Picturesque Perth - Take 1
I landed in Perth last Friday morning to glorious sunshine and 23 degree heat at 6am. It has certainly lived up to its title of Australia’s sunniest city!
I’ve spent the past week catching up with friends that live here and sightseeing. Freemantle‘s history, Swan Valley’s wineries & Caversham Park’s wildlife all intermingled with beaches and bars. More on that to follow, but first, some drawing!
On the first day, after catching up on sleep, I headed down to Elizabeth Quay for a spot of people watching and journalling. When I ran out of words I drew my view.
Here's another of the quay drawn over a drink at a bar, this one's been left there waiting to be found.
I had half an hour to kill one morning so drew this one whilst sat in central Perth, another that's been left behind!
It took me a little practice to get back into drawing quickly so I did then copy the above two into my sketchbook after feeling a little too sentimental to let them go entirely! I’m hoping they find a good home in the same way those I left in my home town have but it’ll be a case of waiting to find out, how exciting!
If you’re here just for the drawings then that’s all for now. A post on Rottnest is up next but then I’m off up the coast for 12 nights of camping on beaches. My sketchbook is all packed but the phone reception may not be great so I’ll be back with photos of what I‘ve been up to as soon as I can.
If you’re here for all the other photos as well as the drawing, then read on! I wouldn’t describe myself as a natural blogger, far from it in fact! Whenever I kept a diary at school it was so cringey that I’m pretty sure I’ve shredded them all upon finding them years later! But I do have a phone full of photos so I’m going to add a bit of a personal blog/comments on where I’ve been to posts after the drawings.
First up, cocktails at a Tiki Bar (Hula Bula, for anyone also in Perth) and time to read the city guide. I'm hoping this is the largest spider I see whilst away!
No trip to Australia would be complete without meeting their famous furry animals, and it wasn’t long into my stay that I got to meet them for myself. Meet Karen the Koala! One of Caversham Park’s koalas who was definitely more interested in the food than me but still pretty cute. Koalas sleep 18 hours a day, and eat for pretty much all of the remaining 6, sounds like a pretty good life to me!
Next up were the Kangeroos who were all too happy to eat the food I had for them. The wallabys were too busy sleeping to come out for a photo but I did see plenty of reptiles and birds.
On the way home I visited few of Swan Valley’s wineries, though only drank wine at one of them! First stop was the Duckstein Brewery to sample their mango wine. Possibly the most delicious wine I’ve ever tasted, though for those times when you’re wanting something that more resembles fruit juice than a large glass of red! Next up was Old Young's Distillery for some gin and vodka tasting - I said there wasn’t much wine involved! But their coffee vodka was rather delicious, and as someone who’s still quite new to gin, the gins were too! All paired with a different mixer to complement the flavours. I no longer doubt whether I like gin! Finally a quick stop at Feral Brewery for a sour watermelon beer. With views of the vineyard it was a lovely end to the day.
A late afternoon swim at City Beach followed by watching the sun set made for another lovely evening. I’m not normally a fan of swimming in the sea but it was so clear and, unsurprisingly, a lot warmer than the English coast so made for a refreshing dip. I wasn’t convinced I was dipping my head under but in the end the waves gave me no choice!
I also spent a day on Rottnest Island which had breathtaking scenery but I’ve left that for another post as I managed a few drawings there - to be posted soon!
That's all for now 😊
I’ve spent the past week catching up with friends that live here and sightseeing. Freemantle‘s history, Swan Valley’s wineries & Caversham Park’s wildlife all intermingled with beaches and bars. More on that to follow, but first, some drawing!
On the first day, after catching up on sleep, I headed down to Elizabeth Quay for a spot of people watching and journalling. When I ran out of words I drew my view.
Here's another of the quay drawn over a drink at a bar, this one's been left there waiting to be found.
I had half an hour to kill one morning so drew this one whilst sat in central Perth, another that's been left behind!
It took me a little practice to get back into drawing quickly so I did then copy the above two into my sketchbook after feeling a little too sentimental to let them go entirely! I’m hoping they find a good home in the same way those I left in my home town have but it’ll be a case of waiting to find out, how exciting!
If you’re here just for the drawings then that’s all for now. A post on Rottnest is up next but then I’m off up the coast for 12 nights of camping on beaches. My sketchbook is all packed but the phone reception may not be great so I’ll be back with photos of what I‘ve been up to as soon as I can.
If you’re here for all the other photos as well as the drawing, then read on! I wouldn’t describe myself as a natural blogger, far from it in fact! Whenever I kept a diary at school it was so cringey that I’m pretty sure I’ve shredded them all upon finding them years later! But I do have a phone full of photos so I’m going to add a bit of a personal blog/comments on where I’ve been to posts after the drawings.
First up, cocktails at a Tiki Bar (Hula Bula, for anyone also in Perth) and time to read the city guide. I'm hoping this is the largest spider I see whilst away!
No trip to Australia would be complete without meeting their famous furry animals, and it wasn’t long into my stay that I got to meet them for myself. Meet Karen the Koala! One of Caversham Park’s koalas who was definitely more interested in the food than me but still pretty cute. Koalas sleep 18 hours a day, and eat for pretty much all of the remaining 6, sounds like a pretty good life to me!
Next up were the Kangeroos who were all too happy to eat the food I had for them. The wallabys were too busy sleeping to come out for a photo but I did see plenty of reptiles and birds.
On the way home I visited few of Swan Valley’s wineries, though only drank wine at one of them! First stop was the Duckstein Brewery to sample their mango wine. Possibly the most delicious wine I’ve ever tasted, though for those times when you’re wanting something that more resembles fruit juice than a large glass of red! Next up was Old Young's Distillery for some gin and vodka tasting - I said there wasn’t much wine involved! But their coffee vodka was rather delicious, and as someone who’s still quite new to gin, the gins were too! All paired with a different mixer to complement the flavours. I no longer doubt whether I like gin! Finally a quick stop at Feral Brewery for a sour watermelon beer. With views of the vineyard it was a lovely end to the day.
A late afternoon swim at City Beach followed by watching the sun set made for another lovely evening. I’m not normally a fan of swimming in the sea but it was so clear and, unsurprisingly, a lot warmer than the English coast so made for a refreshing dip. I wasn’t convinced I was dipping my head under but in the end the waves gave me no choice!
I also spent a day on Rottnest Island which had breathtaking scenery but I’ve left that for another post as I managed a few drawings there - to be posted soon!
That's all for now 😊