After spending the last ten days practically housebound with the flu and asthma, I finally took myself off the couch and out for a walk. Time to get some fresh air into my lungs and stretch my legs and also gather some new material for this dormant blog.
I drove to the carpark along the river and decided to take a left turn so I could walk closer to the beach. After coming to the end of the trail I wandered off through some woods which took me back to the beach and I followed the beach around to the birdlife conservation area. I’m not sure why I’ve never done this before, but I’ll definitely be doing this again.
A Pouch of PelicansA Bank of Black SwansThe Perth Skyline across the wetlandsHop, Skip and Jumping for take-offSo near but so far!Black Swan Blue Billed DucksRed Capped PloverFOTD– Hottentot FigPPAC
It looks like Spring is truly here and it was wonderful to get out in the sun once again.
As the challenge from Sofia at the Lens Artists Team is urban, I thought I would take you on a tour of my home town. It’s not a large town by any means but is filled with cafes, restaurants and shops. I tend to go two or three times a week for food, a bit of retail shopping, lunch and dinner. It has a large shopping mall where two grocery stores are located but it also has small laneways off the high street filled with quirky shops.
Claremont Quarter
Looking through Maude Jackson Walk
A street off the main high road
I took these photos today as I was doing a shop and I was amazed to find some wonderful murals, sculptures and new coffee shops. I tend normally to drive straight to Claremont Quarter and back again. I did have to dodge a few rain showers though as we are having some storms at the moment.
On the side of the bottle shopThe above two murals are painted by Fintan Magee and titled Road to Nowhere, depicting displaced people during the Brisbane Floods of 2015
I had to take two shots of this brilliant mural above by Dipesh ‘Peche’ Prasad to capture it all. It was only after I looked at the photos I realised there was a man painted there. I could not see it from the street. It features Walt D. Drabble, the lane is named after him too. He was a painter, signwriter and ironmonger and established his business in 1865.
Highs and Lows by Kyle Hughes-OdgersColourful sculpture in the High StreetMetal elephant sculpture outside jewellers
Claremont Post Office, built in 1896 and is now a heritage listed building
Claremont Railway Station established in 1881. This is still a working railway station and trains go to Perth City
Bellissimo’s Restaurant has been here longer than we have and still has the same owner/manager. We visit here at least once a month. The menu doesn’t change that much but you can always be guaranteed a fantastic dinner and service. There is no booking, you just have to wait in line, but in all the times we have visited we’ve never been turned away.
Corvo is a relatively new restaurant and we have been once. Great vibe and service but the menu wasn’t to our taste. There have been many restaurants in the 18 years we have been here.
This sushi place is extremely popular and has only been open a short while, but there are always queues outsideA new coffee shop I found! Will have to try this soon.
Claremont is home to many high end boutiques, very expensive and also a bit too fancy for my taste and probably don’t do my size anyway!
This lane leads to another coffee shop and a cute little book shop. Around the corner there is a huge gardening and hardware store where we go and buy all our garden paraphernalia.
I fell in love with Claremont when we first came for a visit 20 years ago and I still enjoy going there. I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting my home town with me.
Continuing our three day break in the South West, we drove down to Albany with a stop in Coalmine Bay and Broke for lunch. I should point out that this isn’t a grammatical error, there is a place called Broke!
Coalmine BeachJohn Rate LookoutThe Chauffeur and INornalup InletThe Chauffeur Pull up a SeatCoalmine Beach
This beach looks perfect for a summer swim.
The drive from Pemberton to Albany is almost three hours, by the time we had stopped a couple of times, we finally arrived in Albany at 4.30 pm.
We normally stay in an apartment in Albany, but I noticed when I looked on Booking.Com that there was a new Hilton, so thought we would check this out. It’s in a great location, overlooking the harbour. I didn’t book a sea view but guess what we ended up with a fantastic view over the harbour. We had a beautiful luxurious room with lovely toiletries from Crabtree and Evelyn, no expense spared there. The reception, bar and restaurant are all located in the same space downstairs, making it all very intimate.
The Garden Inn Hilton
After checking in and unloading our bags it was still light out so we went to have a look at the latest silo mural, which we could actually see from our room.
The above mural was painted by New York artists Yok and Sheryo. It features the Ruby Red Seadragon, and is only the third species of its kind ever recorded. It was discovered on the Albany shores 150 years ago. I’ve been fortunate to see quite a few of these silo art murals around Australia, but hope to see them all one day.
