Coogee Beach area
I will come back to the sailing :):)
We arrived at Perth International Airport after an 11 hour flight with Emirates (oh yes, my favourite airlines and it did not disappoint) and was picked up by our Airbnb host, Peter (this is not normally part of the service, just good luck that he was in the area). Look up Airbnb on Google, it is great and we have 2 more locations in Australia through this company. He has been an amazing host (English but has lived in Australia for the last 18 years and now an Australian citizen) and we have loved staying in his home. All of the creature comforts, superb home-cooked food if we want it and so many tips and money saving suggestions we have lost count. You cannot beat local knowledge and the friendships you can make in such a short time.
So there we are on the first night having flown through the night before and Peter has invited us out for a curry at the local curry house with his partner Karen and 4 of his Australian mates. Well, what else do you do but say, absolutely yes! What a great night, with Peter being the butt of the jokes throughout the evening (affectionately known as big fat pomy bastard) and us Poms getting off lightly. We had a real laugh and were made to feel so welcome by all with their warm, positive approach to life. Beer is not cheap here and many of the restaurants allow 'bring your own' wine and charge $5 dollars a bottle corkage. The week started as as it has gone on - plenty of wine, beer and champagne! Heads hit the pillow that night in a comatose state having had little sleep in the last 48 hours.
Having left the hire of a car until we arrived (tip 1 from Peter because there was a cheap local car rental firm down the road), we hitched a ride with our host on Saturday morning to rent the car. CLOSED FOR THE WEEKEND! Oh well, the local beach for the weekend in Coogee it would be then (less than a mile from Peter's house) and what a beach! Yes, Perth is famous for it's beaches and you can very easily see why with white golden sands and beautiful waters at about 22 degrees.
Coogee Beach
See mikedevitt.blogspot.co.uk for tales of sharks, snakes and other wildlife of Australia and I will say no more. So, we swam out to the floating platform, hauled ourselves up the steps provided and jumped off. We then spent the rest of a very enjoyable afternoon at the beach. That night we were treated to a good ol' barby cooked by Peter in his yard with one eye out for the red back spiders. After Sunday on Coogee beach (factor 30 suntan lotion and higher - phew hot) with the Fremantle Doctor wind arriving in the afternoon to make bathing perfect, we headed into Fremantle late afternoon for the evening using the local bus. Fremantle has a stunning harbour and a quirky chilled out ambiance. Lots of cafes, bars and restaurants and a whole street dedicated to coffee houses called Cappuccino Strip. There was live music going on outside in the beautiful park area and we took a stroll around with ice cream in hand and watched the sun go down on the beach - WOW!
Fremantle
Monday (now driving said hire car) we headed into the Central Business District (CBD) of Perth and completed a Hop on Hop off bus tour which is totally the way to see the area. It was a very hot day, you wouldn't want to walk it!
Something to do with cricket apparently??
Perth Mint
The Bell Tower at Barracks Jetty
We started at the Barracks Jetty and circled around taking in many great sights disembarking at one of the best view points ever in Kings Park. A must see in Perth as it is the largest city park in the world and it is so pretty with spectacular views of the CBD and the crystal Swan River that flows right into the heart of Perth.
We didn't do the tree top walk in the park but I hear this comes with a recommendation. We (I really mean Mike) now had our bearings around Perth and were in full adventurous swing and use of Peter's Tom Tom sure helped :). So, we agreed that as we had driven north from Coogee to see the CBD, let's carry on up north a little further and visit the famous Cottesloe beach which was well worth the 15 minute drive. The drive to the beach snaked alongside the water's edge almost all of the way and afforded us lovely views to put a beaming smile on your face. The beach had some great waves and we had a swim to cool down although I can safely say that the average Brit would not have half of the swimming prowess that your local Aussie has, I have been often impressed this week especially with the kids. We then finished the day with fish and chips on Coogee beach at dusk.
Tuesday took us over to Rottnest Island on the Rottnest Express which was a journey of 35 minutes leaving from Fremantle harbour. If you are ever going to visit Perth do not leave this trip out. The island is a paradise with breathtaking coves and fantastic snorkeling opportunities.
Rottnest Island
We met the quokkas (look like mini kangaroos) and other wildlife... see Mike's highly poisonous snake story - I am NOT joking! We went round the island on another hop on hop off bus with wonderful drivers who fed us with many interesting facts about the island and it's wildlife. You can hire bikes, you can kayak and you can go on a tour bus around the island. It's fairly up and down dale and again very hot so the cycling choice was not for us, I cannot really comment on the kayak tours and the tour bus (90 minute stay-on bus tour) did not really appeal. Home to a sausage pasta dish left for us by Peter (he was off to band practice - music teacher for a living) and a catch up on emails, blogs and facetime where possible (8 hours ahead here).
