No 35 – Laid-back Boxing…… Day – Penultimate day in Perth & final visit to Freo

Boxing Day is always generally a chill out day, although for me during the noughtees, on quite a few boxing days I had to work so that was not so much the case especially when I worked as a sales advisor for electrical retailer Comet and customers had nothing better to do with the day after Christmas than to que up in their hundreds from the crack of dawn to be amongst the first in for the Sales!

In Oz though Boxing day is full of B’s Beer, BBQ’s, Beaches, Ball games etc and is the perfect chill out day to follow Christmas.

My Flatmates who I spent 3 months living with in Perth had gone home to their families in Sydney so for the Christmas period I decided to go back to the Lodge right in the city where I first stayed in Perth.

During Christmas day (Which will feature higher up in my countdown) I got chatting to 2 Norwegian guys, Jonas & Eirik who had only recently arrived in Perth I mentioned Fremantle how I planned to make one final trip there on Boxing Day and as it happened they had just purchased a car and were planning to drive there on boxing day so it worked out extremely well that I had a lift and they had a tour guide to show them around Freo for the first time.

So off we drove, Eirik, I think driving and he soon started taking about how it was strange to be driving on the left side of the road, oh dear what have I let myself in for I thought!

However we had an uneventful drive to Freemantle and found somewhere to park, we walked alongside the coast a little before having a good look round the roundhouse, famous for being the oldest surviving building in Western Australia.

Then we had a good walk around the pleasant harbour.

By now it was time for a quick beer so it was onto Little Creatures brewery for a quick pint, their pale Ale in my opinion the best beer in Australia, we would return there later in the car to pick up a supply on it in bottles for the evening ahead!

We had a good walk through the streets and onto the fantastic Markets where I was desperate to get one last slab of the best cake in the world, home made carrot Cake, I had first sampled it on my previous visit to Perth 4 years ago & I was delighted when I made my first visit back to the markets in August that the lady that baked & sold the cakes was still there & so it was always my number 1 item to buy at the Markets!

But Alas she was not there today, I guess she had been too busy cooking her family dinner over Christmas to cook Carrot cakes to sell at the Market.

We then went back to the car sad to be carrotcakeless but soon cheered up when we picked up plenty of Pale Ale drinking supplies from little creaturs, I then directed them the scenic backroads route back to Perth, which I had done on my bike several times but was a route that motorists would not usually find.

This spot has got to be the best viewpoint in Perth from it you can see the Indian ocean, Freemantle and the mouth of the Swan river, then you can see most of the stunning river as it winds its way towards Perth city cenre 18km away and in the distance you can even make out the skyscrapers of the city center! the best way I can do it justice is with this panoramic picture I made from several shots taken a month previously when I was up there on my bike click on it to enlarge and enjoy the view!

Upon leaving this spot we drove off and made a brief excursion onto the right hand side of the road, which alike the UK is of course the wrong side of the road, there was thankfully no other traffic around, I have to say though that other than that brief moment his driving was far superior to any Australians! ...... I guess I have to say that as he may be reading :) 

We stoped at another viewpoint about halfway between Fremantle and Perth, it shows just how big the river becomes it looks more like a lake!

It was great to visit these stunning viewpoints of Perth for the final time, I would sure miss them.

We arrived back into the city and back at Townsend Lodge that evening there was still loads of meat left to BBQ from Christmas day & as a consolation for not getting my Carrot Cake I realised I had some Christmas pudding & cream left in the fridge along with the our bottles of Little Creatures Pale Ale it made for a great evening of eating and drinking, I would then make sure the following day to have a decent final bike ride in Perth to work it off!