We had a quick drink at the Royal George Hotel before heading back for dinner at The Garrison.
TrainspottingAlbany University
For dinner that night I had booked The Garrison, which as you might guess is situated on top of the hill where the old garrison used to be. It’s a wonderful restaurant with great service and food. I find many places we go now are short staffed due to Covid, some places manage superbly with only two or three serving but others don’t seem to have coped as well. The wait staff seemed to move swiftly between table to table and we had no waiting time at all between courses. A definite 10/10 from me, I must remember to write a review.
Walnut ColadaGrilled scallops with cauliflower puree and pancettaLamb Schwarma ,tomato sugo, spice potato and smoked yoghurt
After a great night’s sleep and an invigorating shower using the deluxe toiletries we headed down for a buffet breakfast. The rain had set in by now so we chose to head off to our final stop, Margaret River. I realised after I looked at the map that I had planned our trip backwards, which meant much more driving! From here to Margaret River it was a four hour drive.
I spotted this cute elephant down an alley as we were walking around yesterday. On the side of a vets as we drove out of Albany
On a visit to Subiaco recently I saw there were some great new murals, so I went back the other day and did a walkabout and spotted a few more. I also took snapshots of sculptures which I’ve always admired.
The featured image is called “Sky’s Chorus” by Clare MacFarlane and shows a migrating flock of Carnaby Black Cockatoos.
Karrak by James Giddy
From the same wall, quite difficult to get a shot of the whole wall down the alley.
Subiaco was built on a Sunday – Artist: Melski McVee
Artist – Hayley Welsh
The Boy on the Red Bike – Artist Evoca1God’s Chair aka Arrive to Paradise – Ayad AlqaragholliTwo children flying a kite
The artist’s statement for God’s Chair : God’s Seat…with an angel on each shoulder, decisions being made about who gets into paradise ..
Artist – Robert Jenkins “Works for Walls Programme”
I enjoyed my afternoon walk in Subiaco, reacquainting myself with this suburb. It was like a ghost town during covid plus the landlords decided to get greedy! Many places shut down, but on this Friday afternoon it was buzzing with weekend drinks starting early. I noticed too that the “Sip and Paint” bars are becoming very popular. Also called Canvas and Cabernet, where you paint a masterpiece with a brush in one hand and a drink in the other, sounds like such a fun experience.
My favourite mural here is “Boy on a Red Bike” – how about your’s?
Each Month Brian from Bushboy’s World and Ju-Lyn over at Touring my Backyard host a challenge where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone.
Many of you will have already have seen some of my posts about the first half of June which was spent in Malaysia and the drama that unfolded there! I’m glad to say my dear husband is well enough now to take up his household chores once again, phew!
Although it is officially winter in Perth we continue to have the most glorious sunny dry days. Good for the laundry but not so great for the garden. There aren’t that many flowers in bloom at the moment, although the Aloe Vera is looking stunning.
This monster has been living in the corner for many months now and is definitely getting larger
I have continued to play Bridge twice a week, I don’t seem to be improving in the slightest though, but practice makes perfect so they say! I have also gone back to playing Mahjong with some good friends and we catch up once a week for breakfast first and then a few games.
Pull up a Seat City Beach, Perth – our view from the cafe where we play Mahjong
Our book club this month was held at a friend’s house who had chosen the book, where we were served the most delicious carrot cake and champagne. The book this month was “Naked” by Eliza Redgold about the story of Lady Godiva. We have been theming our bookclub meetings for a while, I’m not so sure I would feel comfortable rocking up naked on a horse to this one. We had a wonderful afternoon discussing the book amongst other things.
I had a night at the cinema with a couple of girlfriends where we saw “How to Please a Woman”, it was hilarious and but I think I laughed more at my friend who was actually snorting with laughter.
My cheeky cherub of a grandson turned four at the end of June and we visited him for cake and presents.
These two beautiful little people bring the most joy to my life and I love my day of looking after them both. Although I have to say it’s hard work taking them to the park, it’s like having two run away puppies, I have to have my wits about me.
A gallery of June
I hope everyone had a good June also. Now onto July and looking forward to more sunny days in Perth.
I had been meaning to visit Hyde Hall Gardens for some time but the weather was always against us or we had other plans. So on the first fine day we decided to drive over and have a look. My dear husband seemed aghast when we arrived and found out it wasn’t an old building we were visiting but a vast garden!
