Perth
Perth was an absolutely magical land filled with friendly people, clean public facilities, great infrastructure and gorgeous landscapes. The beaches and weather were stunning. Perth is on the West side of Australia so it is not the easiest place to get to from the states but should be a place that you visit at some point in your life.
Airbnb Perth
We stayed at a cute Airbnb that was a couple of blocks from the waterfront in Perth. We had a nice balcony with a sliding door. It was so nice feeling the cool crisp morning air especially after coming from the hot humidity in Singapore.
Fremantle aka Freo
We had a fun day trip out to Fremantle. We planned on taking a river ferry but it wasn’t running the day we wanted to go. Luckily, they have a great public transportation system and it took us about 30 min by train to get there. We were greeted by a beautiful ocean view and a bunch of Norfolk Pine (Araucaria heterophylla).
A Norfolk Pine in Fremantle!
Fun fact, my favorite tree in the whole wide world is the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana). The Norfolk Pine is in the same family as the monkey puzzle tree! The monkey puzzle tree is still way cooler. If you have never seen a monkey puzzle tree take a trip out to see us in Seattle! MPT seedlings were given out at the Seattle 1962 World's fair and that is one of the reasons you can find them all over the city.
Checking out the beach in Freo!
We had drinks and lunch at an awesome brewery on the waterfront called Gage Roads Freo Brewery. (Freo is the hip way to refer to Fremantle). They have delicious sour beers and woodfired pizza. We took a stroll around the beach and through Fremantle and of course, we had to find Zach some ice cream. He refused to stop at Baskin Robins and luckily we stumbled upon a local ice cream shop, Kuld Creamery that was founded by a woman from Michigan and her husband who is Canadian. She was so relaxed and chill and she mentioned that there were not a lot of ice cream shops in the area (mostly gelato shops) so she wanted to bring that to the Fremantle area. We started pondering more about how Jeanette can move to Perth and open an ice cream shop. In order to differentiate from Kuld Creamery, Zach suggested she start an ice cream sandwich shop like Kintaam. Fingers crossed that the business works out so that we can visit her in Perth!
Lunch and beers at Gage Roads, yum!
Cottesloe Beach
We loved the beaches out by Fremantle so much that we decided to head back for another beach day. This time we stopped at Cottesloe Beach which is two train stops before Fremantle. The beaches in this area are gorgeous and stretch on for miles. We had a nice lunch at the Ocean Beach Hotel before heading to check out the beach. They have a section that is roped off so that sharks can’t get in so I decided to do a little bit of open water swimming. It was my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean! The water was the perfect temperature and it was super clear. I saw some tropical fish during my swim which was so cool. After I dried off we checked out the art sculptures that are set up all over the park. This was by far one of my favorite beaches I have ever visited.
Marching down to the beach for a swim. First time in the Indian Ocean! Passing some cool sculptures along the way.
We took the train back and went out Hunter and Barrel for dinner. They had phenomenal meat skewers that had a very interesting presentation. We had an interesting experience paying for our meal. Most places have a card reader and there is nowhere to give a tip. This time, we had a receipt where we could have given a tip but we didn’t realize it until we paid and our server walked away. We didn't have any cash and we were embarrassed to just walk away without leaving a tip especially since it was a nicer restaurant. We drew up the courage to tell our server about the situation. He kind of chuckled and said, “Where are you guys from? The US? Oh, well in Australia we don’t expect tips so don’t worry about it at all.” Phew! I am so glad we asked though because I would not have been able to sleep thinking that we stiffed them on a tip.
Excited for our meat skewer dinner!
Wine Tour #1- Swan Valley
We took a wine tour to Swan Valley through d’Vine Wine Tours and stopped at Lancaster Wines, Mandoon Estate and I can’t remember the last winery but they made us pour our own wine for our tasting which was super odd so I definitely wouldn’t go back there.
Wine tasting where you serve yourself? The couple to the left was not excited about this setup at all
It was a fun time but quite honestly the wine was just okay. We have all lived near amazing vineyards along the West Coast so we are a bit of wine snobs. Margaret River is supposed to be a much better area for wine tasting but it was about a 3h drive away from Perth. If you are super into wine tasting and have the time it is probably a better use of your time to head out to Margaret river rather than Swan Valley.
Wine tasting in Swan Valley!
Zach was very excited to pair sparkling wine with his burger for lunch. Questionable choice...
Waterfront Path
Perth also has a beautiful waterfront path along the Swan River which is great for running or long morning walks. We woke up early almost every day to get in some morning exercise along the path which also connects to other parks and green spaces.
