Western Australia
Perth
Perth is all about the beaches and the sunsets – it is not called the sunset coast for nothing. We loved it here. It is such an outdoor active place. People are in the gym or the pool at 5am and by 7am the beaches are full of people walking their dogs and running on the beach. If you like an active way of life you will love Perth.
Scarborough
We stayed with our son in Scarborough which has a great feel. It has a village atmosphere and a great beach with lovely waves to play or surf in. There are lots of good places to eat and drink. The best coffee in Scarborough is the Livid cafe and if you want pastries as good as any French Boulangerie go to Harvest Boulangerie.
Every Thursday in the summer and Saturday in the winter it has an evening food market. This has a wonderful vibrant feel and is filled with food trucks selling every type of food imaginable – from Vietnamese noodles to Caribbean goat curry and everything in-between. Then when you have your food you can sit on the beach with a beer and watch the sunset – heaven
The beaches in Perth run northwards from the estuary of the Swan river and all have a character of their own. Some allow dogs some don’t. Some are better for swimming and some are better for waves.
Cottesloe
Cottesloe beach is a lovely spot for swimming and has a shark net which is reassuring. There are an abundance of places to have coffee and brunch – which is a feature of the whole of Perth but we particularly liked the John Street Cafe.
In March they have an Annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition on the beach which feature a range of sculptures some modern some traditional. This is definitely which worth a visit if you are in Perth at the right time
Fremantle is the old port and has a unique and charming character. It is home to a host of good restaurants, bars and microbreweries and has a great atmosphere in the evening. The buildings are historic and line the narrow streets with a host of one off boutiques. We had an evening there after coming back from Rottnest and would heartily recommend it. We ate at Tonic and Ginger which was excellent – we are not vegetarians but I would recommend the Cauliflower in Bang Bang sauce which was sensational
Kings Park
In addition to the beaches and Fremantle Perth has a a wonderful botanic garden at Kings Park. This is a perfect place to spend a peaceful morning wandering around an amazing array of plants and trees including a raised walkway through the tree canopy. There is plenty of information to read about everything you see which kept my wife happy as she loves an information board!
Around Perth
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island was my favourite place around Perth and is a must visit if you come to Perth. It is 19km off the coast of Perth and the ferry takes about 30 minutes from Fremantle. The island is car free and there are two ways to explore it – a shuttle bus or hiring a bike. In my opinion hiring a bike is the best option if you can.
You can hire a bike from the ferry company but the better option is via Pedal and Flipper which has slightly better bikes and you can also hire a snorkel and flippers from them at the same time. The island is pretty flat and offers a wonderful leisurely cycle with plenty of stops at a variety of beautiful bays.
The conventional route round the island is clockwise as the wind tends to get up in the afternoon and the southern bays are more exposed to the wind. However, this means that the southern bays get very busy in the morning which is a shame as the best snorkelling beach is Little Salmon Bay which is on the south side. If I was going again I would consider cycling anti-clockwise to avoid the crowds. Other wonderful bays are Henrietta Rocks where you can snorkel over an old wreck and on the north side of the island is Parakeet Bay which has a lovely beach. The cycle to the West end of the island is beautiful and the walkway reveals more stunning bays and rocks. We didn’t see any wildlife but whales can be seen from late August to November as well as seals.
Last but not least are the Quokkas which are native marsupials to Rottnest. These are little furry creatures that are present all over the island and always look like they have a permanent grin on their face
Carnac Island
Carnac Island is 10km off Perth and we visited it on a catamaran run by Charter 1. The reason for visiting is to see the sea lions that bask on the beach. You are not allowed to land on the island and the boat anchors about 50m from the beach. The boat supplies snorkels and kayaks for people to use. There are some fish and flora to look at underwater but the star attraction are the sea lions. To be honest I think you need to be lucky to encounter them in the water but speaking to locals some of them have swum with the sea lions which would be wonderful. Having said that it was a pleasant half day trip the staff of the catamaran took good care of you with lots of food and drinks and it was fun to motor sail across to the island.
Penguin and Seal Island
Penguin and Seal island are just offshore near Rockingham which is about 40 minutes south of Perth. The best way to see them is in a kayak. It takes under 30 minutes to paddle across to the islands. It is possible to pay for a guided tour in a kayak but we were happy to do it ourselves. A self guided kayak costs 50AUD for the day as opposed to 190AUD for the guided tour day which includes a picnic lunch and snorkelling equipment. A bit like Carnac Island there is promise of lots of wildlife – sea lions, dolphins, penguins and sea birds. However in reality you are very unlikely to see a penguin as they are not on the island in the day time. We did see many sea lions on Seal Island but unfortunately they did not join us in the water and dolphins were nowhere to be seen. There were plenty of sea birds and walking around Penguin Island was lovely. Therefore as a day of kayaking and swimming it was a great fun but it was a shame to not see any dolphins.
Walking
Bold Park
Bold Park is a huge 442 hectare park basically in the middle of Perth close to City Beach. It is a lovely area just to wander around and enjoy nature so close to the city but also has a number of trails the longest being the Zamia Trail. We saw some black Carnaby cockatoos which are now becoming scarce.
Carinyah Trail
There are some longer walking trails just outside Perth. We did the Carinyah trail which is about 15km long and about 40 minutes southeast of Perth. This is a circular tree lined hike along 4WD tracks and again it was great to be out in nature and amongst the trees
If you do the walk over the weekend you can also sample some of the wines or cider of the vineyards and orchards of the nearby Bickley Valley which are open to the public over the weekend.
Denmark
Denmark is about 5 hours drive south of Perth and was a perfect location to explore the surrounding areas. This area is all about the beaches which were as beautiful as anywhere I have ever seen. We went to Middleton beach in Albany which stretches for 4km along the bay, Denmark Lights beach, Green Pools, Elephant Rocks and drove a 4WD along Parry beach. What a treat to be able to spend time in such beautiful places.
In addition to the beaches there is some wonderful walking and vineyards to visit as well. The best wine tasting we went on was at Singlefile Wines. There is a lovely long walk in Torndirrup National Park called Bald Head Hike. This is about 12km long but if you want a shorter one nearby the walk to Peak Head has similar views and is only 4.8km long.
Rest Of Western Australia
There is so much more to see in Western Australia and we will back to see it so watch this space. However from chatting to our Aussie friends these are some of the other places to visit in Western Australia
Margaret River has wonderful walking, gorgeous beaches, stingrays to see in shallow water in Hamelin Bay and stunning vineyards. Lots of regions claim to make the best wine in Australia but Margaret River can certainly make a strong claim to that accolade.
Esperance and Lucky Bay epitomise coastal paradise with their pristine white squeaky sands and clear turquoise waters. The stunning beaches are surrounded by the Cape Le Grand National Park. This offers outdoor activities such as hiking and wildlife spotting especially dolphins, whales and the resident kangaroos that you share the beach with at Lucky Bay and some incredible 4WD on the beaches! This makes it one of Australia’s most beautiful and unique destinations.on the south coast
North of Perth
There are so many wonderful things to do north of Perth it’s hard to know where to start. However, if you plan to travel north you need to make sure you do it at the right time of year as if you going during the Australian summer it is too hot and also wet.
Ningaloo Reef is a stunning reef near Exmouth and can be visited from mid March to October but if you want to swim with the whale sharks the best time is mid-March to July.
Likewise the national parks of Western Australia like Karijini are best visited in the dry season from March to October
Further north if you want to visit the Kimberly region then winter is the best time to visit from June to August.