Emma – Page 5 – Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure

Australia Day 13 – Adelaide Central Market, the Gaol, then on to Sydney

Wednesday 21st December 2022

After checking out of our hotel, we walked to Adelaide Central Market. It’s a huge indoor market with fresh produce, artisan food products, and various food stalls.

Adelaide central market, Adelaide, South Australia — Adelaide central market

We enjoyed browsing the market, then had brunch at one of the food stalls, where we shared a tempura prawns and portion of mussels. It was very good food, and certainly hit the spot.

Our seafood brunch at Adelaide central market

We then made our way back to the north of the city and walked through Bonython Park. The weather was starting to brighten up after the earlier rain, and it was a very pleasant walk.

The weather was starting to brighten up as we walked through Bonython Park, Adelaide, South Australia — The weather was starting to brighten up as we walked through Bonython Park

We continued to the Adelaide Gaol, one of the oldest public buildings in Adelaide which operated as a prison for almost 150 years.

The admission fee is $15.80 (about £9), and visits are via self-guided tour. The prison is kept the same as how it was when it ceased being a prison in 1988, and I found it fascinating to walk around. There are plenty of informational boards on the route, which give a lot of context to what you’re seeing. The prison site also contains the graves of those executed at the prison, which are simply marked by their initials and date of death engraved into the wall above.

Having visited both Adelaide Gaol and Fremantle prison, I think I’d much rather have been a prisoner in Adelaide Gaol. Although the conditions were far from luxurious, it felt a lot less harsh than Fremantle prison (they had a library and arts and crafts room for example)

Adelaide Gaol, Adelaide, South Australia is still as it was when the prison closed in 1988 — Adelaide Gaol is still as it was when the prison closed in 1988

We made our way back into town and grabbed an early dinner at Sit Lo, a Vietnamese cafe. We ordered some crab spring rolls to start, then shared a pork Bahn mi and a beef noodle dish. The spring rolls were amazing, beautifully crisp spring roll wrappers with a delicious, juicy crab filling. The beef noodles were also excellent. The Bahn Mi however wasn’t quite there. It was nice enough but the pork was way too fatty for my liking (had big lumps of fat in it).

An early dinner at Sit Lo, Adelaide, South Australia — An early dinner at Sit Lo

It was then back to the hotel to pick up our bags and catch an Uber to the airport. This time all the jiggery pokery of ensuring our bags were within the 7kg limit was worth it. Jetstar weighed the bags of every passenger as we boarded the gate. I was quite surprised that the flight before us at the neighbouring gate was running late, but they still insisted on weighing every bag. They did, however, not mind us taking the huge bottle of water we were carrying on board, which would have put us over the weight limit if they’d counted it as baggage. Liquids don’t seem to be a thing on Australian flights, which is great for someone like me who likes to drink a lot of water but would rather avoid paying for overpriced small bottles on the plane.

Our flight was fortunately on time, and we were soon touching down in Sydney. By this time it was gone 10pm, so we got an Uber to the Silkari Suites at Chatswood where we were staying.

Australia Day 12 – Hanhdorf and the Adelaide Hills wineries

Tuesday 20th December 2022

We wanted to explore one of the wine regions near Adelaide and Hanhdorf in the Adelaide Hills seemed the only practical option for doing via public transport. It’s about an hour on the bus, and we’d bought a day ticket from the station a couple of days ago (as it’s not possible to buy tickets on the bus itself).

Hanhdorf is a very picturesque German settlement, with a lot of independent shops and restaurants. It’s a very pleasant town to explore and walk along the main street. Our first stop was visitors centre, which had an adjoining museum and art gallery. They are both free to enter. The museum is relatively small but interesting and tells the story of the history of Hahndorf.

The small museum at Hahndorf Visitor Centre

After visiting the museum and gallery, we walked down the high street to Somerled, a small family owned winery. Here we did one of their wine tastings, which was very informative. We tried a sparkling, a white, a rose, and a red and were talked through each one. Apparently the grapes for all the white wines and roses are all handpicked. I really liked these wines, and unusually Pete and I both agreed the rose was lovely (usually we’re not a fan of rose wines but this one was very crisp and dry)

After the tasting we ordered a half glass of wine each, along with a light lunch of some pate and anchovy straws, Pete went for the rose (which tells you something about how good it was!) I wanted to try something new so gave the Tempranillo a go. It’s not the cheapest of food, but the bread and pate were both excellent. The anchovy straws were tasty enough but for $12 (about £7), I probably wouldn’t order again.

Wine tasting and light lunch at Somerled winery

We then headed out of town to Hahndorf Hill Winery. It’s about a 20 minute walk through beautiful countryside.

