Long Weekend in Perth | Australia
Australia is big, and Western Australia is the biggest state in it. I mean, it’s a third of the entire country! I explored a fair amount of the other states when I was in Australia last year, but I didn’t attempt to tackle WA on that trip. After the end of my working holiday in New Zealand, however, I had time for a few stops on my way back to the UK. I flew from Auckland to Perth, where I was spending a long weekend by myself. Then my parents, who’d gone off to spend a few days in the Whitsundays, would fly across to meet me. From Perth, we were road-tripping down the South West coast for a few days before ending up in Esperance. My mum has old friends who live here, and she wasn’t flying all the way to NZ without stopping to see them!
Day One
Central Perth & Elizabeth Quay
The first day of my long weekend in Perth mainly consisted of wandering around exploring the city centre. Perth isn’t as big as Melbourne or Sydney, though it is the largest city in WA with about 2 million residents. But the city centre is fairly walkable for the most part. It was very hot, though, so I had to seek indoor air conditioning and cool off every so often. I wandered along to Hay Street Mall, the main pedestrianised shopping street, which has a few vintage-style arcades branching off from it. The most interesting is London Court, a narrow open-air street designed to mimic Tudor England. It was so unexpected to find this style of building on the other side of the world! It was also nearly Chinese New Year, and Australia has a large Chinese population, so the street was decked out with red lanterns.
I headed down to the waterfront, making sure to see the Bell Tower. It’s a very modern structure, with a glass spire stretching skywards. It sits in a square lined with fountains and floral arrangements, which is all very scenic. From there, I continued around the waterfront to Elizabeth Quay, the city’s main harbour, lined with striking glass buildings. The ‘island’ (which is really just a peninsula) has winding paths, deck chairs and a bar, but was pretty quiet on a weekday. Across the bridge that spans the quay’s entrance, I stopped to admire ‘First Contact’, a metal art sculpture designed by an Aboriginal woman. The design is inspired by their first impression of European settlers, mistaking their white sails for birds.
Kings Park & Botanic Garden
I ended up continuing along the waterfront, following a walking path towards Kings Park and Botanic Garden. I got a bit turned around and couldn’t figure out where to access the gardens, which sit on a hilltop above the Swan River. This meant walking back and forth on myself, which wasn’t ideal in the sweltering heat! Eventually, I figured it out and scaled the steep Jacob’s Ladder staircase up the hillside. Entering the park, I mainly stuck to the Botanic Gardens, which offer fantastic views looking back towards the city centre. I soaked up the views while enjoying a cold drink from the kiosk in the shade.
Then I was ready to tackle the heat again, setting off on a wander around the gardens. There are lots of native plants and trees to learn about along the way. My favourite was, of course, the giant boab tree, Gija Jumulu. It’s over 750 years old and was transported here from over 3000 km away to save it from being lost to a highway construction project. Ancient trees like this just astonish me every time! The park also has a walkway of bridges that allows you to walk amongst the treetops. There are sculptures and ponds too, all making for a varied and interesting walk throughout the gardens. Once I was thoroughly satisfied with all the nature, I hopped on a bus back into town.
WA Museum Boola Bardip
Needing to escape the stifling mid-afternoon summer heat, I headed inside to the WA Museum Boola Bardip. It’s located in the city’s Cultural Centre, alongside the library, a theatre and an art gallery. The museum alone takes up several buildings around a courtyard. It covers the history, nature and culture of Western Australia. There was a lot about Aboriginal traditions and culture, focusing on the Noongar people who live across South West Australia. They have some more contemporary exhibits as well, such as ‘Innovations’, which is about developments in design and technology in more recent decades.
As a nature-lover, I always enjoy exhibits on natural history, and Australia’s is so unique due to its geography within the wider world. There’s a geological exhibit about land, water and sky, as well as another on the local, indigenous wildlife. Whatever your interests are, there’s bound to be one of these exhibits that appeals to you!
I actually ended up back in Perth a week or so later, on my long layover from Esperance to Singapore. It was a daytime connection, so I had plenty of time to come back into the city for a few hours. I decided to use this to check out the temporary VR film being shown at the museum. This was my first ever experience with VR as well! The film is about the Kimberley region of WA, an area I wasn’t going to be visiting, and includes flyover helicopter shots and interviews with local people. It was a cool way to get a glimpse at these epic, remote landscapes!
You Me At Six
Did I decide to spend a long weekend in Perth all because You Me At Six were playing a show here? I mean, I didn’t not do that… They are my favourite band ever, and it was their farewell tour after a 20-year career! I already had tickets to two of the Glasgow shows in March. But when I realised the Perth date was right around the time my NZ visa finished and I’d been thinking about going to WA anyway, it was too perfect not to do it!
The show was at the Astor Theatre, which was walkable from my hostel, and quite a cool, intimate venue. The set list was a retrospective of their entire career, with at least one song from all eight albums. I was also happy to learn later that they mixed up a couple of songs each night, so I got a few variations at the Glasgow shows! The crowd weren’t my favourite, as I didn’t really feel like they got into the music, with minimal singing, dancing and cheering. Thankfully, the Glasgow crowds more than made up for it at my other shows! But overall, knowing I had limited chances to see my favourite band perform live now, I’m glad I was able to fit another tour date in this way.
Day Two
Cottesloe Beach
After a very hot day in the city centre, I felt I’d covered the highlights there. So for the second day of my long weekend in Perth, I headed for the coast and some cooler sea breezes. While the city centre sits further inland up the Swan River, the rest of the city stretches all the way to the Indian Ocean on the west coast. Meaning there are plenty of beaches to choose from! Some are more easily accessible by public transport than others, so I caught the tram to Cottesloe and from there it was only a 15-minute walk to the shore.
