SQ 787-10 Dreamliner New Business Class to Perth, Margaret River Glamping & Vineyards

[yflyer]

That evening, for our final dinner in Margaret River, Mrs yflyer and I headed to Morries.



The cuisine here was modern Australian...





...but what stood out was the outstanding bar and drink selection...



...with wines available by the glass, half glass as well as 30ml tastes at A$2.50 a pop...



...flights of spirits/wines...



...and an intriguing list of cocktails, accompanied with line illustrations, a sample of which are shown below...





We sampled some of their cocktails...

Portena Amagra...



Fat Coconut...



Peacetree Princeton...

[yflyer]

To eat, we shared a delicious Snapper Ceviche...



...Carnavon Cuttlefish with Pesto...



...and a tender and flavourful Scotch Fillet...



We browsed the dessert menu...



...but all we had room for was Manchego cheese, washed down with Ruby Slipper port...



A very satisfying meal...if we weren't already swaying in our seats, we would have wanted to sample more of the items on the bar menu...

It was a short, if slightly unsteady, walk through town back to our accommodations at Vintages.

[yflyer]

The next day, after checking out of Vintages, rather than head north back to Perth, we first made a detour south to visit Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, located on headlands which were the most southwesterly point on the Australian continent.



There is a small visitor's centre and cafe, as well as guided tours conducted every half hour.



Snakes appeared to be active all over WA in summer. Someone must be making a fortune on these snake warning signs...we saw them everywhere during our trip.



All we saw were signs though, no sign of the actual snakes anywhere on our trip.

The tour brings you right up to the top of the lighthouse.



We opted not to go on the tour, but just walk around the area below the lighthouse, where there were great ocean views.



Mrs yflyer was very keen to visit Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse because this was where the Indian Ocean met the Southern Ocean.

"This is where two oceans meet! I want to see it!", she said.

I was quite amused at all of this.

"It's the same water..." I told her, "...the fish don't care, the water doesn't care..."

In the visitor's centre, she asked the friendly guide manning the reception...

"Where exactly is the boundary between the two oceans?"

The guide must have heard this question hundreds of times, and had a ready answer.

"Just off the coast, you will see some rocks...to the right is the Indian Ocean, to the left is the Southern Ocean", he replied...

[yflyer]

After Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, it was a 4 hour drive back to Perth, where the only stops were at Dunsborough for lunch (At Squid Lips again!) and a brief petrol stop just outside Perth.



The Westin Perth is a very new hotel, first opened in April 2018 on the site of the former HQ of Western Australia's fire fighting services.



The ground floor public areas and check-in area are not huge, but are very beautifully styled...

[yflyer]

Our room was on the 26th floor.



As we entered the room, the electrically operated blackout curtains automatically opened...



A very cool feature that elicited a few wows...

The room was very beautifully styled in a modern pastel/beige theme which I found very attractive.



There were two double beds and enough space for a sofa too...





The table in the room was large, and could double as both a work table and dining table...



The room was equipped with electrically operated blinds...



We had great views from our East-facing room...



...with views of the Swan River and Crown Casino...



The airport...



Perth's new stadium...



...and St Mary's Cathedral...

[yflyer]

There was very nice artwork in the room...



...and great attention to detail...



Beautiful bathroom...






Shower only -- no tub...



White Tea Aloe toiletries...





There was also a bench in the bathroom. "What a useful feature!", Mrs yflyer thought.

[yflyer]

There is an outdoor pool...



...and a gym...

[yflyer]

The Westin Perth has a superb Executive Lounge...one of the most appealing hotel lounges I have had the pleasure of visiting recently.

Lounge decor/ambience, service and catering were all superb.

"Living room" style seating...





Sofas by the large windows...



A very elegant and sophisticated buffet area with a very nice F&B selection...



Sparking wine...



...choice of several whites...



...and reds...



Sangria...



...and cocktails (G&T's etc) available on request...



Beers in the fridge...

[yflyer]

Some of the evening canapes available...



Cheese & Olives...





Marinated vegetables...



Cold cuts...



Salads...



Deliciously smooth and creamy chicken liver pate with flatbread...



...and an assortment of hummus and dips...

[yflyer]

Breakfast in the Executive Lounge was no less impressive...



...with a live egg station, where Margaret River eggs were prepared to order...





The omelettes were wonderful...



These were almost works of art, and tasted as good as they looked...



Coffee, tea and hot chocolate...





Vegemite, Nutella and Peanut Butter were among the range of spreads and jams available...



A very hi-tech toaster...



Chia seeds and smoothies...



Overall, a wonderful Executive Lounge!

[yflyer]

Now that we were back in Perth, we spent the next day exploring the city centre...



Perth is a very user-friendly city...a compact city centre with several pedestrian-only streets at its centre...





Alongside modern skyscrapers, historic buildings have been preserved, including the State Buildings: previously the Lands, Titles and Treasury buildings, these are now a hub for fine restaurants and shopping.



There are numerous parks...



...and a beautiful waterfront and hllltop vantage point, Kings Park, which I would explore later on while running.

[yflyer]

Key attractions aside, sometimes just wandering along the streets without a plan had its own rewards. Purely by chance, we stumbled across this bookstore, Stefen's Books, which focused on crime, fantasy, science fiction and horror: in other words, just the bookstore for me, Mrs yflyer and our kids!



The gentleman inside was astonishing familiar with the titles in each genre, and gave Miss yflyer no.2 and Mrs yflyer very good recommendations on books in their respective areas of interest. That gentleman was, of course, Stefen, as a glance at the store's logo would instantly confirm.



This was a labour of love...he had worked in Borders and Dymocks in the past, and had decided to strike it out on his own. This was a wonderful bookstore that we spent a very long time in, before walking out with a huge pile of books.

In this era of Amazon Kindles, iPads and other ebooks, it had been a while since I had actually bought a hardcopy book, but picked up several, as did Mrs yflyer and our girl. Stefen's recommendations made a difference.

And the amazing thing is: we had encountered Stefen's Books entirely by chance.

"We were deciding whether to walk down Murray Street or Hay Street. We decided on Murray Street...if we had decided on Hay Street we would have missed your store completely!" I told Stefen.

Stefen's Books, along Murray Street, is a little gem of a bookstore that is well worth a visit while in Perth!

[yflyer]

Perth had decent options for Asian cuisine as well. After 5 days in Australia, it was time for an Asian food fix...

We had lunch at Thai restaurant Long Chim, which is located in the State Buildings.





There is a large dining room...





...but we decided to sit in the open-air courtyard, seated on plastic stools around stainless steel table tops...



...under multicoloured umbrellas...

[yflyer]

The menu...



There was also a lunch special, which we decided to go for....



We ordered the fried rice with roast duck, as well as the pineapple curry of pork...



A satisfying meal!

[yflyer]

That evening, I headed out for a run from the Westin to Kings Park and back.

My start point was the Westin...



I headed to the Swan River front...



...and headed west along the riverside walking/cycling trail...



I headed past the Bell Tower, a modern structure build to house the 14th Century bells of the St Martin in the Fields Church in London.



There were very nice views of the city skyline as I jogged along Elizabeth Quay...



I continued across the Elizabeth Quay Bridge...







...and followed the bend towards the south, under the Mitchell Freeway...



...to an overhead bridge to Kings Park...