We walked through beautiful countryside to Hahndorf Hill Winery

When we reached the winery we ordered one white flight and one red flight to share. Again we were taken through the wines, but here we were given much less background about the winery and vineyards than at Somerled winery. Nevertheless, the wines were lovely and we had beautiful views over the vineyards below.

We had beautiful views over the countryside while enjoying our wine flights at Hahndorf Hill Winery, Adelaide Hills, South Australia — We had beautiful views over the countryside while enjoying our wine flights at Hahndorf Hill Winery

It was a longer walk (of about 35 minutes) to our next winery, Shaw + Smith. Again it was a very pleasant walk through picturesque scenery.

We walked past several vineyards on the way to Shaw + Smith

We got a wine flight with cheeses to share. Like with Somerled there was a lot of context about the history of the winery and the wines. I was surprised by how new it was! There were also gorgeous view over the vineyards. We enjoyed the tasting so much that we ordered another flight, from their spin off company the Other Wine Co. These wines are more experimental, and we actually preferred them.

Wine and cheese tasting at Shaw + Smith, Adelaide Hills, South Australia — Wine and cheese tasting at Shaw + Smith

Our final winery of the day, Nepenthe Cellar Door, was just down the road. So again we walked. They had two different wine tastings on offer, so we ordered both and shared them. Again, I really enjoyed the tasting and the guy who talked us through the wines was very engaging and interesting. If we purchased a bottle of wine, the $10 tasting fee would be deducted from the price. As several of the wines we liked were only $20, it’d obviously have been foolish not to take up this offer. So we bought a red and a white to take back with us.

Our wine tasting at Nepenthe Cellar Door, Adelaide Hills, South Australia, overlooked the fields below — Our wine tasting at Nepenthe Cellar Door overlooked the fields below

We’d intending on visiting Udder Delights (a cheese factory) on our way back. However the taxi ended up taking ages to arrive, drove completely the wrong way, and took us back to Hahndorf High Street. Udder Delights closes at 5pm, so now we unfortunately didn’t have time to get there before it closed. Instead, we took the bus back to Adelaide and walked back to our hotel. We took the lazy option of ordering a pizza to our room using Uber Eats.

The pizza was tasty enough, but not the best we’ve had. We did, however, very much enjoy the wine we’d bought back with us from Nepenthe Cellar Door.

Australia Day 11 – wine and culture in Adelaide

Monday 19th December 2022

Today was another day of exploring the city and museums of Adelaide. First thing, we headed to the National Wine Centre of Australia, which is just past the botanical gardens. Instead of walking like yesterday, we took the tram – it’s free to travel within the central city area.

We’d booked a guided tour of the museum, which is only available at 11am each day so we had a little while to wait when we got there. I was surprised to learn that the National Wine Centre has its own small vineyard, at the back of the museum. It’s also got a huge wine cellar, which you can look down at from the balcony but is not open for the public to enter.

The vineyard at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide, South Australia — The vineyard and wine cellar at the National Wine Centre

The wine cellar at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide, South Australia — The vineyard and wine cellar at the National Wine Centre

The museum itself has information and various exhibits about the process of making wine, particularly in Australia. I hadn’t realised that it was the Australians that introduced screw top wine bottles. It was an interesting museum but I wouldn’t bother with the guided tour. It costs $15 per person and only lasts half an hour, so we spent just as long in the museum on our own. I was expecting to be able to taste a small sample of wine at the end, but this wasn’t included. I think a much better option is to explore the museum on your own (which is free) then buy a wine flight or two from the tasting rooms at the end.

We walked through the botanical gardens, then continued to Gunbae Chicken & Beer (a Korean fried chicken restaurant) for lunch. They’ve got a few lunch specials, so we tried one of each of the available chicken options (a rice salad and a boneless chicken with slaw and pickled radish) along with a portion of kimchi pancakes. I loved the kimchi pancakes, and the chicken was lovely too – very crunchy coating and not at all greasy.

Korean fried chicken and kimchi pancakes at Gunbae Chicken & Beer, Adelaide, South Australia — Korean fried chicken and kimchi pancakes at Gunbae Chicken & Beer

After lunch we walked to the Centre of Democracy, a small museum at the back of the State Library of South Australia. It’s free to enter and was fairly interesting to walk around, with the exhibits all focussing on the history of democracy in Australia.

The Centre of Democracy, a free museum in Adelaide, South Australia — The Centre of Democracy, a free museum in Adelaide

We then continued to the nearby Migration Museum, which again is free to enter. I found this a fascinating museum, with various different exhibits covering the interesting and diverse history of migration in Australia, as well as the impact on the native aboriginals.

