Arrived in Perth

We are in Perth!  I believe I made the statement, “you have to be flexible when traveling” in our initial blog entry.  This notion still holds true - Perth was not part of the original plan. 

We had planned to keep our rental car and proceed north from Sydney.  We were going to drive the coast to Brisbane and then north to the Sunshine Coast resort town of Mooloolaba.  We had booked a condo on the beach for a 3 night, 4 days stay.  We were going to use Mooloolaba as a jump-off point to fly further north to explore the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef but alas, none of that happened.  Hence, “We are in Perth”.

Our plans were thwarted by the ever-changing weather. In the back of our minds, we thought this might happen but hoped otherwise.  To understand Australian weather you have to account for the wet and dry seasons.  In the summer, Australians tend to go south to avoid the super-hot temperatures and torrential rains of the wet season.  As summer comes to an end they slowly move north.  March is the tail end of summer and the north coast is not quite ready for us.  The forecast was for rain over the next two weeks with near 90% humidity.  With only 3 weeks left of our trip, we chose to move to the west coast with its 25 to 30-degree temperatures with humidity hovering around 50%.  The northeast coast and the Great Barrier Reef will have to wait for another trip, preferably in October or November.

We canceled our reservations, dropped the rental car at the Sydney Airport, turned left, and flew 4000 km west to Perth.

Perth is a city of nearly 2 million and is isolated from most populated Australia by the Nullarbor Plain.  It has a nice name considering it consists of 200,000 sq. km of life humbling desert and stretches 1100 km across the states of Western and Southern Australia to the east. Perth sits on the Indian Ocean and is closer to Singapore than it is to its own national capital in Canberra.

The Dutch were the first to visit the area in the late 1600s when Captain Willem de Vlamingh sailed up the river and sighted some black swans.  He named the area the Swan River and sailed away.

It wasn’t until 1829 that Captain James Stirling sailed up the Swan Estuary and claimed the area for Britain. Soon after British settlers arrived and started farming the area but growth was stagnant.  In need of skilled labour, the locals petitioned Great Britain to establish a penal colony.  Once the prison was established in the middle 1800s in nearby Freemantle, there was plenty of free labour to build the infrastructure of the city.

Today, Perth is the support center for mineral exploration/exploitation of Western Australia.  Most people do not earn their living in the city. Most work in the outback for long stretches of time before returning to their homes in the city.

We arrived in Perth in the late morning after a four-hour flight.  We Ubered into the Perth CBD and checked into the Pan Pacific Perth.  We were too early to check-in but were given passes to the pool and lounge as we waited.

We haven’t talked too much about our accommodations on this trip.  Generally, they have been very comfortable, clean and affordable.  We don’t usually stay in 5-Star hotels but the Pan Pacific offered us a deal we couldn’t refuse.  The room rate was $130 a night for a double room and when we arrived we were gifted a further “special offer.” For an extra $60, we received an included gourmet cooked breakfast, an upgrade to an executive room with a dedicated express elevator, lounge passes to use at any time, and the real clincher – access to the hospitality lounge between 5:30 and 7:30 each day.  We grabbed the offer before they could change their minds.

Our room was (for lack of a better word) roomy!  King-sized bed, full writing desk, two lounge chairs, a bathroom with a super soaker tub and a separate shower.  In addition, a view of the Swan Estuary.

Our View From The Hotel - Swan Estuary

 We arrived in the hospitality lounge at 5:30 pm sharp to find an array of various hot gourmet appetizers, four types of beer on ice, six different wines and unlimited tequila sunrise cocktails.  All you could drink and eat for two hours.  I don’t think they had us in mind when they created this offer because we consumed those extra dollars in food and drink on the first night that ought to cover us for the week.  I can feel my belt shrinking.

All You Can Drink And Eat - Everyday 5:30 to 7:30!

Our first day was spent doing some pool, reading, and sunning before jumping on the Hop-On bus for a tour of the city.  I’ll let the pictures tell the tour story but mention we did actually hop off at the waterfront for lunch at the Lucky Shag.  After lunch on the dock, we were back on the bus to complete the tour.

Picked Up At The Australian Mint - Ready To Tour

First Into Kings Park

It Really Is A Modern City

Kings Park Sits On A Hill

Lunch At Elizabeth Quay - The Lucky Shag

Beautiful Setting Sitting On The Swan

Back On The Bus For Round Two

The Bell Tower - Elizabeth Quay

Matt Adnate - Australia's Premier Mural Artist

Colonial Facades Were Saved Within Steel & Glass Redevelopment

More to look forward to tomorrow.

Sydney

We drove up from Kiama and had a short day and a half stay in Sydney.  This was always our intention.  Randall had been here four different times and the rest of us had spent days in the city on previous trips and felt we had completed all the “must do’s”. 

