Perth was my first ever taste of Australia and it didn’t disappoint. The gorgeous beaches, friendly people and beautiful sunshine all adding up to be the quintessential Australian experience. I was lucky enough to be meeting up with a friend who now lives in Perth so I had a tour guide with me constantly, as well as someone for all the chats and giggles! Meeting up with a girlfriend was such a treat! I’m not going to lie most of our week revolved around walking, beaches and food so instead of doing a blow by blow account I thought I’d give little reviews of the places we went.
Beaches
Having not seen the sea for a while I was so excited to just be near the coast. I’m always much calmer at the seaside and have a natural affinity with the coastline. I’m sure Perth is full of stunning beaches but these are the ones we visited and I adored, if only it hadn’t been too cold to swim!
Trigg Beach – Beautiful stretch of coastline with lots of little bays of varying degrees of sandiness. I loved the wilder aspect of this area with the rocks separating off the little coves. Also has a dog beach full of over excited dogs on the sand! Lovely walk along the pathway above the beach with views across the sea. Lots of eating options dotted along the way too
Point Walter – Stunning secluded area within the Swan River rather than directly on the coast with a lovely jetty and amazing spit of sand that stretches out from the beach at certain points of low tide. Like you’re just walking into the sea! It would be amazing for kids.
Cottesloe – What you think of when you think Australian beach. Stretches of sand, waves and a life guard post! Plenty of people soaking up the sun and a lovely grassy slope to hang out on too. I can imagine its absolutely rammed in the summer!
Food
Ku De Ta West – Without a doubt visit here. I may be a little biased as the friend I was staying with husband works here, but the food was incredible. So incredible that I actually have no photos of it as I was too busy shovelling it into my belly! The setting is on the riverside and you get the most incredible sunset view, that I do have a photo of. To give you an idea of what we ate we had:
– Fresh bread with whipped smoked butter (the butter was immense)
– Local cold cuts with mustard and pickles
– Ceviche with chilli and lime
– Spicy octopus with tomato and chorizo
All absolutely delicious!
Chu Bakery – Toasted sandwiches to die for! Mushroom bechamel toastie, I repeat mushroom bechamel toastie. So good and with a perfect park opposite to lounge in while eating this divine invention!
Monsterella Pizza – incredible BYO booze pizza restaurant or take away. We sat out on the street on a breezy spring evening wrapped in blankets but the grilled halloumi and huge pizzas made up for the chill in the air
Yelo – perfect stop off on the walk along Trigg, great for coffee and has a huge range of different sandwiches, cakes and salads as well as good haul of dogs to look at!
Things to Do
Whale watching – Every Australian we spoke to was surprised we were going to do this so I was a little worried that I’d made up that we could do whale watching off the coast of Perth. After some more research though I was correct and it was the perfect time to catch up with humpbacks on their migration from further north down to Antarctica. We booked through Rottnest Fast Ferries and were so lucky that during our two hour sailing we had quite a few sightings of at least one mother and baby humpback. Tail slapping, surface breathing and little breaches from the baby, just amazing!
Swan Valley – Who doesn’t want to visit a place full of vineyards? Unfortunately I wasn’t in Perth long enough that it was worth making a trip down to the vineyards of the Margaret River region but instead we went for a day trip to the Swan Valley. Starting off with a wander around the Mandoon estate followed by the obligatory wine tasting and then a gorgeous lunch. We’d decided to lunch here as it has a brewery on site too which has less fancy food than some of the other wineries in the area. It was no less tasty though and every plate of food I saw go past looked great!
The other vineyard we visited was Sandalford Wines, a smaller more traditional set up than the modern buildings at Mandoon and very charming. The wine tasting here was great and actually included the best port I’ve ever had. Not normally a port fan this was much smoother than others I’ve had and very yummy. Wine done it was off to the chocolate factory for a quick look around and then the Cheese Barrel to buy some cheese for that evening. Great tasting here and a really good selection of cheese from all over the world. So yummy
Fremantle – Lovely little town literally just down the coast from Perth with a lovely little harbour and old buildings. Nice shops and restaurants and good for a wander around. There’s also the prison which is open for tours both during the day and at night but unfortunately we weren’t able to go. On a return visit though I’d love to do the tunnel tour so definitely check that out!
Kings Park – Four square kilometre park to the west of central Perth which has both lovely views across the bay and city and nice trails through the botanic gardens. Good for a wander on a sunny morning
Bold Park – Amazing nature reserve with trails running throughout in and out of bush land and pine forest. We did a lovely 5km hike through the undulating landscape filled with interesting plants and wildlife. Apparently you can sometimes see possums, we didn’t but it’s worth keeping an eye out for them. Amazing to find such a wild landscape so close to the city and suburbs.
And that was my speedy trip to Perth! It has so much to offer as an area and I loved the chilled vibe so it may have been my first trip but it won’t be my last!