I found the Migration Museum in Adelaide, South Australia, very interesting, and it’s free to enter — I found the Migration Museum very interesting, and it’s free to enter

It was a hot day, so we felt in need of ice cream. Pete found a place called 48 flavours (because every day it has 48 different flavours of ice cream) – surely banana must be one of those flavours?!? Disappointingly the answer was no. So we moved on to the nearby Gelatissimo Gouger St. They also didn’t have Pete’s beloved banana, but he liked the look of the green apple sorbet, so had that with a scoop of strawberry. I had salted macadamia and cookie crumble. It was very good ice cream, the apple was lovely and tart and I particularly loved the salted macadamia.

Delicious ice cream at Gelatissimo Gouger St, Adelaide, South Australia — Delicious ice cream at Gelatissimo Gouger St

We were near Chinatown so had a little wander around before going to Dumpling Bun for dinner. We ordered a few different dim sum dishes to share – a baked pork and seaweed cake, steamed chicken and mushroom buns, Shanghai soup dumplings, and pan fried pork and chive dumplings. The soup dumplings were amazing, as were the chicken buns (they were so light and fluffy with a lovely hint of ginger in the filling).

A delicious selection of dumplings at Dumpling Bun, Adelaide, South Australia — A delicious selection of dumplings at Dumpling Bun

We walked back to the hotel and picked up a bottle of wine to share while we watched a couple of episodes of Money Heist before bed.

Australia Day 10 – the museums and botanic gardens of Adelaide

Sunday 18th December 2022

This morning we set out to explore the city and museums of Adelaide. First of all we walked to the South Australian Museum, which is free to enter. It’s a huge museum and tells the story of the natural and cultural history of South Australia. It also has a giant squid which extends through all four floors of the museum – so it’s head is on the top floor, and you can see the tentacles as you walk down. This was probably my favourite part of the museum, although I also very much enjoyed the big collection of brightly coloured minerals.

Next door is the Art Gallery of South Australia, which is also free to enter. I really enjoyed this museum, it’s got a great selection of both Australian and overseas art and I found the various exhibitions and installations very interesting.

I really enjoyed the wide range of exhibits at the Art Gallery of South Australia, in Adelaide — I really enjoyed the wide range of exhibits at the Art Gallery of South Australia

It was now lunchtime, so we went to Betty’s Burgers for a burger (I had chicken, Pete had beef). They were good burgers, though not the cheapest.

Lunch at Betty's Burgers, Adelaide, South Australia — Lunch at Betty’s Burgers

Our next stop was the Adelaide Botanic Garden. It’s huge and very pleasant to walk around. We spent a couple of hours exploring at a leisurely pace, then went to the neighbouring Botanic Park where we found a spot under a shady tree to relax.

Adelaide Botanic Garden (in Adelaide, South Australia) is a lovely place to spend a relaxing afternoon — Adelaide Botanic Garden is a lovely place to spend a relaxing afternoon

We then headed back into the city, and walked to Peel Street. Here, we had a very enjoyable cocktail at Alfred’s Bar.

Cocktails at Alfred’s bar, Adelaide, South Australia — Cocktails at Alfred’s bar

Opposite is Bread and Bone, a bar and restaurant. We weren’t hugely hungry but fancied something to eat so shared a mac and cheese, corn and curry croquettes, and a portion of onion rings. The food was pretty good, although the drinks we ordered never turned up. Apparently it’s because they ran out of milk (Pete had ordered a milkshake), but it’s a bit annoying they didn’t bother telling us this of bringing the glass of wine I’d ordered.

On the way back to our hotel we stopped off at a wine shop, and bought a bottle of Australian Tawny, which we enjoyed whilst watching a couple of episodes of Money Heist on Netflix.

Australia Day 9 – Little Penguins then onto Adelaide

Saturday 17th December 2022

As we’ve got a hire car, we thought we’d drive to Rockingham today then get the ferry out to Penguin Island. This island is home to the Little Penguin, the smallest penguin species in the world. We’d booked the 10am ferry, but arrived just after 9am. Unfortunately the 9.30am ferry was fully booked so we had a little while to wait. There’s a cafe by the ferry, and they had some hot sausage rolls which looked very good. We decided to give one a try, and bought one to share. It was an exceptionally good sausage roll, beautiful meat and crisp flaky pastry. Probably one of the best sausages rolls we’ve ever eaten.

The sausage rolls at Pengo’s Cafe was divine

We boarded the ferry just before 10am, and it’s a very short journey to the island (less than 10 minutes).