Our morning stroll. Optus Stadium is in the background which is where they play Footy aka Australian Football
Melbourne
Zach and I both have interesting back stories about wanting to get to Melbourn for about 10+ years. When I was in undergrad I applied for a Fulbright Scholarship at Monash University. I had connected with a PI, Brian Oldfield whose research focused on how the brain controls energy metabolism and he was up for having me join his lab for a year. Unfortunately, I was not awarded the scholarship ?. Zach had applied to business school in Melbourne but after speaking with an advisor he realized it would be a cool way to spend a couple of years studying but job prospects would likely be limited because the University is not well recognized in the US. With our historical desire to visit Melbourne, we both naturally had the city on the top of our list to visit while we were in Australia.
Airbnb in Melbourne
We booked an Airbnb just outside of the central business district in an area called St. Kilda. The tram system and public transportation in Melbourne is fantastic so it was super easy to get around to the different parts of the city. Although the location was nice, Zach was definitely not a huge fan of the Airbnb we stayed in which had a small bed and looked directly into an office building associated with Monash University.
The office building that looked right into our AirBnb. So funny that it was associated with Monash University where I had tried to go to for a Fulbright Scholarship.
However, the one awesome feature the Airbnb had was a rooftop lap swimming pool. The water was quite warm so I could never swim very fast but swimming in the warm water in the crisp cool morning air was super refreshing and I felt like I could swim in there forever. This was absolutely one of my favorite places that I got a chance to swim in during our travels.
Checking the water temp before jumping in for a swim. Nice and toasty!
Walking Tour
We started our trip with a free walking tour with I’m Free Tours. This is a fantastic company that has free tours in both Melbourne and Sydney. We were guided by a local Melbournian through the streets of Melbourne learning about history and contemporary culture. This was an excellent way to orient ourselves to the city.
Our tour guide telling us about the 888 lifestyle: 8 hours of work, 8 hours of play and 8 hours of sleep
Checking out "The Block" which was used for dating back in the day way before Tinder.
Wine tour #2- Yarra Valley
We took a day trip out to the Yarra Valley through Go West tours. Our tour guide was a hoot and had awesome dad jokes to tell us all day long. We spent the day tasting fresh fruit, chocolate and wine. While we tasted delicious cheese at Yarra Valley Dairy we got to meet a cool dog named Sparkles!
Sparkles!!!
This was my first time trying sparkling Shiraz which we had at Balgownie Estate and our tasting guide told us was a very Australian thing. We are still not sure if this was totally accurate or if it was a way to have us purchase a bottle but I thought it was super tasty!
Our favorite winery that we visited was Yering Station. We had a super knowledgeable host who went into detail about the wines.
Wine tasting in the Yarra Valley
Reconnecting with friends
Remember how I mentioned I connected with a PI from Monash University for a potential Fulbright Scholarship? Well, it is a super small world because when I joined the University of Cincinnati for grad school, there was a student, Sarah Lockie from Monash University doing a research rotation in my PI’s lab. She just so happened to be working with the exact PI I contacted in Australia. Crazy! Sarah and I spent about a year in the lab together before she headed back to Australia. We hadn’t kept in touch but I decided to reconnect with her while we were in Melbourne. We spent a lovely evening at her home talking about science (you can check out her research here!), travel and being entertained by her two kids. We learned a lot about new YouTube and TikTok trends :D
Food and Coffee in Melbourne
Supernormal
Our dinner at Supernormal was Zach’s favorite meal of our trip so I wanted to highlight it here. We were super lucky to get in this place because there were no reservations the entire time we were in town. We decided that we would go right when the restaurant opened for dinner to see if they had an open table and sure enough they did! Their menu was an interesting Asian-inspired fusion. They had a pre-set menu that was a three course meal which we went with because at this point in the trip we were tired of making decisions. The whole meal was phenomenal and had a variety of seafood, lamb and mouth watering peanut butter and chocolate dessert. We highly recommend this place if you ever go to Melbourne.
Self-explanatory photo
Kettle Black
Melbourne really was on a roll with their food scene because this was Zach’s favorite breakfast meal. Kettle Black is set in a cool Victorian-style building and two large modern buildings were built around it. Zach had eggs benedict and I had avocado toast. The winner at this spot was definitely the Halloumi cheese. Zach ended up ordering a second serving! And of course, the coffee was smooth and delicious.
