An long(er than planned) weekend in Perth

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So from Melbourne city I began the train and bus ride over to Kate's halls (for the umteenth time). We met up and made our way to the airport for what was to be our last trip together. At the airport Kate bought a book called One Day which she was glued to all flight.
The flight over to perth took about six hours (Australia is a rediculously large country). We made our way to a hostel just north of the city centre called Governer Robinson's. It was a really nice old colonial place in a friendly looking neighbourhood. We walked to town in the evening and I instantly liked the feel of the place, a much more relaxed, friendly place compared to Melbourne. It felt more like the kind of city I would like to live.
Kate picked up the usual stockade of brochures and leaflets and we sifted through them over an egyptian coffee which was lovely and rich. We were only planning to stay in Perth from thursday- monday so we picked out the essentials we wanted to do. We found a full day tour around the city and its suburbs and rang and organised it for the following day.

We awoke at 8am friday morning to begin our big tour, the guide picked us up in a minibus and we were the only two people on tour so it was a really nice personal guide where we felt free to ask questions. The first stop was at the local zoo; we got the chance to handfeed kangaroos which I loved, they are like dogs in how friendly and well-behaved they are. We also got to stroke Koalas and went to a farm show where dogs herded sheep and they showed us how to swing the billy can; which is how farmers in the outback make tea in a bucket. They also showed us how to shear sheep and how to milk a cow.
The zoo also had on display a variety of birds, bats, quolls and tasmanian devils. Its amazing how many marsupials Australia has.

From the zoo we went on to Lancaster Wines, a local winery where we tasted whites, reds, rosés, sparkling wines, ports and desert wines. They also cut us some local cheeses to accompany the tastings; a perfect 11am activity! The guys that served us ran the winery and were real jokers. They loved winding up our tour guide which was humourous to watch.

Across the road sat the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, yum. So many varieties of chocs and truffles on offer. Plain chocolate was free to taste so we cleared their supplies out!

From there we visited Hillary's Point, a harbour with the Breakwater shopping complex. We sat down for fish and chips which was nice (not as good as New Zealand fush n' chups though!). There were loads of nice art shops around too, selling paintings of Perth scenery and beaches. Perth is a popular place for artists to reside and do their work apparently.

The next stop on our grand tour was Scarborough Beach, slightly nicer than the Scarborough beach in England. It had an outdoor theatre facing out to sea with white sand a clear waters, we got out and dipped our toes in the warm sea.

The next stop was Kings Park and Botanical Gardens, this was a really beautiful park overlooking the city of Perth below. The park had a large Anzac statue (like all cities do). Kate (being a girl) got excited when she saw people posing for wedding pictures in the park. Our day tour was coming to an end, it was a really fun day and we got a good feeling for what Perth and its surrounding areas were about.

The day was not over though, tonight in the city was special late night shopping night. We walked to the city centre and browsed the many shops. What I like about Perth is the English style architecture, for example, the London Court precinct (see pic). We shopped until 10pm then returned home. On the walk back to the hostel a girl at a restaurant invited us in so we sat down for steak. It was one of the best steaks ive had in a while.

The following day we went on another wander around town to see it in daylight. We went back to London Court and had a very civilised pot of tea for two. From here we went to the train station and caught a ride over to Freemantle (or Freo as its known). I loved Freo, it had a relaxed vibe and nice beaches nearby. I spotted a dive shop that offered day trips so went to organise one. Kate had never been scuba diving before so I booked her an intro dive and me to do some fun dives. Once it had been organised I then realised that you need to leave 24 hours between diving and flying and this would not give us enough time. We both had our heart set on diving so we went to an internet cafe and changed our flights for wednesday.
It was funny, at the internet cafe a girl went up to pay for her time, she thought it would cost her much less than what they wanted and the bloke behind the desk was being really short with her saying she must have misunderstood. He was so rude to her and basically calling her stupid for thinking it would be that cheap.

Back at the dive shop our day was confirmed. For the rest of the day we explored Freo; it's a quaint little town next to the sea with its lines of cafes and shops. We also visited the local indoor market which had many arts and crafts, music, food and clothes; Kate bought a long skirt she was very happy with.
I spotted a lady working there who must have been around her late 30's, she reminded me a lot of Kate with her features and manerisms, so I told Kate thats what she'l look like in 20 years; she took it as a compliment lol.
We then sat in a cafe for the afternoon, Kate read her book (it was hard to detach her from it) as I read my music magazines. We didnt realise but we sat there for 2 1/2 hours!

The hostel we stayed at in Freemantle was a really nice old building but the interior wasnt very well taken care of. It was comfortable enough for a night (Kate carried on reading her book most of the night lol).

Next day we arrived at the dive shop to be driven to the charter boat to take us to the dive site. Its the first time i'd dived from a large boat, normally I go in a small boat or off the shore. It all seemed fine at first, sitting on the top deck riding out to Rottnest Island for the diving when the sea got a little rough and Kate started feeling seasick. We met two english girls who were staying on the island and offered us a place to stay, unfortunately we had to refuse as we had already made plans and booked hostels ahead. For the first dive I went out with a group and the water was nice and clear, we saw rays and lots of fish but not much coral. Meanwhile Kate stayed on the boat getting ever more rocked around by the waves.

I got out and took a break for lunch, Kate didnt eat and went straight into the water with her instructor. She enjoyed making her first bubbles and seeing the underwater world. After a break on the boat Kate went back into the water for a second intro dive and I decided to join her. After 15mins Kate started to look really frantic and gave us the "I want to go up" signal. At the top she said she was going to be sick and 10 seconds later spewed everywhere lol. It is actually possible to throw up into the mouth-piece you use in scuba diving underwater, but I somehow think that would be a horrible experience!

Back on deck Kate lay down and looked ill as the boat continued to sway around. We began the trip home and got back to solid ground.


From Freemantle we caught a train to a district on the way back to Perth called Cottesloe. Its a small beachside district; the beach is beautiful and goes onto a small town. We arrived at our hostel and had an early night. Again Kate stayed up and read her book, for hours! I fell asleep and she finished it and got teary as the book ended tragically.
The next day we visited the local surf shop to see if we could rent boards and ride some waves, unfortunately the owner said it wasnt worth bothering today as the waves were tiny. Instead we had a relaxed day at the beach, walking around, sunbathing, eating ice creams etc. It felt nice to do nothing. Kate looked lost without her book she'd been glued to all weekend lol.

The following day the surf hadnt picked up so we chilled on the beach before making our way over to the airport.
I thoroughly enjoyed Perth and my last adventure with Kate, we were to return to Melbourne for the last time together... sad times.

I decided to organise a last evening together as a farewell but you'll have to tune in next time to read about that!

In a bit!

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