The ferry to Penguin Island, Rockingham, Western Australia takes just 10 minutes — The ferry to Penguin Island takes just 10 minutes

The island itself is very picturesque, with some lovely beaches. There’s lots of wildlife on the island (mainly birds and lizards), but it’s very rare to spot a Little Penguin in the wild (they spend most of their time at sea).

Penguin Island, Rockingham, Western Australia, is very tranquil and beautiful — Penguin Island is very tranquil and beautiful

There’s also a discovery centre on the island, which houses rescue penguins. The most common reason for penguins to end up at the centre is injury due to fishing ships and nets. The penguins are fed daily, and we went to the 10.30am feeding, where you also get to learn a bit about the island, Little Penguins, and the work the centre does.

You’ll see lots of birds on Penguin Island, Rockingham, Western Australia but are unlikely to see any Little Penguins except for in the discovery centre — You’ll see lots of birds on Penguin Island but are unlikely to see any Little Penguins except for in the discovery centre

The island itself is very small and quick to walk around. Unless you want to spend time on the beach, you don’t much time to visit Penguin Island (which is a good thing for us, as we’ve got a plane to catch this afternoon).

We got the ferry back to Rockingham, drove along the coast, then walked to the hill to Rockingham Viewpoint. There are stunning views over the bay, and on a clear day it’s so beautiful.

The gorgeous views from Rockingham Viewpoint, Rockingham, Western Australia — The gorgeous views from Rockingham Viewpoint

We ate lunch at Rustico, a tapas restaurant overlooking the beach. We went for the set menu, which is served as five courses of two tapas dishes. The food was excellent, and we particularly enjoyed the chorizo (which had a slightly sweet glaze), the tempura prawns (which were so plump and juicy with a beautifully light batter), and the pork belly (with its perfect crackling).

The tapas lunch at Rustico, Rockingham, Western Australia was excellent — The tapas lunch at Rustico was excellent

After lunch we drove to the airport and dropped off our hire car. Our flight to Adelaide was with Jetstar, who have a 7kg carry on limit so we weighed our bags and put enough stuff in our pockets to get below the weight limit. It ended up being unnecessary as our bags were never actually weighed, but we’d rather be safe than sorry. It was very quick getting to the gate. Probably a combination of no passport control and a very quickly security screen (we didn’t even to remove liquids, which I was surprised about). The flight was late, but other than that was pleasant enough.

We got a Grab car from the airport to our hotel, the Adelaide Riviera Hotel. Adelaide is 2.5 hours ahead of Perth, so by the time we arrived it was very late (almost 11pm). There’s a dumpling place, Dumpling Planet, right by the hotel that opens very late. So we went there for a late dinner, and shared a portion of shrimp wantons in chilli broth and pan fried pork and chive dumplings between us. I especially enjoyed the shrimp wantons, and the broth had a lovely chilli kick to it.

Late night dumplings at Dumpling Planet, Adelaide, South Australia — Late night dumplings at Dumpling Planet

Australia Day 8 – Dessert landscapes, white sand beaches, and the animals of Western Australia

Friday 16th December 2022

Last night the roads to the Pinnacles dessert was closed due to bushfires, so we were a bit worried our plans for today would be scuppered. Fortunately when we checked this morning, they’d now reopened up to Nambung National Park, which includes the Pinnacles dessert.

We set off in our big hire car, and shortly after we’d exited the built up areas around Perth the roads soon grew very quiet. It felt like driving into the middle of nowhere, with not a sign of any towns or villages in sight. The scenery was amazing, vast plains of nothingness and scrub land, with the occasional bright white sand dune.

The scenery was beautiful after we left Perth, with some interesting looking white sand dunes

There were also road signs warning of wildlife in the area. We didn’t spot any kangaroos, but were lucky enough to see a couple of emus very close to the road (although I was too slow to get a photo!)

As we got closer to the Pinnacles Desert Discovery Centre, we went past a road sign saying the road ahead was closed, which was slightly concerning. A bit further along was a barrier with a couple of guys in a truck. They asked where we were going and when we said the Pinnacles dessert they waved us through. Apparently that’s about as far north as they’d allow anyone to go.

There’s a fee of $15 (about £8) per vehicle to enter the Pinnacles dessert. The woman at the barrier informed us that the ticket was also valid for other national parks in the state, and there’s one we’ll pass right by on our way back to Perth.

Once you enter the dessert, you can drive around a one way route through the Pinnacles. There are plenty of places of the route where you can pull over, get out, and explore a bit more on foot. You can also do a 1.5km walking trail, but we didn’t bother with this as it was a very hot day and there’s literally no shade. It’s quite a spectacular place, like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’m very glad we visited.