This time we looked to the suburbs to spend our limited time.  The top two “must do’s” in the suburbs were a trip to Manly and the completion of the Coogee to Bondi Beaches hike.  Both boxes were ticked.

Sydney is arguably one of the three most expensive cities in the world in terms of real estate.  Think of Manly as the West Vancouver of Sydney.  It is located just 17 minutes away from Circle Quay in Sydney’s CBD by fast ferry and is only 17 kilometers away by Uber.  It is famous for its laid-back lifestyle, beautiful homes, tree-fringed Manly Beach (very popular with surfers), with broad coastal views from both the beach on the Pacific side and Manly Cove from the Warf.

We left our hotel near the airport in an Uber to get a little closer look at the various neighbourhoods driving through both Seaforth and Balgowlah along the way.  It is easy to see why this is some of the most expensive real estate in the world.  Residents live in stately older grand homes on tree-lined streets with many having views of the ocean.  (oh and did I mention the weather is great year around!)

Someone Borrowed My Lamborghini

Manly Beach

Ever Present Red & Yellow Lifeguards

Our driver dropped us off at the Warf on the Cove side and we walked the buzzing pedestrian strip called the Corso.  It is lined with pubs and eateries.  We enjoyed a Thai lunch just off the Corso and it was inexpensive, tasty and filling.

We took a stroll along the seawall to walk off our lunch and enjoy the surfers, swimmers, and boaters playing in the bay.  Randall successfully found the restaurant he had dinned in 17 years ago while attending the Rugby World Cup.

We Didn't Think We Would See One of These ...

And Then We Did!

A Little Rest And People Watching On The Corso

Pubs here (and in many parts of Australia) are child-friendly.  We had arranged to meet the daughter and family of our long time Abbotsford friend Don in the Steyne Pub immediately across from the beach.  We spent a few very enjoyable hours with Molly, Nick and their toddlers (Parker and Riley) in addition to Molly’s mum Helen.  We had a great time visiting and having a few libations while the kids played. 

Pub Immediately Across The Street From The Beach

Getting Reacquainted:  Deborah, Helen & Doreen

Family Get Together In The Pub

The Birthday Couple

The notion of children in pubs is new to us but it happens here regularly and seems to keep the generations together.  It might even lend itself to a calmer pub atmosphere.  Here we were in a pub on a Sunday afternoon with a bunch of 20 something huge men standing around drinking beer and cheering on a vicious MMA fight on the big screen, while children wandered between them.  A bit surreal but it seems to work just fine here.

We waved good-bye as the children’s meal/bedtime approached and headed back to Sydney via a fast ferry.  We highly recommend this approach.  The view from the ferry of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house at sunset was truly stunning.  I don’t think the pictures were able to do it proper justice but we tried. 

Manly Warf

Old Slow Manly Ferry

Harbour Bridge & Opera House (Left Of Bridge)

We ended the evening with a meal and celebration of Doreen & Randall's birthdays.  Here in Australia, you get to celebrate your birthdays twice if you are Canadian.  March 7 was a celebration here and back home March 7 falls on the following day, hence two birthdays.  Deborah, Randall, Doreen and I will all have had double birthdays before we return home.

On our full day, we decided to do the Coogee to Bondi beaches hike.  It is a scenic seaside walk covering 7 km.  It is hilly and has sections of stairs but the surfaces are flat, comprised of rock, concrete or decking.  There are multiple water drinking fountains along the way.  We started with a coffee in Coogee and waited out a morning squall.  Sure enough, it came in quick and left the same way.  The rest of the walk was in brilliant sunshine.

Coogee For Coffee & Shelter From The Squall

Suns Out At Coogee - Start Walk

We took our time and stopped continuously to take pictures.  If you moved steadily you could do it in just over an hour.  We took just over two.  The clifftop walk features stunning views, beaches, parks, cliffs, bays and rock pools. The beaches and parks offer a place to rest, swim or a chance to eat at one of the cafes, hotels, restaurants or takeaways.  We didn’t partake but many folks did.  Judging by the many languages we heard along the way, the Walk is definitely something tourists do and is well worth the effort.

Art:  The Sculpture - Not The Jumpers

Not A Bad Spot For An Eternal View

We arrived at the iconic Bondi beach a little tired and hungry.  We dined on the main street across from the beach and Ubered back to our hotel.  Due to an early flight the next morning we chose to stay in the hotel for the evening dining on Uber Eats and playing Rummikub.

Bondi Is Still A Ways Off

Arrived

We were unanimous in our group that Sydney has so much to offer in the way of beauty and interest that perhaps we could have spent more time despite our previous visits.