Tag Archives: Australia

Australia

Swan Valley Wine tour

While we were in Perth, we decided to take a local wine tour to explore some of the excellent wines they have there.  We headed out to one of Australia’s oldest and most beautiful wine regions, the Swan Valley.  It was just a short bus trip from Perth but it felt like we’d drove into another world. The weather was overcast and rained a bit while on the way through rolling hills and vineyards that stretched for miles. We were greeted with a beautiful double rainbow as we arrived at our first winery.

One of the highlights of our day was the visit to Houghton Winery, one of the most iconic names in Western Australian wine. We enjoyed tastings of several beautiful wines. 

We went to different wineries and tasted an array of different Swan River Valley wines. 

Ray in the field with vines in Swan River Valley

We were lucky to even walked through some of the estate and saw some unique things like sheep grazing between the rows of grapes. we even saw a few kangaroos hopping along the wines as if they owned the place.

There’s something magical about seeing Australia’s iconic wildlife living seamlessly with the charm of the vineyards.

We sampled an impressive variety of wines throughout the day, including some beautiful expensive rich reds.

Shelley overlooking the wine estate and vines

Beyond the wine tasting itself, seeing the scenery and driving through the Swan Valley was great. We were able to see a unique area of Australia known for their amazing wines.  By the end of the day, we were full, content and ready for our next adventure.

“cheers”

Australia

Perth, Australia

Shelley at the waterfront in Perth

We started our adventures by flying with a direct flight from London Heathrow to Perth Australia. The 17:30 hour flight was a tad long but it actually was nice knowing when we landed that we were there.  


Perth’s city centre is a mix of sleek glass towers, modern buildings and older heritage buildings which was quite interesting. 

We found ourselves slowing down often, pausing to look up and take in the architecture that gives Perth its unique character.

We noticed that there were lots of statues and unique features almost on every corner.  So of course Ray had to interact with some of the statues.

We took a day and decided to explored and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We walked along the waterfront of the Swan river and this quickly became one of our favourite spots.

 
View of Perth from the shore of the Swan River
walkway along the Swan River in Perth

The waterfront is awesome with well manicured plants, trees, and walking trails. From there  we headed on a short bus ride to the Botanical gardens.

What an amazing spot, the gardens are nestled within Kings Park, overlooking the city skyline and the Swan River. 

Shelley at one of the many look outs in the Botanic Gardens

It covers 17 hectares, and showcases more than 3,000 different species of the state’s unique flora. 

We wandered through the paths, and encountered an assortment of plants and flora. The botanic gardens also celebrates the Aboriginal culture.

we walked along some of the interpretive trails that shares stories of the land’s traditional custodians.

That was quite interesting and enjoyable reading about the history of the land and plants. 

We strolled on the paths, stopping to admire flowers and trees we’d never seen before. There were birds singing and flying about.

It was so peaceful and relaxing. It was the kind of place where time seemed to move slower, and we were grateful for that pause in our trip.

We were tired at the end of the day having walked over 15 kilometres, we went back to our room to rest up for tomorrows adventure, wine tasting tour.

“Laters”