Perth was our last stop in Australia before making our way back into South-East Asia. We were feeling ready for a cultural change having been spoilt with the Western world for so long. For our last week in OZ we stayed with Dave’s sister Louise and her other half Jason. They are really well located to the city with only a 10 minute walk to quirky William Street lined with boutiques, vintage clothing stores and Vietnamese Restaurants. That first night we went to What the Pho along this street after having a good snoop around the city.

On the Saturday morning we went to the local Chinese market, which infused Asian charm and food goods. It was a real bargain to buy fresh fruit and veggies for the week. The market is on William Street and opens Friday and Saturdays. Later in the day we went to Kings Park, probably THE place to get panoramic views of Perth City and suburbs. We enjoyed a nice little picnic and were introduced to some Aussie Rules Football action. Kings Park also hosts a big Botanical Garden but we didn’t quite have enough time to get around it all, instead heading out to see the plot of land that will form Jason and Louise’s new home, exciting times for those two! That night Rod Stewart was playing at the Perth Oval so from our balcony we could hear Rod belting out the hits whilst enjoying a barbecue.

On the 6th we took a drive out to Swan Valley and participated in some Supa Golf at one of the resorts. It was pretty tricky for Helen and Louise getting used to the golf clubs and just having the patience to concentrate on hitting the ball not too hard. After a spot of expert teaching from Dave both Ladies improved their game! Jason enjoyed fetching out his ball from the shallow lake whilst a few of us got stuck in the bunkers. Dave came out top after 9 holes with Jason 2nd, Helen 3rd and Louise a humble 4th. So if we’re talking couples teaming up together…we won! he he! Sorry guys!

After leaving Supa Golf we enjoyed some wine tasting at Little River Vineyard and The Ugly Duckling down the road as well as a few others. We bought a bottle of Ugly Duckling Rose which was very nice indeed. We also went to a chocolate tasting factory and to the Yahava coffee shop which offers tasting sessions too. So we had enriched palettes by the end of it all! Later on Helen managed to skype home and had a lovely sing along with her beautiful niece Sukie over breakfast, a real taste of home!

Back in the city the next day we explored the city some more and took in the Perth Museum of Contemporary Art which was a nice breather from the increasing outdoor temperatures. The Fringe Festival which was now in full swing were hosting events throughout the city and every so often we would come across one of their quirky caravans, performances were going on all the time and it looked like a good thing to be involved in. Skyscrapers, buildings, skylines and sculptures caught our eye as we strolled the streets of Perth.

The next day we didn’t do too much because we were busy sorting and planning for our next journey but we did do something that made us feel very good at the end of the day. Helen’s best friend Lois had asked us to do a favour when she’d heard we were coming to Perth to see if we would visit her Nana and Gramps who’ve been living in Perth for 30 years.This was no biggie for us and we were very happy to see them with flowers, chocolates and Pink Lady Apples. We really enjoyed spending time with them and wish them all the best for 2012.

They also gave us some vouchers to eat at their favourite restaurant in the city, Miss Maudes, a Swedish inspired eatery offering a huge smorgasbord of goodies. We couldn’t quite stretch to the buffet but instead enjoyed burgers and sandwiches and even had enough left over for a tart from the nearby bakery. Something else we’d been wanting to do whilst travelling in Australia was to visit one of their open-air cinemas. They have them in nearly every city an we’d been looking at going to one in Melbourne so when we found out what was screening in Perth the 4 of us went to The Moonlight Open Air Cinema in Kings Park and enjoyed the novelty of sitting on our picnic blanket watching the humorous and slightly awkward ‘Carnage’. How luck they are to have the opportunity to sit on beanbags, bring their own food and enjoy a movie in the outdoors. It was great.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After a fairly lazy start to the day, we packed up the tent and all the gear as usual into the car, said goodbye to Don, (who kindly offered his phone number and details in-case we were back in the San Francisco area once he had returned from his very own road-trip, to stay at his ranch north of SF) and we were back onto the highway aiming for Healdsburg for wine tasting.

The Lonely Planet USA guide had some recommendations so we popped into the local information center for maps and a bit more info. We wanted to hire bikes to ride to the vineyards however upon closer inspection the bike hire was $10 per hour and it would be an all day ride; very expensive little town, but very nice. We decided to drive rather than cycle.

The first stop was Bella Vineyard which has wine tasting in a cave, not sure if this is natural or man made, but it made for some nice cool air and rather swanky surroundings, this would be a great place for a celebration. The wine tasting here was $10 per person for 6 samples but we actually ended up with 7 with the Chardonnay and Pino-noir our two favourites!

The next stop was Porter Creek vineyards. This was a small little hut next to the owners house and they had a massive dog in the doorway named Diego who was very friendly and welcoming. Here it was $5 per person, so we shared the samples to save some money and not get a DUI from the highway patrol! All in all Healdsburg is a lovely place to go wine tasting. There are loads of different places to go, with quite a few offering free samples. We would highly recommend the area, but it is on the pricey side.

We decided that it would be too expensive to stay in the Healdsburg area so we re-joined Highway 1 and made our way to the coast and camped at Stillwater cove. This was taking us north for a few miles but we didn’t mind. We only just got a pitch at the camp site as this seems to be where the locals from SF come for their weekend getaways! $28 for a camp spot, oh how we miss the days of Oregon and their subsidised camp grounds at $12.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)