We often visit a winery on a Sunday afternoon and today was no exception. We’ve not tried this one before and were not disappointed. Set in the rolling hills of Bickley and just a 35 minute drive from Perth, you could imagine that you were in the deep countryside. There are so many wineries dotted throughout these hills, many with restaurants and cafes.
This winery has a restaurant attached, where they offer breakfast and lunch. Today we chose a delicious chilli and lime bruschetta and pork belly with sweet potato chips which was just enough for the two of us to share and paired with the classic white for me and a Pinot Noir for hubby. Hubby enjoyed the red so much he took a bottle home.
With his bottle of Pinot!
Love the description
After lunch we had a walk around this beautiful vineyard and took a few snaps. There are trees and hills as far as the eye can see, it’s so relaxing to spend a few hours here.
A very modern dining area in the old packing shed
Old rustic rusty farm machinery
Cute toilets!
On our drive back I asked Anthony to stop so I could take a photo of the road behind us, as I stepped out of the car I saw two kangaroos hopping through the bush. I couldn’t believe it when one stopped and looked at me and actually waited while I adjusted my camera to take a photo of him!
Even after living in Perth for 14 years, I still get a thrill when I see a kangaroo in the wild!
As I live in this beautiful city of Perth I thought it was about time to do a post on Kings Park. It’s great for a short stroll or a longer walk, a picnic or a play with your kids. There are a few cafes and restaurants there where you can eat and enjoy the fantastic view over the Swan River. There are many memorial services performed here each year and it’s here they have the Remembrance Day Service in front of the Cenotaph.
Kings Park and Botanic Garden is one of the largest inner city parks in the world and is visited by over 6 million people each year. It’s larger than Central Park covering 400.6-hectares.
It first opened on 10 August 1895, and was originally called Perth Park and was renamed in 1901 to King’s Park – the apostrophe was later dropped. This was to mark the ascension to the British throne of King Edward VII and the visit to Perth of George, the Duke of Cornwall and Princess Mary.
State War Memorial
Elizabeth Quay
Looking over the Perth Hills
Rooftops of the Swan Brewery
Native Flora
Native Flora
Water Garden
The Swan Brewery
Lottery Federation Walkway – 52 metre steel and glass bridge
Causeway
The children’s playgrounds are also a great place for an afternoon visit with your kids.
The photos below are from Google Images
Make sure you visit this amazing park if you’re ever in Perth!
I was born and grew up in the UK but now live in the beautiful city of Perth, WA, however we always get back to the UK at least once a year to visit my parents in Essex. As it’s normally for a month we like to travel around visiting friends and relatives. There are also some great country pubs in Essex where we go for gourmet lunches and dinners!
The Peter Boat, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, is one of our favourite pubs. Sitting on the banks of the Thames Estuary it’s a great place for lunch and then a walk through the High Street. Although there are at least four other pubs in this small street, The Peter Boat is always the most popular. I started going here when I was 17, and over 40 years later it’s still a number one choice for me!
Catching up over a gourmet lunch
Part of the Thames Estuary
Cockles and Jellied Eels
West Mersea, Essex
We had lunch here one day at a place called The Oyster Bar. What a great find this was. A very casual cafe but serving gourmet seafood. There are some cute houses around here as well.
Hubby’s favourite – jellied eels
Fresh crab and prawn salad
Waiting for their fish and chips inside The Oyster Bar
An old house in West Mersea
Cute little house
Overlooking the River Blackwell
These boats no longer look seaworthy!
Southend on Sea
We had been recommended the next place by my uncle who like my hubby is a great seafood eater – they see food and eat it! Sorry couldn’t resist. Anyway this “restaurant” is called Billy Hundreds and I’ve added a link as the history is fascinating. Briefly:
“Over 140 years ago my Great Grandfather William Pullum worked as a fish porter in the famous Billingsgate Market in London, his porters badge number was 100.
He was known as Billy Hundreds..” to read more click on the link above.
It’s a Spanish tapas place, just a small shack on Southend Beach and on a windy day sitting underneath the alfresco blinds you almost feel you could be blown away. The menu is adventurous specialising in fish tapas but also with many other fishless dishes. Also the wine menu is pretty decent too.
I’ve taken the liberty of adding a photo of my Auntie Val eating alfresco at this restaurant!
Tilbury Fort is a great place to visit and somewhere I had never visited before, even after all those years living in Essex. It’s located on the Thames Estuary and was built in the reign of Henry VIII in 1539, due to international tensions between England, France and the Holy Roman Empire.
