perth Archives - Wander Wonder Wonton

Perth for five days

February 2, 2017

I took advantage of the Australia Day long weekend and jumped on a plane to Perth for the first time to visit one of my best friends, Gemma.

Everyone complains about how long the flight is… honestly, I slept the whole way. Didn’t even eat my food on the way over! Although, I do really enjoy plane time. I’m either fast asleep (90% of the time) or pretty productive working or writing blogs.

We spent our first day at the gorgeous Rottnest Island, cycling in stupid heat, snorkelling and searching out Quokkas. Read about it here.

We were going to head in to watch the fireworks for Australia Day in the city but there was a terrible plane accident and they were cancelled. We were both buggered anyway from a massive day exploring, instead deciding to lie on the couch, drink a bottle of Moët and watch a movie.

Friday we went into the city, walked up Jacobs Ladder (twice, 250 stairs – gahh) around the gardens overlooking the city and back around. We had lunch at Revelry in Elizabeth Quay and some delicious gelato. Our friend Renee met us and we went back home for some bevvies on the deck and a lovely dinner Gemma made. Side note – Nando’s peri peri chicken marinade is awesome.

Saturday I met Renee’s beautiful son Max. Gem and I napped the arvo before dumplings in Northbridge and the Limbo show at the Perth Fringe Festival at the Pleasure Garden. Phenomenal show in the Speigaltent, incredible music and talented performers with a burlesque style. Had everyone in the audience raptured in the performance. After the show we went for some drinks, Shady Tony’s was a trendy, hidden prohibition bar with great cocktails.

Sunday I was treated to a winery tour from Gemma and Celia with D’vine wine tours around the Swan Valley. We visited three wineries, a chocolate house and a brewery. My favourite was Fig Tree Estate, they had a fab dry sparkling, a chocolatey merlot and the best cheese and olives. I bought some of the French soft cows cheese, it was rich and creamy. If I had room in my luggage I would have purchased some of the Sicilian green olives too.

For our last evening together we ate cheese (yup the one from above) and had pasta with a movie at home. We had both enough of drinking by then!

Monday we checked out Little Creatures Brewery in Freo for a scrumptious lunch (you can read about that here) and the local boutiques.

Now here I am on the plane heading back to Brisbane and battling to keep my eyes open… night!

Aussie Day on Rottnest Island, WA

February 1, 2017

A 45minute boat ride out of Fremantle on the Rottnest Express takes you out to an island paradise.
We made the trip for Australia Day, it was scorching hot (about 38 degrees) and we were ready to explore!

There’s a bus and a train that takes you around the island (no cars other than service vehicles) but we decided to take the active way – cycling! For $45 from Peddle and Flippers you choose a bike and load up with a pair of flippers and get set to take off.

We chose to go out around to Little Salmon Bay, up to the lighthouse, over to the Basin and back into the centre to return the bikes. All up, around 12kms, not that far. Damn, it was tough going in that heat though! The island isn’t flat, there’s lolling hills and you definitely get your heart rate up. Not to mention the lack of shade and you sure as hell better have packed a tonne of water, there’s not many refill spots along the way.

There’s scenic points around most bends, we were constantly stopping to capture the beauty. The coastline is crystal clear in hues of blues and turquoise and full of the outlines of coral. Boats are scattered everywhere and the ‘good spots’, ie any with shade, were all taken early. The land itself is dry, lots of bracken and brownish shrubbery.

We spent most of the day at Little Salmon Bay. Luckily an open cave had been vacated and we took to the shade as fast as we could, hot and sweaty from the cycling and sunshine. Gemma had made us a lovely picnic lunch, fresh salmon salads and veggies with beetroot hummus dip. Oh and vodka and coconut water – it was Australia Day after all!

The snorkelling out from the bay exceeded my expectations. There were plenty of fish, large and small of many different varieties. I even found some bright purple coral and a huge crayfish going for a wander!

I know what you’re all thinking. The Quokkas! Tell us about the Quokkas!

They completely live up to their reputation as one of the happiest creatures in the world. They’re incredibly cute and friendly. We first came across some on the way to the lighthouse, they were lethargic and lying under a tree. With a shake of the water bottle they were our and eager for hydration! We tried to just feed them from the water bottle cap but their thirst wasn’t quenched and the bigger one was straight into the bottle! He’d definitely done that before. He latched on and drank like a baby, happy as can be, selfishly pushing his smaller mate out of the way. Once they were both suitably hydrated the selfie show began. We took sooo many pics with the cute balls of fluff! They kind of look like a wallaby crossed with a happy rat… it’s hard to explain and doesn’t do them justice so just look at the pictures!

The pink salt lakes were a pleasant surprise, we weren’t sure what they are at first, an epic pink landscape appearing around the hill.

We made it to the Basin to cool off with another swim then went back to town, dropped off our gear and went to the Hotel to listen to the last of the Triple J Autralia Day Top 100 countdown with some beers and prawns.

Awesome day out, add it to your bucket list!

Little Creatures Brewery, Fremantle, WA

January 31, 2017

With a few recommendations to check out the Little Creatures Brewery in Freo for lunch and a bevvie, it was really a no brainer.
The waitress gave me a taster of the beers and while I found out I like their Bright Ale the best, I decided on their crisp cider for lunch.

Gem and I shared the beetroot salad, chili and tomato mussels and some charred corn on the cob with manchengo cheese.

The salad was nice and rich, smooth feta and walnuts with the beetroot. The charred corn really can’t go wrong really, and the chili tomato mussels were mind blowing! The sauce was rich and full of flavour, not too hot. We devoured them and all but spooned the leftover broth as a soup!

Next door at the Brewery, a wonderful, energetic man explained to us all about beers and enticed us to have some tasters. He was passionate and excited about his brand and obviously loved his job – he’s just who you’d want working for you! He made us curious and sent us out with a lot more beer knowledge than before. I hope he wins employee of the month or something for being so awesome.

Authentic Bites Dumpling House, Perth

January 29, 2017

You didn’t think I could make it to a new state and not try some dumplings did you?

I had read about Authentic Bites Dumpling House in Northbridge, Perth and decided I wanted to give them a go. My thoughts were confirmed when a friend of a friend confirmed it was a great joint.

We had to line up outside, maybe ten minutes. As soon as we sat down we out our order in. Pan fried pork buns, pork and prawn chilli wontons, xiao long bao and choy sum in oyster sauce. Had I known it was BYO at the time, I would have definitely taken a bottle in with me too.

The food came quickly (there were 10 chefs in the kitchen) and each dish was more delicious than the last. The xiao long bao were perfectly soupy, the chilli wontons were full of flavour and the choy sum provided a much needed hit of greens.

Not only was it quick & delicious, the entire meal only cost $37 for the two of us!

Would love to know if there is a better dumpling place in Perth but I have my doubts.