Tag Archives: adventures

Exploring Perth 2: Perth Hills

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Thanks to a car breakdown incident, I have discovered a new place in Perth. It’s not new per se but it’s unchartered enough that it brings me all kinds of excitement whenever I pay it a visit. Of all the years I have lived in Perth, I have not once set foot in this part of town; a town called Kalamunda, part of what is otherwise known as the Perth Hills.

Left crippled without a car, I decided to ask the company I work for, after being fed up with public transportation, if we had any spare vehicle that I may borrow while my car is being fixed. Luckily, there were quite a few spares! A colleague and I drove up to Kalamunda to pick up the spare vehicle – it’s also safe to say that I can now cross out driving a pick up truck from my bucket list – and it was the conversation I had with her during the ride that sparked my interest in exploring Perth Hills. The drive up made me realise that Kalamunda is not that inaccessible from where I live (as I previously thought); about 30 minutes from home and 15 minutes from the office by car without traffic jams.

My quest to look for a decent cupcake shop in Perth made me trek my first official visit to Kalamunda. That visit was enough to make me want to come back for more. I was pressed for time then so I only took about half an hour or so to stroll around. The shopping area, located along Haynes Street and its surrounds, is not that big but also not that small. It is small enough that it has a very close-knit community feel to it yet big enough to provide you with whatever you need (supermarkets, Bunnings, cafes, restaurants, shopping…).

One Sunday, after much Googling about Perth Hills, I went to the Kalamunda Farmer’s Market. This market is open until 12pm every Sunday so Auntie C and I rushed off after an early breakfast to get there before it closes. Big mistake regarding that breakfast. There was so much to eat at the markets that we should’ve just eaten breakfast there! A few cafes were open and there was also a creperie stall. Being full would not stop us from eating more anyway; it would just make us extremely full and skip lunch altogether. A few of the things you’ll find at the market are:

  • specialty bread
  • fresh fruits and veg
  • seafood
  • olives/olive products
  • crepes
  • plants for sale
  • honey
  • macarons

So after a stoll on a fine spring day, we decided to cool down with some homemade ice ceam at Collodel. This is one of the best homemade ice creams I have had in  a while. It was smooth and not too sweet. Just perfectly divine. I had the creme caramel flavour and it was yum yum yum.

Since we were already in the area, Auntie C and I headed out to Gooseberry Hill; a neighbouring suburb that is like a 2-minute drive. The main reason for going there was to go to this French cafe and patisserie called Le Croissant du Moulin. It is tucked away in a very small village shopping centre along Railway Road that I missed it while cruising down the street. Thankfully there was a round-about nearby. All the cakes looked enticing that I really really want to buy them all. Okay, we limited ourselves to just 3 (because we didn’t have enough cash left). Two words for the sweets – tres delicieux! I have concluded by now that Perth Hills houses some of the city’s best kept food secrets.

On the way home, we drove through the scenic zig zag drive that is worth a visit too. I never knew Perth had a scenic, let alone a zig zag, drive. It is a sight of the city from a different point of view.

That’s half a Sunday well spent.

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Exploring Perth 1: Perth Zoo

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Kicking things off with my commitment to exploring Perth, I have started with somewhere common; somewhere most visitors go to when they visit a new city – the zoo.

Having a zoo right in the middle of a suburban area seemed odd to me. I’ve always pictured zoos to be located somewhere in the mountains or jungles where you have to drive for hours to reach your destination – to me that seemed more logical because the mountains or the jungles are closer to home for the animals. Plus, the drive there is always an adventure in itself, specially when you are just sitting in the car enjoying and taking in the sights.

But now that I am the one doing the driving, I am very much thankful that Perth Zoo is so close to home that it’s a mere 15-20 minute drive without any traffic jam and is fairly easy to find. From the freeway just take 2-3 turns and you’re there. Located in, what some would say, a posh suburb that is South Perth, the zoo is just big enough that you won’t feel too overwhelmed and tired after a day spent there.