The Pinnacles dessert in Western Australia is absolutely spectacular — The Pinnacles dessert is absolutely spectacular

We also spotted some emu tracks, but unfortunately no actual emus (although I think if we’d have seen one that nearby I’d probably have been a little scared!)

The emu tracks we found in the Pinnacles dessert, Western Australia — The emu tracks we found in the Pinnacles dessert

After driving / walking around the dessert, we went to the Pinnacles Desert Discovery Centre. It’s got a small exhibition about the history and local wildlife found in the area, which was quite interesting to walk around.

We then set off in the direction of Yanchep National Park, which is on the outskirts of Perth and where we could also use our entry ticket from today. On the way, we took a slight detour to Wedge Island, an absolutely stunning white sand beach.

The beautiful white sand beach of Wedge Island, Western Australia — The beautiful white sand beach of Wedge Island

By the time we arrived at Yanchep National Park it was mid afternoon and we were feeling quite hungry. We went to the visitor centre to try and book a cave tour, (but didn’t succeed as unfortunately it was full for the day) then walked to the Yanchep Inn for a late lunch. Yanchep Inn is a hotel with a huge pub restaurant and beer garden. We ordered a starter of pork belly bites to share, and then mains of a burger and a seafood basket. The food was very good, much better than I was expecting (especially the pork belly which was amazing)

A leisurely lunch at the Yanchep Inn, Yanchep National Park, Western Australia — A leisurely lunch at the Yanchep Inn

We’d sat outside in the large beer garden, and there were a lot of beautiful parakeets eyeing up our food as we ate!

The brightly coloured and very tame parakeets at Yanchep Inn, Yanchep National Park, Western Australia — The brightly coloured and very tame parakeets at Yanchep Inn

By the time we’d finished eating, the kangaroos were out and about. I was surprised how close they were, and how unbothered by human presence.

The kangaroos at Yanchep National Park were surprisingly close

The kangaroos have free reign of the park, but there are also a few koalas that are in a separate enclosed area. The koalas were up in the trees and very difficult to spot, but I was still glad to have my first glimpse of an Australian koala.

We just about spotted some koalas at the Yanchep Koala Boardwalk

We had another walk around the park before heading home. It’s a beautiful location with a lake in the middle, so very pleasant to stroll around.

We were lucky enough to see a family of kangaroos hopping past – mum, dad, and their little one. It was a very cute sight.

On the way back from Yanchep National Park, we stopped off at a supermarket to get a bottle of water. Some frozen dumplings caught our eye. Fortunately, we’ve got a studio apartment where we’re staying (at the Riverview on Mount Street Hotel) so bought a packet to cook for supper tonight.

Australia Day 7 – the Quokkas of Rottnest

Thursday 15th December 2022

Today we got the ferry from Fremantle to Rottnest Island. It was an early start to catch the train to Fremantle, and then we ended up having to wait a while for the ferry (we’d allowed excess time to get there just in case the trains were delayed etc).

The Rottnest Express ferry to Rottnest Island — The Rottnest Express ferry we took to Rottnest Island

The ferry was nice enough and we had a smooth crossing over to Rottnest, it’s only a 30 minute journey.

We’d booked a Trains and Tunnels tour so walked to the settlement train station, which was the meeting point for the tour. We needn’t have booked in advance, and it actually turns out to be cheaper if you just show up and buy the tickets on the spot.

The settlement train station, where our tour started from

The tour began with a train ride to the Oliver Hill Battery. There were only three other people on our tour, so we had the train pretty much to ourselves. It was a very pleasant journey with beautiful views over the island.

Beautiful views over Rottnest (in Perth, Western Australia) on the train to Oliver Hill Battery — Beautiful views over Rottnest on the train to Oliver Hill Battery

When we reached Oliver Hill Battery, we had a guided tour of the huge gun and underground tunnels. Our guide explained to us a bit about the history of the battery, and also how the gun worked. The battery was built in the 1930s and played a major role in the defence of Fremantle harbour and the coastline during the Second World War (although the gun was never called into action). It’s an impressively large and powerful gun, and was quite fascinating to see.

There’s a system of tunnels below the battery, which we were taken around.

We returned back to the settlement station on the train, then walked to the Thomson Bay Settlement. It was at this point we had our first quokka sighting. They seem to mainly hang around the settlement area.

Our first sightings of the Rottnest quokkas

We went to Frankie’s on Rotto for lunch, and sat at an outside table with great views of the quokkas. We shared a seafood basket and chicken pizza between us. The food and service were both excellent, although the pizza wasn’t the very best we’ve had this trip.

