Perth, Western Australia

On Thursday, we took a 6am Qantas flight from Melbourne, Victoria to the world’s most remote capital city, Perth, Western Australia. Perth’s warm weather, beautiful white sand beaches and laid-back pace is just our style. The central business district and surrounding suburbs lack the large-city hustle and bustle we felt in both Sydney and Melbourne. Isolated on the opposite coast from most of the Australian population , Perth almost seems like a well-kept secret with some of the nicest beaches we’ve ever seen, the massive Swan River running through the city, and a huge public park overlooking it all. As Scott cleverly keeps saying, (much to Krista’s dismay) it is “perth-fect” here.

Our Perth friends, Allison and Kevin, whom we met while we were in Sydney, are the most gracious hosts imaginable and gave us a thorough tour of the city and its beautiful beaches. On Friday, we visited Fremantle (“Freo” to the locals), which is an artsy town on the beach with a European feel. We explored the Fremantle Markets, ate lunch outside, and enjoyed a beer tasting at the Little Creatures Brewery on the edge of Swan River. Tasty grog!

Perth’s beaches reminded us of Fiji with the clean white sand and bright, aqua green ocean. There are seemingly endless beaches along the coast, each with a different personality. The ocean water here is some of the cleanest in Australia, and the locals take advantage of it by swimming, snorkeling, windsurfing, and sailing. The beaches we visited were Cottesloe, North Fremantle, Brighton and Scarborough. To cap off our excellent touring day, we had a picnic of fish and chips and watched the sunset at quiet Floreat Beach.

On Saturday, we returned to Cottesloe Beach and spent the afternoon swimming and sun-bathing among the locals. It was the first time either of us had dunked in the Indian Ocean. The water was perfect.

After the beach we headed back to the city to visit Kings Park & Botanic Garden. The park is approximately 4 square kilometers and is on a hilltop overlooking the Perth skyline and Swan River. We enjoyed the awesome view of the city from several different vantage points, including a foot-bridge built high in the tree-tops.