Parks and Museums in Melbourne
The Shrine of Remembrance War Museum
After breakfast at Kettle Black we headed to the botanic gardens. We were in search of a bathroom along the way and stumbled into the Shrine of Remembrance which is a war memorial for the men and women who have served in the Australian military. I find it super interesting to learn about major wars in history from the perspective of another country. There is also a beautiful rooftop lookout at the top of the museum that has a great view of the city and parks.
Shrine of Remembrance
The Royal Botanic Gardens
After the Shrine we finally made it over to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Melbourne is full of parks and green spaces which is one of the many reasons it is one of the most livable cities in the world. Our favorite green space in Melbourne were the botanic gardens which are free to enter.
The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
This is a sprawling area of plants from all over the world. They have a fern gully and we even found a monkey puzzle tree! There were also tons of trees from the monkey puzzle tree family (Araucariaceae). This is a super relaxing and refreshing way to spend a few hours of your day.
Monkey puzzle tree in the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne!
Monkey puzzle tree family member!
Overall, we loved Melbourne. It is such a hip city that has a ton of fun things to see and do. It is kind of a blend of San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland but much cleaner and with better public trans and green spaces.
Sydney/Coogee
On our walking tour in Melbourne we learned about the sibling rivalry that Melbournians have with the people of Sydney (Sydneyians? I don’t know what they call themselves) and they are always competing for who has the best city. For that reason many of the Mebournians said that they were not particularly fond of Sydney so my expectations were lowered when we headed off to Sydney. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Sydney, but I cannot make a full assessment of whether Sydney or Melbourne is the better city because we had so little time to explore Sydney. I think this means that we have to go back to give an accurate recommendation :)
Coogee Beach
Airbnb on Coogee Beach
We stayed at an awesome 2 bedroom Airbnb on Coogee Beach which is about 20 min outside of the central business district of Sydney. We went back and forth about whether we should stay in the city or near the beach but I am super glad we chose the beach because it was so beautiful and very chill. Our Airbnb was about a 5 min walk to the beach and was surrounded by amazing restaurants. Plus, it had a super comfy king-size bed which Zach had been longing for.
Sugarcane Restaurant
Our first night on Coogee we had a delicious meal at Sugarcane which is a SE Asian fusion restaurant. We went there right when they opened and got a spot without a reservation…a strategy that served us well in Australia! We decided to get the “Trust Me” option where our server picked out the dishes to share for the table. This was a great choice and had a great mix of seafood as well as beef and chicken. We were so full after that Zach didn’t even have room to get his ice cream!
Walk from Coogee to Bondi
Our first morning we woke up “early” to do the famous cliffside walk from Coogee to Bondi Beach. We started our walk at 7am which we realized is not that early for the locals. The beach was already packed with surfers, open water swimmers and runners. They were likely getting in their morning activities before the heat set in and/or before they went to work.
Sunrise before our walk. So many people already out and in the water!
The ~5 mile walk from Coogee to Bondi was absolutely gorgeous. There were beautiful coves filled with swimmers and multiple smaller beaches for surfing.
Watching some surfers as we strolled from Coogee to Bondi Beach
We also noticed that there were so many people out walking their dogs on this path and the dogs were soooo well behaved! Many of them were off leash and were super obedient. We don’t know why dogs in Australia seem to be so much better behaved but our suspicion is that Australians prioritize personal life and training their dogs as opposed to keeping them in a kennel all day while they work super long hours. Plus, the weather and natural beauty would be extra motivating to get outside and enjoy a walk with your dog.
No worries Australian Lifestyle
Bondi Beach...I wish I had time to swim in that amazing pool
Swimming in the Pacific Ocean
I also got some “swimming” in while in Coogee. This was super cool because I got to swim in both the Indian Ocean in Perth and the Pacific Ocean in Sydney while on our trip. I use air quotes on swimming because I probably only did about 10 strokes of real swimming. There was a dangerous shore break that was a bit tricky to get past for non-native Coogee Beach goers plus I was pretty tired from the Coogee to Bondi walk so I didn’t have enough energy for a proper open water swim. There is also a rip that can pull you pretty far out so I decided to play it safe. I guess I will just have to come back and do another swim in the future :)
Where I "swam" on Coogee Beach
Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy post! This only scratched the surface of all of the fun adventures we had in Australia. We came away from our time in Australia with a more relaxed mindset about prioritizing life over work and we hope the hustle culture of the US doesn’t bleed too much into this new perspective. Zach and I are totally down for another trip out to Australia so if you want to be as cool as Jeannette and join us next time just let us know!