An alfresco lunch at Frankie's on Rotto, Rottnest, Perth, Western Australia — An alfresco lunch at Frankie’s on Rotto

After lunch, we had another wander around the settlement area and observed the quokkas. They are quite curious creatures and extremely tame – one unexpectedly climbed right over me when I’d crouched down to take a photo!

The very friendly cute quokkas of Rottnest, Perth, Western Australia — The very friendly cute quokkas of Rottnest

Much to Pete’s delight, Simmo’s (the ice cream shop) did a banana choc chip flavour, so we enjoyed an ice cream before our ferry back to Fremantle. I had the caramel malteaser and pecan praline flavours. It was pretty good ice cream.

We then walked back to the ferry terminal. Our return ferry was smaller than the one this morning, and was extremely full. It was also a much less enjoyable ride – very bumpy with the boat moving a lot from side to side. About five minutes into the journey, the crew went around handing out sick bags to everyone, which I took as a worrying sign. Luckily the total journey is just 30 minutes, so we arrived back in Fremantle unscathed.

Tomorrow we want to visit the dessert so have hired a car from the airport. We catch the train to the airport and pick up our car, which ends up being a huge SUV (it’s very nice and comfortable though!)

We drove back to our hotel, and by this time it was evening. There’s a restaurant in the hotel, Mount Street Breakfast Bar, which mainly does breakfast and lunch but is also open for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays. We’d had a large lunch so weren’t hugely hungry and had a light supper of grilled chorizo and flatbread with hummus dip, accompanied by a bottle of Australian red wine. It was very good food, the bread especially was excellent.

Our light supper at Mount Street Breakfast Bar

Tomorrow we’ll have an early start to drive to the dessert, so had an early night.

Australia Day 6 – Kings Park, Matilda Bay, and some great cocktails

Wednesday 14th December 2022

We woke up feeling slightly hungry for a change (possibly the effects of yesterdays wine tour and not having much food after lunchtime), so went to get a light breakfast at Let’s Eat Lunch Bar and Cafe. If you’ve read my Vietnam blog posts, you’ll know that Pete and I have developed a love for Bahn Mi. Apparently Let’s Eat Lunch Bar and Cafe do excellent Bahn Mi, so we ordered a roast pork Bahn Mi to share between us. We weren’t disappointed. Not quite the same as the ones we’d had in Vietnam (the vegetables seemed a bit more thickly sliced and not so pickled) but still excellent – warm, fluffy bread with a crispy crust, beautifully cooked pork (with a lovely bit of crackling crunch), and ever so flavourful.

The roast pork Bahn Mi at Let’s Eat Lunch Bar and Cafe was excellent

After eating, we walked to Kings Park and Botanic Garden. When we entered the park, I was surprised at how much it felt like a huge forest rather than a big open park. We came to a cool looking bridge thing, which apparently was the entrance to Rio Tinto Naturescape. We walked along the pathway, only to realise it’s actually a kids park – oops!

Kings Park and the Rio Tinto Naturescape

We backtracked and headed to the botanic gardens, which were beautiful.

The beautiful Botanic Gardens at Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia — The beautiful Botanic Gardens at Kings Park

A bit further along was Mount Eliza Lookout. There are beautiful views over the bay, and there was a nice shaded seating area so we took the opportunity to relax and admire the views.

Mount Eliza Lookout in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia, has some shaded seating and lovely views over the bay — Mount Eliza Lookout has some shaded seating and lovely views over the bay

We then walked to the DNA Tower, which (as the name suggests) is shaped like a double helix. We climbed to the top, for lovely views over the park.

The DNA Tower in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia — The DNA Tower in Kings Park

We headed back towards the coast, and walked along a trail that led to the Lotterywest Federation Walkway Glass Arched Bridge. This is quite a cool looking bridge, and very elevated so again you get some lovely views.

The elevated Lotterywest Federation Walkway Glass Arched Bridge in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia — The elevated Lotterywest Federation Walkway Glass Arched Bridge

As we continued, the path became more narrow and very sandy. It felt a bit like walking along a coastal path.

The pathways at the far end of the park felt a bit like sandy coastal walkways

We soon came to another viewpoint, the Dryandra Lookout, which again overlooked the bay below.

Gorgeous views from the Dryandra Lookout in Kings Park

Shortly after exiting the park, we came across the Blue Boat House, a very photogenic, picturesque boat shed out on the water.

The very photogenic Blue Boat House in Perth, Western Australia — The very photogenic Blue Boat House

We’d planned to go the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery. Disappointingly though, when we arrived we found it’s temporarily closed until February 2023. It was still a pleasant walk through the university campus though, with its sunken garden.

