A walk on the beach

Perth has some of the most pristine and beautiful coastline in the world. White beaches stretch from the city's western suburbs to Lancelin, which lies 125 km north of Perth. Local life revolves around the water, and even in winter the sunny weather allows for many lovely trips to the beach.

We haven't had a chance to explore many of Perth's beaches (and expect to spend much time in the water when summer arrives!) but we have been fortunate enough to visit a few of the ones nearby.

Jindalee beach

Burns Beach (our local)

Burns beach is part of Marmion Marine Park, where limestone reefs run parallel to the coastline where many species of tropical fish can be found. Other animals found in the area include the Australian Sea Lion and Bottlenose Dolphin (which we managed to spot, but not snap a picture of, a few days ago!).

Yanchep beach

Yanchep beach is actually a lagoon, formed by a reef running parallel to the coastline. The reef forms a lovely warm swimming spot, and many fish can be spotted hiding along the reef.

Yanchep, like most beaches, has a cafe and green park area where one can enjoy a coffee or a snack after a long walk

We really hope this wonderful "winter" weather lasts and we can still enjoy many beach side walks in the months to come!

Playing tourist in our new city

Inbetween applying for jobs and queuing in government offices for documents, we've also managed to do a bit of sightseeing.

A few days after arriving, we took a trip to Perth City. Clarkson, where we stay, lies about 30 minutes north of Perth, and we took the train from Clarkson Station. Trains and buses are run by Transperth, and public transport is clean, efficient and always on time! We rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes to catch a train or bus.

Perth City is situated along the banks of the river Swan, 12 km from the Indian Ocean. The river is named after the famous black swans which can be found along the river. The city is bound by the river to the east and south. To the west of the city is Kings Park, which has over 400 hectares of natural Australian bush overlooking the city centre and the Swan River. 

On our first trip to the city, we took a stroll down the famous London Court.  Built in 1937 as a combination of residential and commercial premises for a wealthy gold miner and financier Claude de Bernales, Perth's London Court is designed using the architectural features present in Elizabethan times.

We also visited the Western Australia Museum, which explores Australian Aboriginal culture, the effects of European settlement, as well as a diversity of wildlife.

(Stephan was especially impressed by the Grizzly)

Some more Perth sights:

Murray street Promenade

Forrest Place "Green Cactus" sculpture

Interesting mix of old and new architecture

There are so many more things to see in the city, and we plan another trip as soon as the weather lets up (Perth has winter rain and it's starting to feel as if we never left Cape Town!)

Going Down Under

After many months, much paper work and loads of prayers, we've finally made it to Perth! 

 We spent our last week in South Africa visiting Stephan's parents on their farm in Standerton.

On 2 May, we started our journey to Perth which comprised of:

Lugging around much luggage

And lots of sitting around.

After a 12 hour plane trip, we finally landed in Perth, where we started the last leg of our journey to my parent's newly built home in Clarkson.

The first couple of days were spent recovering from the trip, while Stephan impressed the in-laws with his cooking skills.

Most of our time these past few weeks has been spent filling in application forms - we needed to open bank accounts (which proved very easy without FICA to worry about), apply for Medicare (State medical aid) and convert our SA driver's licenses - which thankfully, from last year, can be directly converted without a practical test!

Although public transport in Perth is very good, we still needed to buy a car, and as you can see it caused much excitement:

We've also applied for many many jobs (I feel like I could write cover letters professionally), but more about that, and some sightseeing next time.

For now, greetings from Clarkson!