A Wonderful Week in Perth

Recently, I was lucky enough to take my first trip to Australia. My husband went for work and I decided to tag along to the city of Perth, in Western Australia. I admit, when I thought of Australia before I had only really thought about the Eastern side: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. I thought of the famous opera house, the Great Barrier Reef, big cities, koala bears and beaches. All things I would LOVE to check out one day! I knew very little about the more isolated, less touristy West Coast of Australia, but I was so excited to visit and learn more about it.

My low expectations (more ignorance of not knowing what expectations to have) were completely exceeded. Perth was a vibrant, laid-back, beautiful city with plenty of history, character, beautiful beaches lining their coast, and yes, even koalas to see! Even though we have only been in KL for about 3 weeks, it was a breath of fresh air (literally) to get out of the heat and humidity of SE Asia and feel the cool breezy temps of Perth. We could not have asked for better weather: sunny and 75 every single day we were there, getting into the 50s at night. It was heavenly! We took in the many sights that Perth has to offer, and left some on our list to do next time. Some places you know you will only visit once, but Perth, we know we will be coming back to. It is an easy and direct flight from KL, my husband has business there, and we thoroughly enjoyed the city. Why would we not go back?! Here are some of our highlights of our visit to Perth.

• King’s Park: We found the city’s most famous park to be an absolute gem! The grass was prestine, golf-course-like grass that felt like new, shag carpeting. Great for going barefoot! Massive trees lined the grass providing shade and shelter for all of the different, beautiful birds that seem to love the sound of their own chirping. Why people come to this park, aside from the amazing grass (LOL), are the views. The views are phenomenal! You can see the entire skyline of Perth and the glorious Swan River which pours out into the Indian Ocean. Out in the river you can see the hustle and bustle of boats, spot dolphins and watch the reflection of incredibly vivid sunsets. It is breathtaking!

One of the best memories we made on this trip was having a true Aussie style picnic in King’s Park with some friends we have in Perth. We found our perfect spot: shaded under one of the massive trees, on the soft grass, with a fabulous view. Check, check, and check! Our Aussie friends brought a big picnic blanket and all the accoutrements. We had homemade Vegemite (Aussies absolutely love this spread) and cheese roll-ups, turkey sandwiches on homemade bread, Tam Tam’s, Lamington cakes, Smith’s chips and Maltesers. All very Australian, and all very delicious! Be sure you visit King’s Park and pack an Aussie picnic of your own to enjoy when visiting Perth.

• Hillarys Boat Harbour- Hillarys Boat Harbour and Sorrento Quay shopping area were places we really enjoyed visiting on our trip to Perth. These two places are connected by a long boat dock that wraps around the smaller, calmer, super family-friendly beaches. On these docks are all kinds of shops, restaurants, activities and people watching. It was a great place to spend time getting souveniers, eating gelato and enjoying the beautiful weather.

• The Beaches- We were pleasantly surprised by how picturesque the beaches in Perth were. I was expecting a nice beach, but what we got were stunning, uncrowded, pristine beaches. The water was turquoise, the sand was powdery soft, the crowds were minimal and the facilities were great. Just a short walk from Hillarys and Sorrento Quay is Sorrento beach. This is where I found myself spending an entire afternoon of just relaxing on the sand, enjoying the sun and the water. This is a nice and wide beach that was quiet- most of the families with kids were at the beaches at Hillarys! The waves and tide were a little strong for people who are not strong swimmers, but it is a great place to go to relax, soak up some rays and enjoy great weather.

The next beach we visited was Perth’s most famous beach called Cottesloe beach. Cottesloe is well known for being a “ritzy” part of Perth, and is lined with restaurants and shops. It is also known as being a great spot to catch a sunset. The beach faces precisely west, and has multiple “tiers” of grass set up at different levels for people to sit and enjoy without getting anyone else’s head in your perfect sunset photo: genius! We picked up some fish-n-chips from a local Perth favorite- Amberjacks– and took in a truly amazing sunset. Cottesloe is a must-visit on any trip to Perth.

