And finally, after nine months on the road, 11,230 kilometres and 3,444 litres of disel we arrived in Perth on the opposite side of the country. We pulled into the Perth Airport Holiday & Caravan Park and were given a nice big site at the back of the park. This was perfect because over the course of our stay we were getting the caravan serviced and our Swift gas oven checked out under the recall notice issued way back when we were in Victoria eight months ago.
The van service was done onsite by Rob from Caravans & Boats WA. He was a top bloke and more than happy to educate me in every thing he did from re-greasing the wheel bearings to realigning our awning, which was starting to become a pain in the arse to roll up. He also explained to us that we didn’t need to cross our chains when towing despite the common convention of doing so. This alone has made turning and reversing sharply so much easier and less stressful on the chains.
We were also finally in the time and place to have our Swift gas cooker checked out by a qualified gas plumber. The cooker had been under a recall notice that was advised not long after we left home. We hadbeen limited to using the electric hotplate only for months. Steve from Nexus 1 Caravan Plumbing & Gas came out to us to do an initial inspection. He noted that he had examined over 40 Swift ovens and none of them had had the issue that caused the recall. As we expected, he checked ours and declared it to be faulty and arranged a subsequent visit to pull the oven out and repair it. When the oven came out we discovered that we had been carting half of the Northern Territory and W.A. around with us in the form of red dirt. Steve explained every aspect of the oven and the fault. Unfortunately, for him, when he removed the oven and looked closer he found that it wasn’t faulty and that something else had made it seem that way. It actually worked in our favour because he re-installed the oven and added extra securing screws and also re-located the temperature sensor so the the oven gets hotter and works better. A win for us…
We didn’t actually spend too much time in the city preferring the hills and the outskirts as is normal for us. We did however do a segway tour of Kings Park, which gave us a chance to wander around Elizabeth Quay and the inner city streets. We had a coffee by water and after the segway tour we spent a little time walking the streets followed by an afternoon at the movies wathcing ‘Knock At The Cabin‘, an M. Night-Shyamalan movie. Not his best work by a long shot… but a pleasant change to sit in a theatre and watch a movie.
We also found our way to London Court, a faux old-English arcade/mall. You enter through an arch into a Harry-Potter’esque street mall full of tourist shops. It is very quaint and full of character. It is completely out of place and time in a modern city like Perth but that only adds to the charm of it.
Eight days in Perth and surrounds proved to be very refreshing after so much travelling to get there. It was a relief to get the van serviced and an all-clear to use our cooker to it’s full potential again. Although we missed the Seagulls it was time to start thinking about our impending catchups with other friends soon to happen in Margaret River in the not too distant future.
Staying near the Perth airport gave us the opportunity to visit Lesmurdie Falls in Mundy National Park. The park came as a great surprise as it’s right on the edge of Perth and surrounded by suburban housing, It’s only 56ha in area and contains Lesmurdie Falls, which are 50m high.
You can view the falls from the top and then choose from a number of trails through various parts of the park. Naturally we chose the trail down to the falls. ‘Down’ is a bit of a misnomer as the first part of the trail takes you along the edge of the gorge before starting the descent down to the falls themselves.
The first thing you notice is the prevalence of eucalypt trees covered in gumnuts, some of which are the size of golfballs. The bush itself was very scrubby but the trail was well marked and not too difficult although a little strenuous in places. We came across a number of shingleback lizards sunning themselves on the edge of the track.
We eventually made it down to the bottom of the falls and came across what we believe to be a King’s Skink. At first glance it looks like a fat black snake but you quickly notice the legs and realise that it’s a lizard. It too was sinning itself on the rocks near the falls.
Wildlife abounded down near the foot of the falls. We had the chance to get reasonably close to kookaburra… yes, sitting in an old gum tree. It was quite content to sit and pose for us as we edged up closer to the falls. There’s something about kookaburras. They’re so quintessentially Australian and iconic.
The falls themselves were a little disappointing. Primarily due to it being the dry part of the year. They were running but only a fraction of what they would be like after a good rain.
The walk back up actually seemed easier than the walk down but it was well worth it for the exercise, the wildlife and also the panoramic views of Perth city in the distance.
Not far from Mundy National Park is the Kalamunda Zig Zag Road. This was originally a switchback style railroad that became a narrow road. It was closed for a period of time due to dangerous driving and hooning but was re-opened in 2020 as a one-way tourist drive. Driving down it provided some more scenic views of the Perth region and was a nice way to head back towards our van park.
We noticed, whilst perusing Google Maps, a place called Araluen Botanic Park not too far away from the van park. It was up in the hills area of Perth so we decided to take a drive up there and have a look.
We were suprised to find 14ha of gardens, paths, streams, cottages and a semi-natural swimming hole/pool. Starting at the top of the park in the Rose Garden area we again noted that we had the whole place to ourselves. It wasn’t really the right time of year for roses but still nice to wander around them.
The park was created by the founder of the Youth Australia League as a retreat for young Australians to experience outdoor life. It consists of different areas devoted to different themes and structures.
