limestone spikes rising out of the sand up to a couple of metres in height. You can either walk up to them and or drive around the desert park. We decided on both as it was too warm to walk around the park especially with the intensity of the sun.

The Pinnacles are interesting but I think the locals are spot on the money.

Lancelin

Lancelin

The Pinnacles in the Nambung National Park

Cervantes

Great Southern

The Great Southern is a region of WA that includes Albany, Denmark, Plantagenet, the Stirling Range and other small inland towns. Last weekend we headed down to a township within Plantagenet called Mount Barker that we used as a base to explore the region.

Several years ago we visited Albany and decided it was worth another visit as the coastline is so spectacular but our goal over the weekend was to visit the Sterling Range and climb Bluff Knoll.

The Sterling Range is one of Western Australia's few mountain wildernesses with beautiful wild flowers and rugged mountains peaking to 1095 metres above sea level at Bluff Knoll. There are many day and overnight walking tracks and over 200 rock climbing sites around the Sterling Range area.  We decided to climb Bluff Knoll for the challenge and to take in the views that apparently go to the coastline, unfortunately not on Saturday when we walked.

It was a challenging walk, especially if you don't like heights, as there were times when it was a sheer drop to the side, as long as I held onto a rock or plant on the high side of the track I felt fine but there was no way I could look at the view.  The track was well marked but occasionally you needed to move out of the way for walkers coming in the opposite direction. When we were approaching the summit/peak we could smell sausages being cooked, and as we got closer to the peak there was actually a portable BBQ that someone decided to carry along as they thought it would be the quintessential Australian thing to do. I'm sure there's a business idea here as it was a cool 12 degrees with a probable wind chill factor of 8 and as the walk had been strenuous your clothes were damp when you stopped to recover, so a hot sausage sizzle would be great to help you recover and keep you warm but I don't think the National Parks would agree.

It's suggested that the walk of 7 kilometres return takes around 3 - 4 hours, which is about what we did. My fear of heights didn't seem to kick in on the way down, it was a lot easier than I thought but physically more challenging than going up as there was a lot of pressure on the knees. At about half way down we stopped at the waterfall and enjoyed some cold fresh water before walking towards the car park. We both loved the walk and hope to visit for an extended period next time so that we can enjoy a few more walks and maybe visit some of the wonderful vineyards in this area.

One of the beaches at Torndirrup National Park outside Albany

Driving towards Bluff Knoll

On the way up

BBQ at the peak of Bluff Knoll

View from the summit

View on the way down with the car park in sight

The walk at a  lower point on the climb

A profile view of the Bluff Knoll

Clothes and Sport

The last week has been mixed with seeing exhibitions and watching sport.

Currently Perth has an exhibition called Mad for Fashion featuring original costumes from the Mad Men series. As a lover of clothes I couldn't get enough and was disappointed there were only 20 outfits, including shoes, handbags, jewellery, dresses and debonair suits that the stars have worn.  So I kept walking around the exhibition and took lots of photos as I would love to replicate some of the dresses.

From there I went to the Perth Art Gallery to visit the Princely Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum that features some beautiful garments from the 18th century and other art artifacts.

Perth also held a Hockey International Super Series where we were spectators watching several games including the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras who both won against India. There was a variation to the rules for these hockey games which included only 15 minutes a half with 18 players but 9 on the field.