Bright and early on one Sunday during school holidays, I rounded up my troop and we arrived at the zoo just after 9am (opening hours: 9am to 5pm, every day of the year). The zoo was still fairly empty on this fine winter morning with no more than 20 families roaming around. For an additional $1 you get a zoo map which you can then give to the kids so they learn how to read maps and navigate. For the most part we did stay on track but with the occassional arguments about going right or left and heading up or down. I was more pre-occupied with snapping photos so I just went with wherever everyone’s going.

The zoo is divided into 4 main sections wherein animals from the same region are housed together. The African Savannah houses the ferocious lions and tigers; Asian Rainforest the playful primates; South American jungle the singing birds; and Australian Bushwalk the koalas and the kangaroos. These are just some of the animals that are in the zoo and I could give you a long list of the other ones but it would just be easier for you and me if you visit Perth Zoo’s website for a complete list. After all, they know more about animals than me and they can give you the correct names whereas I would probably just give you a description.

But what I can tell you is that being in the zoo brings out the kid in me. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a hardcore animal lover -the most animal loving thing I’ve ever done is cuddling other people’s dogs. There’s something about zoos, though, that excites and interests me. It’s probably because I get to see animals that don’t just randomly appear in the streets and you get to observe them knowing you’re at a safe distance. Actually, it does not just bring out the kid in me. It brings out the kid in everyone. No matter which way you look you will see both the young and the old all getting giddy about spotting an animal.

The only places in the zoo I’d try to avoid whenever possible are the indoor exhibits for nocturnals and reptiles. The nocturnal animals in the likes of bats and some sort of rats always give me an eerie feeling whenever I look at them. The red beam light also made it all the more difficult for me to appreciate them. I walked out feeling light headed and lost in space. As for the reptiles, well, they are not as eerie as the nocturnals but they do give me the goosebumps, specially that humongous python that was curled up into a ball at the corner of its housing. Mind you, though, that the kids absolutely loved those bats and snakes and spiders that I didn’t. What’s gross for me is fascinating for them.

The highlights of my day at the zoo included seeing the beautiful red panda and pelicans. Also there to make my day even better was the cheeky baby orangutan who was scarily almost exactly like a human toddler. It was really breath-taking to observe how human-like it is. For a good half an hour it played with a crate climbing on top of it and then falling over and then climbing again and falling over again. When it got tired it curled up beside its sleeping mother under a “blanket” that made everyone watching go naaaaw. That was such a heart-warming sight to see.

Towards the end of our adventure, we walked past this super cute kangaroo, who was sleeping in a very quirky position. I almost laughed out loud at the sight of this because, by nature, the kangaroo’s legs really can’t touch the ground when it’s lying on its back. This is how relaxed I want to be when I’m sleeping.

Perth Zoo is definitely a fun place to be for everyone. Whether you’re bringing the whole family or going alone there sure are activities for everyone to enjoy. The zoo also has a big picnic area where you can bring in your own food and have a barbie. If nature is not your thing then there are cafes around as well. For me, though, the $5 hotdog with onions on a bun was enough to keep me going for the rest of the day.

*more photos on Flickr

Exploring Perth: My commitment to discovering this city I call home

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A little background…

I’ve always bugged my overseas friends that if they come to Australia they must come to Perth. Well number 1 reason is because I’m here; and number 2 is because Perth and other regions of WA are so beautiful. Sadly, even with my bugging and everything, those who do come to Australia always skip Perth in their itineraries because “there is nothing to do” here; or so they say. So I’ve reminisced about my journey in and with Perth and tried to look at it from my friends’ perspectives. Here is my non-scholarly general finding for what I think why some people are hesitant to come to this city.

I came from a city where “bustling” would not do justice to describe it. If it were up to me I’d say I came from a city where chaos abounds. There are tall buildings everywhere, shopping malls everywhere, restaurants everywhere, kids running amuck everywhere and traffic jam everywhere. As you can probably already deduce there is not a dull moment in the city where I came from.