• Fremantle- Fremantle is the historic port town just south of Perth city. It is a super trendy and exciting area of Perth filled with local one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants, bars and charming old buildings. I took the train down from Perth Central which took about 25 minutes and decided to walk the streets and explore. I found it to be much bigger than I had expected and literally spent my whole day there! There was so much to do and see, I was blown away! Apart from all the shops and restaurants, they have museums, a great park called the Esplanade, a boat dock, an open air market with all kinds of food stands and vendors, and you can even tour the World Heritage Site of Fremantle Prison (kind of like the Alcatraz of Western Australia). All of these wonderful things are within walking distance. I had such a great time exploring on my own, that I made my husband come back with me a couple days later for wine in the park and dinner. We went on a Saturday night and the streets were barricaded off and people were performing in the streets. Live music, dancing and magic shows were all on display for free. It was a feast for the senses! We ended up having some really tasty Turkish food for dinner and enjoying the live music until late. So much fun!

• Wine Tasting in the Swan Valley- We had heard that the perfect day trip from Perth would be to either go to Rottnest Island (which on Easter weekend was almost impossible to get to!) or venture out to taste wines and visit the vineyards of the Swan Valley. We decided to save Rottnest for next time, and try out some Australian wine. My husband and I consider ourselves big wine-o’s and love tasting new wines so we were very excited. The Swan Valley did not disappoint! Since we did not rent a car or want to drive having tasted wine all day, we decided to go on a tour. I am so glad we did because it was a great way to get around and we met some awesome people on our tour. We went through a company called D’Vine Wine Tours because they had great reviews online and had smaller groups. They did not disappoint! Our guide was very informative and laid-back, and we stopped at 2 bigger wineries, 2 boutique wineries, a macaroon shop and a brewery. Talk about an awesome day! All the transportation, tasting fees, cheese plate, macaroon tasting, gourmet lunch and a beer at the brewery were included in the fare. We were very pleased and thought it was a great deal. Check it out if you ever find yourself in Perth!

• Caversham Wildlife Park- One of my dreams that I just HAD to fulfill when we went to Australia was interacting with a koala bear. Now, koalas are not native to Western Australia so I knew that this wouldn’t be an easy task in Perth. Lucky for me I found Caversham Wildlife Park online and saw that you could “meet” a koala, as well as feed kangaroos. I was beyond excited for this! My husband and I decided to go out there one afternoon and check it out. The drive out there is really neat, and you get a sense of how quickly the land in Australia changes. One minute you are in the city, the next you are out in the bush. The park has a bunch of different animals native to Australia, shows geared towards kids, and exhibits. I had my mind on one thing: koalas! The koalas come out about every hour and a half or so for people to interact and take photos with them. I was shocked at how many koalas the park had. Most of them had been rescued from the wild in Eastern Australia because of injuries or illness, and had been moved to the park to be rehabilitated. They were all so beautiful, very well taken care of and so sweet! You could pet and cuddle them, take as many photos as you wanted and ask as many questions as you wanted as well. I was very impressed, and so very happy! It was such a memorable experience.

The other really neat thing you could do at the park was walk through a huge grassy area filled with kangaroos and feed them. We had a lot of fun walking around feeding and petting the kangaroos. They are such interesting and cool animals! We even took a few kangaroo selfies or “Roo-fies” as we called them (LOL). My husband ended up being the “kangaroo whisperer” and had five of them around him at one point. It was hilarious! If you like animals and interacting with them, and want to get a sense of Australian wildlife, I would definitely suggest going.

We had a great time visiting Perth, and we plan on going back some day. It reminded us of our beloved Colorado in many ways and spoiled us with great weather. A couple things we have added to our list for next time is visiting Rottnest Island and getting a “Quokka selfie” (look it up: so funny!) and heading down south to check out the Margaret River area. You can never truly see and experience everything a city has to offer on your first visit, but we feel we made the most of our time and soaked in a lot of what Perth has to offer. Perth often gets overlooked by the more “glamorous” Eastern side of Australia, but if you take a trip to Australia, add it to your list. I think you will be pleasantly surprised and experience a more chilled-out, down-to-earth Australia. Oh, and you won’t have to fight off tons of other beach-goers for a perfect spot to lay your towel!

Happy Travels,

Courtney