Is someone locked in?
Overlooking the Thames Estuary
The entrance to Tilbury Fort
Looking out onto the moat
Old Wooden Bridge
Up on the ramparts
Tunnel underneath the fort
There is a lovely pub for lunch nearby called The World’s End.
It’s always nice to get back for a visit, but nothing beats our home in Perth, WA
We always visit my native country at least once a year for around a month from Perth, WA which is now our home. I was born in London, worked in London for 16 years and lived there in my twenties for a while, however I was brought up in Essex. So Essex is not far from London around 35 minutes by train into the City, Fenchurch Street, and we always like to spend a few days there. We only go for day trips and mostly to shop and eat! We usually go to the East end of London for the markets, very rarely venturing into the West.
Although I used to know London pretty well it has now changed so much I find it hard to navigate around without using Google Maps! There are so many new buildings and streets its getting more like New York every year. I love it though that there are still the old churches and pubs dotted about in between all the new buildings. The food is not like it used to be years ago, just the basic Egg and Chip cafe or the more upmarket Steak houses. You can now eat anything at any price and it will always be great.
The photos I’ve added are from days out over the past couple of years.
Pubs and Bars
Lunch at Davy’s Bar, just outside Fenchurch Street
sign inside the bar!
Outside The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping
The Prospect of Whitby, as you can see from the sign, is said to be the oldest riverside pub in London dating back to 1520. It has been used in many tv series. All that remains of the original building is the 400 year old stone floor. I used to go here in my twenties and wanted to revisit. I was quite disappointed that it now only served the basic pub food, whereas many years ago it was a “white tablecloth and silver service” establishment. Still the views are amazing across the river.
I zoomed in across the river to snap this with my Canon Powershot SX730
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Having a quick pint!
The Ship in Talbot Court, EC3 dates back to 1895. A great traditional pub hidden in a little alley.
After spending the night in Kumamoto we boarded the car ferry to Shimabara and then heading over to Nagasaki.
Had a very interesting stop in Shimabara to have a look at the castle. It was built in 1615 and took around four to seven years to complete. After 250 years it fell into disrepair and restoration began in the 1960’s. You can go inside and have a look at the old warrior costumes and weapons through the years.
Looking at the route above we then drove to Nagasaki via Unzen. This is where Anthony’s mum used to go for holidays when she was a young girl. A sentimental journey for Anthony. Unzen seafront had the feel of a 1930’s resort, so not much had changed since his mother had visited it seemed.
Then finally to our hotel in Nagasaki.
Very quaint hotel within walking distance of many interesting places. Stayed here for two nights.
I had read about the Dejima Wharf and what a good place it was! So we headed over there for dinner. Its very picturesque but lacks atmosphere. Our dinner was a disappointment. Supposed to be a seafood bbq – but we had to cook it ourselves. Luckily we found a great little bar upstairs with a live band so had a good song and dance with some locals who were celebrating a birthday.
5 June 2017
Off to a fairly early start as there was lots to cover today. First off we had a look at the old colonial settlement within walking distance of our hotel, where Dutch, Portuguese and English houses still stand.
I was very interested to go and have a look at Glover House.
This was a house built by an English guy who first came to Japan when he was 21 in 1859. He built the house and gardens in 1861. We are both really interested in travellers who left their native countries to establish themselves in other countries many years ago. These people would not have known what to expect only hearing about different places through word of mouth.
Anyway Glover Gardens and house did not disappoint.
I popped to the ladies and when I came back found Anthony deep in conversation with this lady who was gardening just outside one of the buildings. She was amazed that Anthony could speak so fluently. They found out that they were not only the same age but had the same birthdays! She asked Anthony why he was so old with such young children – so direct . She was very reluctant to let him go.
Its interesting to note that Mr Glover still liked to be surrounded by his English furniture.
Onto the next stop – the Foreigners Cemetery – where we spent at least an hour looking at old gravestones.
We spent ages looking for this place going up and down alleyways.
anthony looking round so many gravestones
The day was still not done and there was time to visit the Peace Park and A Bomb Museum. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only places to this day that have had atomic weapons used against them. It was very moving to wander through the museum and find out the history of what actually happened.
Standing in front of the Peace statue built to commemorate the people who died in the disaster. The face is not Japanese but the face of a “Person who goes beyond human races.”