Flashforward to some 20 odd years later, I suddenly found myself living in a peacefully quaint city; the most isolated city in the world, for that matter. For the 20 odds years of my life living in a chaotic city, the move to Perth required a lot of getting use to. I used to complain that there are no good restaurants anywhere within 20kms of where I’m staying. I also used to question why shops close at friggin 5pm. I used to find it strange that there are no Starbucks anywhere; and I found it strangely amusing that Burger King is called Hungry Jacks. But my worst conclusion of all was that this is a dead city after 5pm.

But over the years I’ve grown to love Perth. So much so that, up until I looked back on my intial feelings toward Perth, I couldn’t fathom why my friends would go everywhere else in Australia but the western bit. It’s true that it feels busier over to the eastern front in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane but I believe that what Perth offers is an escape from all those busyness and chaos. It is nature at its finest and relaxation at its best.

All that complaining I’ve done before I have now traded for an appreciation of the quiet life. It still can get busy if you know where to look for it but I prefer the smooth sailing laid back path. I’ve taken time to discover places to eat and cafes to hang out at. I have checked out most of the beaches (within the metropolitan area) that people from where I came from drive 4 hours or fly to get to. I have also taken an interest in photographing the flora, the fauna and the sceneries of this region because they are simply breathtaking.

Some may perhaps think that a trip to see the iconic Statue of Liberty is worth more than a trip to see the wineries and sample the wine. Well to each his own.

There are so many places in Perth and WA that I have yet to visit or revisit so I made a commitment with myself to do so over the next year or so. So just in case someone does actually come and visit me/Perth I would have A LOT of places to take them to.

Market! Market!

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Early rise today at 3:12am for a first time experience at the markets. The last time I’ve been up this early was during the Easter weekend 2 years ago to pack thousands of hot cross buns. Anyways, back to the markets. I have been to the markets before scouring for cheap finds; only today I was on the other side of the line with my friend. We were the sellers.

Karrinyup Markets was our choice this week and it took about 15 to 20 minutes to drive up north on an empty freeway from our place down south. By 4:30am we have arrived and we were number 27 in the line of cars. This was all there was at 4:30am in the parking lot – the moon and the street lights -

 

It never occurred to me that there were “rules” to selling in the markets. Entry to the markets were on a first come first served basis so that car number 1 would have number 1 priority in choosing where to set up his stall. There is also a list of things that you can sell – clothes, toys, books and even plants – but brand new things and food are not allowed.

We waited and waited until 6:15am when we were finally let into the markets to set up our stall. It’s really amazing how 4 chairs, 1 table, 4 big bags of clothes, 2 clothes racks, 1 mannequin and some random things could fit into a small Holden Barina. It was a very chilly morning and I regretted wearing flats as my feet were frozen stiff. Should’ve worn my ugg boots instead. My friend and I quickly set up our stall using 2 car bays to look like this (initially) -

By 6:25am buyers have already started coming in! Who would’ve thought that people actually get up this early to come to the markets? We haven’t even finished setting up our little space and people were already digging into our things.

When you come to a swap meet or a flea market – most things are dirt cheap. Well, dirt cheap is by definition different to everyone. We were selling quality clothes for $1 each and apparently that’s not cheap enough for some buyers. $1 for a close-to-brand-new MNG top is really really really cheap, don’t you reckon? Or $5 Levi’s jeans? This reminds of my bartering days in China 10 years ago where I would harass the xiao jies for a very cheap price. I have now come to realise that being the buyer and the seller are 2 completely different experiences.

Sales picked up about an hour or so into the whole process of bartering and at the end of the day I was able to sell most of my bulky items and 3 of my hand bags that were clogging up space in the closet and made quite a considerable sum of money too. Not bad for a first timer!

It was so much fun that we are already planning our next market trip.