Hyde Hall Gardens is owned and managed by The Royal Horticultural Society and covers more than 365 acres of land. It is divided up into different types of gardens ranging from Mediterranean, Australian/New Zealand, Winter, Vegetable and Dry gardens. There is a large nursery from which to buy plants from. There are panoramic views of the rolling hills and the Essex countryside. We had an amazing morning here walking around and marvelling at all kinds of plants, trees and flowers.
Views from the top
Sculptures by David Watkinson
Coppiced Willows “Allow yourself to bend like a willow in the wind, so that you will not break”
“Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty“ ~ William Shakespeare ~
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope” ~ Lady Bird Johnson ~
As you can see it was a glorious day, bitterly cold but the sun was shining making the water glisten and the flowers look brighter.
Blooming magnolia tree
The old farmhouseOne of the old barnsGabion Wall A gabion is a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping. – Source: WikipediaA Koala in the Australian GardenA Performing Red Robin
Finally time for a rest!
We enjoyed our time at Hyde Hall Gardens, it’s a great place to visit to stretch your legs and get your daily exercise. A place of peace and tranquility with many places to sit and rest and enjoy the magnificent views.
“Cheerio everyone”
This is the last post for the “Enjoying Essex” series as we are now back in our homeland of Perth, WA. I hope you have enjoyed travelling along with us in Essex.
I’ve linked this post with a few challenges that I’ve enjoyed over the years.
The last time I visited Canvey Island was around 40 years ago, and then that was only at night to a nightclub or disco as it was called then, The Goldmine! It was a regular haunt for many years, such fun nights were had.
I have recently downloaded an app called Go Jauntly, which gives you different walks in whatever location you are in.
The walk I am taking you along in this post is along the Esplanade on Canvey Island to take a look at the murals on the sea wall. The Esplanade is lined with benches and each one is dedicated to a loved one with an engraved plaque. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did and maybe you will have a favourite.
The three murals below depict the changes on Canvey Island over the decades. The sun was out therefore so was my shadow!
The murals are all about the things in life for whom the mural was painted for.
A beautiful carefree life shown in the above mural.
My favourite
All of these murals are so intricately drawn and beautifully painted, and have stood the test of time. Unlike many murals I have seen there is no graffiti anywhere to be seen.
My favourite is the ship with the elegant dancers in the foreground, did you have one?
It was a lovely sunny day and I also took the opportunity to snap some photos of the views from the Esplanade. They are interesting more than picturesque! Mud flats and rocks as far as the eye can see with an oil tanker in the far distance.
Multi coloured rowing boats
Click to enlarge above photos
Canvey Island
It is separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks. Lying only just above sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides and has been inhabited since the Roman conquest of Britain. A flood in 1953 from the North Sea devastated the island, killing 58 islanders and leading to the temporary evacuation of the 13,000 residents. It is now protected by modern sea defences comprising 2 miles (3.2 km) of concrete sea walls. Between 1911 and 1951 it was a popular seaside resort.
As much as it is residential here there are large oil tanks on the island and it is noted for the relationship with the petrochemical industry. Source – Wikipedia
As is our habit on these outings we always end up at a pub, and today was no exception! My dear husband stopped a lady walking her dog and asked her for a recommendation. She suggested The Lobster Smack.
Such a wonderfully old pub to end our walk with lunch, a pint and a cold white wine.
It is said that there has been a pub on this site since the 1580’s and was believed to have been a model for Dickens’ Sluice Farm in Great Expectations. I found a very interesting history of this pub in this link – The Lobster Smack.
Cheerio from the Essex Wanderers
I hope you enjoyed this walk along the Esplanade with me. I’ve been very cheeky and linked it to a few challenges below.
This is the second post showing murals from the town of Basildon. There is a market area with many different stalls and small cafes and dotted around are miniature murals of the various stallholders. They are very cute and I managed to get a couple of photos of the actual people.
All Those Who Wander are not Lost Mr Bigg
Marta and Kay from Marta’s Chimney Cafe. Such a gorgeous little cafe where I enjoyed a delicious home made Chicken and Veg Soup. In the summer they dress up in these cute red dresses.
For Cee and Marsha’s Public Art Challenge this week I have some elephants from the Herd of Hope. They are bronze sculptures created by acclaimed artists Gillie and Marc, I came across them on our recent day trip to London in Spitalfields.
SattaoJottoLuggard
They are a family of 21 bronze elephants, who were lost when they became orphaned and are now in the care of the Sheldrick Trust.
I would have liked to look at all of them and read the stories but there was not enough time, maybe on another visit.