The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery in Perth, Western Australia, was unfortunately closed until Feb 2023 — The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery was unfortunately closed until Feb 2023

We headed back to the waterfront and walked along Matilda Bay. The beach itself is very small, but beautiful nonetheless.

Matilda Bay in Perth, Western Australia, has a small but gorgeous beach — Matilda Bay has a small but gorgeous beach

We decided to take advantage of the free CAT buses to get back to the other side of Kings Park and Botanic Garden. From there, we walked to Frisk, a cocktail bar in Northbridge, where we enjoyed a couple of cocktails in the sun.

The cocktails were excellent. As we drank, we decided where to eat for dinner. There was an Italian restaurant nearby, 1934 Ristorante, which had excellent reviews. So Pete called them and asked to book a table at 6pm when they opened. We walked to the restaurant, but it appeared to be dark and shut up. We waited about 10 minutes and there was still no sign of life, so Pete gave them another call. Apparently they’re actually closed on Wednesdays, but there’s a trattoria round the back which mainly does pizzas. I’m not sure why they didn’t tell us this when we booked a table 20 minutes earlier! As we were already there, we decided to check out the trattoria and ordered a portion of mussels and a prawn pizza to share. The food was actually very good, definitely one of the better pizzas we’ve had.

Our yummy mussels and pizza at 1934 Trattoria, Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia — Our yummy mussels and pizza at 1934 Trattoria

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped off at Juicy Bao Bao to share some spicy xiaolongbao and pork dumplings. The xiaolongbao were exceptional, and the soupy filling didn’t leak out at all (which I find often happens with soup dumplings). Juicy Bao Bao also has a robot cat to deliver some of the food, which k thought was quite cool.

Juicy dumplings at Juicy Bao Bao, Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia — Juicy dumplings at Juicy Bao Bao

We were now feeling pleasantly full and sleepy, so went back to our hotel for the night.

Australia Day 5 – Swan Valley Wine Tour

Tuesday 13th December 2022

It was a bit of a tense start to the day! We had booked a wine tour and needed to be at the meeting point at 9.50am. The laundrette in our hotel opens at 7am, and apparently the wash and dry cycle are both 45 minutes. So we should have had plenty of time to wash our clothes. However, it ended up taking considerably longer! At 9am, our clothes were still spinning around in the dryer. Fortunately there was someone in reception, who told us we could stop the dryer if we tugged the door hard enough. Luckily this worked, and our clothes were completely dry. It did mean we were now running late, so ended up ordering an Uber to the bus pick up point and got there about 20 minutes early (so we’d probably just about had enough time to walk but didn’t want to risk it).

Our first stop was Lancaster Wines, a very picturesque winery. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best when we were there, so it was a bit on the chilly side. We tasted a few different wines, which actually ended up being my favourite wines of the tour. We also shared a huge cheeseboard, which was very good. The chilli cheese in particular was amazing.

The cheeseboard at Lancaster Wines, Swan Valley, Perth, Australia was amazing — The cheeseboard at Lancaster Wines was amazing

Our next vineyard was the Pinelli Estate. This vineyard is owned by a family that originated from Italy, and the owner was very friendly and chatty. Pete and I noticed the huge, very cheaply priced bottles behind the bar and at the end of the tasting asked if they were cooking wines or something. Apparently not. The only one available to try was the Tawny (the Australian version of port). He gave us a sample and it was surprisingly good! Obviously we had to purchase a bottle – 2 litres for just $16 (about £9)!

The Pinelli Estate and our huge bottle of Australian Tawny

We then continued to Mandoon Estate. This was a much bigger winery, and we tasted a few of their wines before eating lunch at Homestead Brewery. We had a shared charcuterie plate to start, then a choice from a few different options. Pete went for the burger and I chose a chorizo pizza. The burger was pretty good but the pizza was unfortunately burnt and very disappointing.

Mandoon Estate and the disappointing food at Homestead Brewery, Swan Valley, Perth, Australia — Mandoon Estate and the disappointing food at Homestead Brewery

After lunch we went to Mash brewing. I’m not hugely into beers and this place felt a bit like a regular bar so wasn’t my favourite stop on the tour. We got to sample a few beers of our choice here, but none of them particularly stood out for me. They did have a cool looking tree outside though!

Our final stop was The Margaret River Chocolate Company, where we were able taste a few different chocolate based liquors before going across to the factory and tasting sons of the chocolate. I very much enjoyed this stop, and the chocolate was lovely.