On Wednesday, we took a drive of just under an hour out into the Swan Valley region epitomized by farming and many, many vineyards. Tours of vineyards and cream teas a plenty in this region and it was well worth the drive out to get a feel for another part of Perth but SupaGolf was on our agenda! Yes, of course Mike beat me but we had great fun playing it (over-sized clubs and balls on a 9 hole course) and we strolled around the course surrounded by palm trees, Emus, flowing water and rich green vegetation.
SupaGolf in the Swan Valley Region
Picnic lunch on Cottesloe beach, swim to cool down and then (LUCKY US) off to meet the aforementioned Linda for an twilight/evening sail in Perth harbour on a catamaran. We sailed out of Flying Squadron yacht club at 6pm with Trevor at the helm (he owned the boat), Mike, Linda and I and 7 other people sipping champagne and eating home-made sausage rolls, noodles, donuts and various nibbles and dips. Great company, easy sailing and a magnificent sunset on the water saw us arriving back at the YC at 10pm. A special night and we have made friends who we are now keeping in contact with. We left Linda with a tentative promise of an evening sail the next night but in a race!
Perth Harbour on the Catamaran "Carista Carista"
Yes, we woke to a text from Linda on Thursday to say it was on that night sailing on Jamie's boat out of Royal Perth YC (BIG WOW) but no worries Michelle, we are racing but there will still be time to sip champagne :). We had an easy morning Thursday (something to do with the alcohol consumed on the boat the night before) and then took a drive along some of the coastal route, a bit of beach and picnic, stop off at the drive through bottle shop for more alcohol and off to the YC for 5:30pm. I actually did pull a halyard, trim the jib and generally act a little more like one of the crew that night as we were 20 seconds behind the start line at the beginning of the race but Mike ( no surprise here) helmed the race. He did really well with the very light winds and I helped him by stuffing tortilla chips, cheese, dips and crackers in his mouth as he concentrated. You know Mike, he was always going to take this seriously. But OMG, if we thought we had seen a sunset the night before we were mistaken. We had seen clouds for the first time that day and they brought with it a sunset to dream of.
Sailing on Big Diamond in Perth
I managed to convince Mike to avert his eyes from what the main sail was doing and he turned and smiled a smile that melted my heart. We are so determined to try to live in the moment and not think too much about the next adventure, travel plan and what needs organizing. On the whole, I think we are doing really well and that moment is stored in my mind forever. Photos galore were taken on the iPhone and Linda told me to "rack off" out of the photo with Mike so that she could be in it with him alone... even bigger smile :):) How lucky are we!
Friday, off to Penguin Island and Seal Island on an adventure tour (less than half-price courtesy of Peter's never ending "all part of the service" help) of the islands south of Perth. Can these travels get any better I asked? Well, it keeps trying hard, I can assure you.
Penguin and Seal Islands
We had 20 dolphins alongside our boat (almost in touching distance but of course you don't touch dolphins in the wild) playing and romancing and when we opened up the very powerful throttle and created waves in our wake they swam, leaped and played alongside us for ages surfing on the waves. I had jaw ache from smiling at the end of this adventure tour. We saw big fat male sea lions 'holing up' on the shores having been out hunting/feeding for 2 to 3 days solid, wild 'little blue penguins', an osprey and it's 2x2 metre nest and many birds as we motored around the islands accompanied by an excellent commentary from the team. With a couple of hours to explore the island on foot (easy because not that big), yet another picnic and many selfies later of us in front of yet more idyllic coves, aqua blue seas and vistas, we jumped back on the ferry to the mainland.
As we had driven south of Perth we decided to go as far south as the car rental firm would allow and took in a flying visit to Manjurah. Nice harbour, many apartments, long sandy beach, park.. the usual, but (just in my opinion) I preferred the other areas we had visited. Maybe because we were not there long we missed some hidden gems? That night we joined Peter, Karen and Carly for a pint or 2 of 'one fifty lashes' at their local surf club in Coogee (members only) and back home for a couple of Baileys. a brilliant night of conversation and debate that took us to 1 in the morning and for one (not me surprise, surprise) a hangover the next day.
Saturday morning saw us taking the car back before they closed at lunch time and back into Fremantle in the afternoon on the bus to take a good look around the massive market and local performers. Really chilled afternoon and ended with a homemade curry (actually 2) at home. We managed to facetime Sam, Dad and Dee and Mum and John which was wonderful and saw our little Tazzie boy who duly ignored us on screen :(. He is having a whale of a time, what can I say!
So, here I am Sunday morning (everybody else is still in bed), our last day in Perth. because we have no car we will spend the best part of today on Coogee beach (full circle), an evening meal with Peter who we will miss and then a taxi to Perth domestic terminal for a flight with Jetstar through the night to Cairns YUCK!I have been reliably informed that it will not be up to Emirates standard... what is a girl to do? Travelling a further 2 hours forward in time and away from the UK, I sometimes shudder just a tiny bit at how far away we are from our family and friends but the adventure continues and the Great Barrier Reef here we come :)
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