A weekend in our neighbourhood

Australia Day consists of all things Australian, sunshine, snags, fireworks and friends. And a long weekend in our neighbourhood is the perfect time to showcase life down under. Now we all know the major landmarks in Australia, Sydney Opera House, Uluru, Bondi, MCG, etc. But we want to show you our beautiful hometown, Perth. Our neighbourhood, where we work and where we relax.

Friday night, the end of a long working week and we head down to our favourite city, Fremantle. Fremantle is where Steve works and we had a table booked to share a meal and catch up with a good friend at Maya Indian restaurant. After all, diversity is Australia’s strength and we embrace the cuisines from the diverse cultures of our immigrant Australians. Following our amazing Indian feast, we take a leisurely walk to San Churros for dessert. After our chocolate fest we agree we need to walk it off, so we meander through the numerous alleys and lanes. Spilling into the streets are the aromas of the foods from a variety of cultures and the sounds of music and laughter from the many pubs. We stop and admire some of the street art and decide we will come back during the day one weekend and take more photos to share. We continue strolling for a while, enjoying the cool night air, before heading home.

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Saturday morning and we awake to the perfect weather for a wander around the streets close to home. We live in the southeastern corridor of Perth, a suburb with an emphasis on sustainable living and a significant portion of our suburb consists of swamp bushland. We mosey around admiring the trees and stop to take a few photos. I love the contrast and colours of the Banksia with serrated dull green leaves and cylindrical, flower spikes of pink, yellow and bronze.  But the bright, cheerful Australian Christmas Tree, (Nuytsia Floribunda) is a favourite. I also love the Red Flowering Gum, (Corymbia Ficifolia) which has been planted on the verges in our street and make a wonderful display with our Bottlebrush (Callistemon) and bird attracting Grevillias. The contrast of the orange from the Nuytsia and reds from the Flowering gums are really impressive and these two trees flower in Perth during the Christmas season making a spectacular display in a bush setting. The other trees quite prolific in our area are gnarly Paperbark trees, (Melaleuca) with its flaky, exfoliating bark as they are found in watercourses or along the banks of swamplands.

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After our walk we drive to the local council gardens, a few streets away from the office where I work in Cannington. We relax and enjoy the surroundings, inhabited by two black swans, swamp hens, a variety of ducks and coots. The swans are very graceful and swam for a while before curling up for a sleep. Swans are monogamous and these two have just finished raising six cygnets which have recently left area to make a new life. Whilst watching the swans a flock of white cockatoos flew over and grazed in the shade on the grass. Together we while away several hours relaxing in the cool breeze on a bright and sunny morning.

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Come back and join us and we’ll take you along on a tour with a difference.

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