The chocolate factory at The Margaret River Chocolate Company, Swan Valley, Perth, Australia — The chocolate factory at The Margaret River Chocolate Company

We then returned back to Perth, and walked back to the hotel for what we thought were the final two episodes of Manifest on Netflix. The ending didn’t seem right at all. We then found out they’ve only released half the season, with the second half to follow on a yet to be announced date. Very disappointing! We’ll need to find something else to watch on the days we get back to our hotel before bedtime.

Australia Day 4 – The Perth Mint and a relaxing afternoon in the parks

Monday 12th December 2022

In the morning, we set off for Perth Mint. The entrance fee is $22 (about £12) and includes a guided tour of the Mint. It was an interesting tour, and you get to see a $1 million dollar coin (made from a ton of gold!) as well as several large gold nuggets.

A tour of the Perth Mint (in Perth, Western Australia) includes a $1 million coin and huge gold nuggets — A tour of the Perth Mint includes a $1 million coin and huge gold nuggets

At the end of the tour, the guide demonstrated how gold is poured into ingots (although in this case, being close to Christmas, the ingot was a giant star). It was a very impressive demonstration, and you could literally feel the heat from the furnace. The molten gold itself looked like red glowing cream. It was also surprising how quickly it cooled. After pouring the gold, the guide submerged the ingot in cold water and only about a minute later was able to handle the gold star with his bare hands.

The gold pouring at the Perth Mint, Perth, Western Australia — The gold pouring at the Perth Mint

We ate lunch at The Mint Asian –
Noodle & Rice, which is just around the corner from the Perth Mint. We ordered some prawn gyoza to share, then I had a Thai green fish curry and Pete went for the beef Rendang. The food was delicious, and good value. Our bill came to $42, or about £23.

Our tasty lunch at The Mint Asian –
Noodle & Rice

After lunch we made use of the free CAT buses to get to the Matagarup Bridge, which is on the edge of Gloucester Park racecourse. You can pay to climb up the bridge and zip line back down, but it’s about $150 per person so we didn’t bother. The bridge is quite impressive to just look at, and there are lovely views over the river.

The interesting looking Matagarup Bridge in Perth, Western Australia — The interesting looking Matagarup Bridge and the picturesque views over the river

The interesting looking Matagarup Bridge and the picturesque views over the river

On our way back towards town, we stopped off at a small supermarket for water. They had an ice cream fridge, where we discovered a new variety of banana ice cream! Pete was very happy, and I was quite pleased with the choc hazelnut ice cream tub.

Pete was delighted to discover a new variety of banana ice cream in Perth, Western Australia — Pete was delighted to discover a new variety of banana ice cream in Perth!

We soon reached Langley Park, and sat on a bench for a while to relax and admire the view. The park is right on the riverfront and very peaceful.

Langley Park is right on the Perth waterfront and very peaceful — Langley Park is right on the waterfront and very peaceful

We walked through Langley Park until we reached Elizabeth Quay. We decided to stop for a cocktail at The Lucky Shag. We sat at a table overlooking the harbour, so it was a very pleasant way to while away an hour or so.

Cocktails on the waterfront, at The Lucky Shag on Elizabeth Quay, Perth, Western Australia — Cocktails on the waterfront, at The Lucky Shag

Just set back from the water on Elizabeth Quay is The Bell Tower. Apparently twelve of the bells within the tower are historic bells that originate from the St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square in London. You can pay to visit the Bell Tower and climb to the Level 6 Observation Deck, however it wasn’t open when we went past.

The Bell Tower in Perth, Western Australia, which houses 12 bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church, London — The Bell Tower, which houses 12 bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church, London

We headed towards the central shopping district and walked through the London Court arcade. It’s a very quaint and olde worlde little shopping street, which is quite pretty and photogenic.

London Court arcade in Perth, Western Australia, feels very quaint and olde worlde — London Court arcade feels very quaint and olde worlde

We stopped for another cocktail and snack at Foxtrot Unicorn, a cocktail bar with very high google ratings. It felt slightly wrong going into a basement when it was still so sunny outside, but the candle lit bar had a lovely, romantic ambiance. The cocktails were excellent, but the cheese jaffle (Aussie term for cheese toastie) was tasty but probably not worth the $13 price tag.

Our cocktails and jaffle at Foxtrot Unicorn, Perth, Western Australia — Our cocktails and jaffle at Foxtrot Unicorn

Once we’d finished our cocktails, we went to Woolworths supermarket to pick up a few groceries. Back at our studio flat, we cooked some steak wraps which we enjoyed on the balcony with a glass of red wine. A nice end to a lovely relaxing day in Perth!