The most impressive structure is the Margaret Simons Pergola. This is not your typical backyard wooden frame. It is a massive walkway framed by stone pillars supporting jarrah logs that casts criss-crossed shadows creating a surreal visual effect as you enter it.
The park has various trails that wind up and down between the various gardens. On one such trail there were a couple of dead tree trunks that had been cut in situ into throne like chairs. We took the chance to do a coupe of before and after photos (below) that turned out pretty well.
There was a long narrow series of cascades from the top of one area into a large lily pond at the bottom. The views from the top and bottom providing alternate and differing perspectives of the same stream. The lily pond at the bottom is quite large and fed by the cascade through a small outlet under a set of stone steps, which also follow the path of the stream down the hill.
Unfortunately the cafe wasn’t open on the day of our visit. That aside all of the various cabins around the park led a rustic atmosphere from times past to it. Most of the cottages a log style cottages reminiscent of Canadian log cabins. Timber and stone are used heavily in the construction, which gives a sense of grandeur and timelessness to the park.
The most curious thing in the park was the ‘old swimming pool’. Fed by a natural stream it had that deep green colour that is normal for still freshwater. The incongruous thing about it was that it was closed to swimming for health reasons. On a hot Perth day it would have been a fabulous place to cool off and then sit in the shade of the log shelter.
Araluen Botanic Park was as impressive as it was unexpected. It is one of those little gems that you never hear about unless you live near it. And if you live near it you probably don’t bother to visit it. It was a privilege to have it mostly to ourselves and just a nice way to spend a day wandering around it.
Jadran Wines
When we had our van serviced Rob, the service guy, told us that we had to go to Jadran Wines, which were quite close to us at the foot of the Perth Hills. Who were we to question the recommendation of a caravan service technician?
We pulled into a fairly rustic little family run boutique winery. Our tasting hostess was a family member and she gave us a terrific rundown of the winery’s history in the area and her families ownership.
We were intrigued and a little gob-smacked to find that aside from your more standard varietals such as Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc they also made a large range of fortified wines including Blackberry Nip, Cherry Cocktail and, believe it or not, Green Ginger Wine. They even used to make Marsala but had to discontinue it due to being unable to source the ingredients.
We came away with a Shiraz, Merlot, Sparkling Shiraz, Chenin Blanc, West Coast Classic and even a Green Ginger Wine. All of their wines are under $15 a bottle, which was absolutely amazing given the quality of their product.
The star of the show though was their Scarlet Red Wine Liqueur. This is THE MOST AMAZING liqueuer we have ever tasted. On your first taste you think, “What the hell is this? Do I like this?” After your second taste you are hooked for life… This liqueur is amazing. If the colour ‘scarlet’ has a flavour then this is is. It is dry, not sweet, It tastes of musk stick, strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate and every other luscious red thing that you can eat. It is unique, sumptuous and as amazing as it looks. We will absolutely be ordering some when we are back in a stable location…
The Packing Shed
The other winery we visited was The Packing Shed. Centered on Lawnbook Estate it is a combined winery and cafe, which is set in an old… you guessed it… packing shed. It is very rustic and the back deck area was a perfect location for a lazy lunch after a wine tasting.
Located a little further into the Perth Hills in the Bickley Valley, The Packing Shed oozes country charm and the wine tasting was all the more enjoyable due to the hostess and her husband who took over half way through as she started setting up for lunch. Their wines are small batch and generally only available from the cellar door. We also came away with a number of bottles of their wine as well.
Lunch here however was the star… We shared some Arancini Balls to start and Jo had a Warm Chicken Salad with Kale, Pistachio and Pear. Rob had Pork Belly with Citrus Jeu.
The Arancini was very good, the Chicken Salad was excellent but the Pork Belly was sublime. This was possibly the best cooked piece of pork belly we had ever tasted. Perfectly rendered pork with super crisp, dry crackling was pleasure enough in itself but combined, surprisingly, with the citrus jeu was absolute perfection on a plate.
We only did the two wineries in Perth but I think we can agree that we picked to two best and most unique. If we didn’t then those that are must be spectacular…
So… we didn’t spend all that much time in Perth city itself, preferring to go into the Perth Hills and surrounds. We did however take the opportunity to do a Segway Tour of Elizabeth Quay and Kings Park.
Segways are a perfect way to see large in a short time using footpaths and tracks. We tool the 90 minute Kings Park Tour and took us past Elizabeth Quay and up the hill into the magnificent Kings Park, which is one of the largest city parks in the world.
It was a lot of fun to be riding segways again and our guide was quite interesting and knowledgable as we went along. He was a little over-protective at times even though he knew we had ridden before and shown as much before the tour.
The tour half-way point culminated at the one of the park’s Boab trees, which was still in the juvenile phase compared to the giants we had seen up around Kununurra. This was also not far from the war memorial and a lookout area that provided a sweeping view of the city and the Swan River.
The tour gave us a quick taste of Perth, which stood us in good stead for when we would be returning later in the trip during our stay in Fremantle with friends coming to visit us.