The southern end of the beach is mainly where the lifeguards are stationed, and close to a beach bar, toilets and other amenities. I started here, taking the opportunity to go for a swim and lounge in the sunshine. Once I’d chilled out for a while, I took a walk along the path above the beach. The ground rises higher above the sand as you continue north, dunes and grasses separating the road from the water. The elevation made for great coastal views out across the sparkling blue ocean! There are also a few sculptures dotted along the way. Then I retraced my steps to Cottesloe to hop back on the tram.
Fremantle
Continuing west on the tram, I arrived in Fremantle, one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Perth. This port city at the mouth of the Swan River has a history of shipping and was once a penal colony. Now, it’s full of cute cafes, independent boutiques and buzzing markets. The buildings are mainly Victorian-era architecture, so the history of the place feels present all around as you explore the streets. The prison and the maritime museum are both popular tourist attractions, but neither topic is my cup of tea. Instead, I just spent the afternoon wandering and exploring.
From the tram, I walked south on Market Street to the main shopping area. I wasn’t really here to buy much, but did some window browsing. I also found a cool cafe, Good Things, in an old red-brick building for lunch. Then I continued down to the Fremantle Markets, an indoor marketplace from the Victorian era, with dozens of stalls selling clothes, gifts, food and much more. You can spend a good long while browsing in here!
Back outside, I crossed Esplanade Park and headed for the waterfront, passing by boats moored in the harbour. There’s a small pocket of sand nearby, Bathers Beach, where I sat and relaxed for a bit, until the wind got to me! I decided to visit Little Creatures after that, a local brewery with a pretty large premises down by the harbour. They offer tours and tastings, as well as the ‘Great Hall’, which serves food and drinks. I managed to snag an outdoor table for a pint in the sunshine. Then I had one last wander through the town on the way back to the tram into the city centre again.
Day Three
Rottnest Island
For the final day of my long weekend in Perth, I was off to visit one of its most popular places. Rottnest Island, or Wadjemup to use the Aboriginal name, is a short ferry ride off the coast. I caught the tram to Fremantle early in the morning to board the vessel. The island was a home to the Noongar people, and then used by Europeans as a labour camp and military base. Today, only a handful of people live here permanently, with most just coming as day visitors.
Cycling is the most popular way to get around the island, but I’ve never been much of a cyclist. I got a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket instead, and used it to make my way around the island’s circumference. Some were short stops to see beaches and coastal viewpoints. Occasionally, I would get off at one stop and then walk to the next to get back on. I took a longer walk up to the Wadjemup Lighthouse in the centre of the island as well.
My favourite stop was probably at the far west end of the island, around Cape Vlamingh. There are some spectacular, dramatic rock formations around the coast, deep blue waves crashing into them, with viewing platforms above. I was even lucky enough to spot seals in the water! After a few more beach stops, I went on one more walk to the pink lake. Australia has a few of these across the country, where salt deposits create a pink effect on the water. This particular lake wasn’t dazzling pastel pink, but there was a visible pinkish tinge.
Thomson Bay
From there, I returned to Thomson Bay, the main settlement by the ferry port, which has many cafes, shops and hotels for overnight visitors. I headed to The Mezz, a bar overlooking the harbour, for a glass of wine to cap off my day. Rottnest Island is famously home to a large population of quokkas, a native Australian marsupial species. Obviously, you’re not meant to feed them, and they’re naturally pretty shy. But some of them have become so accustomed to humans that they wander through the settlement all the time. A handful were roaming the bar’s terrace, including a mother with a joey in her pouch! I always enjoy seeing wildlife, so watching these gentle, fluffy creatures, with their cute facial expressions, was just lovely!
Rottnest is a gorgeous island overall, with that sparkling turquoise ocean and its white sandy beaches. I can definitely see why it’s such a popular place! I love being by the coast in general too, so it was right up my street. On such a sunny day, the views were stunning all around the island’s circumference. It all felt very typical of what you imagine Australian beaches to be like! It was certainly pretty busy, of course, but there was still plenty of scope to just relax and unwind.
Swan River Cruise
For my return journey to Perth, I’d booked a ferry that would take me past Fremantle and all the way up the Swan River to the city centre. This meant the added bonus of a river cruise along the way, during late afternoon as the sun started to get low. I didn’t take many pictures as the ferry only had indoor seating and the glass was covered in sea salt spray. But it was a relaxed, peaceful way to see another side of the city from the water.
The river gets super wide as you approach the city centre, making it almost feel like a coastal cruise instead. Perth doesn’t have many particularly iconic or recognisable buildings, really, but the city skyline of its tall glass office buildings is quite the contrast to Fremantle and Rottnest! All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my day trip to Rottnest, and the river cruise was a nice way to finish it off.
Long Weekend in Perth
I think a long weekend is a perfect amount of time to see Perth! The city has a fair amount going on, so I didn’t struggle for things to do. But still balanced it out with free time, so I wasn’t totally exhausted or burned out. It was a little weird adjusting to travelling without working remotely along the way after two years of doing just that! I liked the mix of a day each in the city centre, Fremantle and Rottnest, all of which have something different to offer. I don’t typically expect wildlife on a city break-style trip, so seeing seals and quokkas was amazing! The city had a cool vibe overall, but especially in Fremantle with its markets and the brewery.
After my long weekend in Perth, my parents arrived in the city, and I met them out near the airport, where they picked up their rental car. From there, we headed off south on our multi-day road trip through South West Australia.
