Perth City, Kings Park and Botanic Garden

Yesterday we drove to the city center in Perth to take a look around. We wanted to go to Kings Park to join a free tour led by volunteers every day. Unfortunately, the bus didn't work out (we waited for 40 minutes even though the buses are supposed to come every 30 minutes) so we didn't make it to the tour on time. However, there was another one two hours later, so we went there. But before that, we had some time left and since the public transportation ticket also works for the ferry and is valid for 2 hours after purchase, we quickly went to the Ferry Station and from there we crossed the Swan River to the Perth Zoo/South Perth Station. However, we didn't get off there, we just went back. But it was nice to see Perth's skyline from the water.

Once we arrived again, we visited the Bell Tower, which is right there at Elizabeth Quay. There are different bells and clocks on display and the architecture of the tower is quite interesting. But we didn't go inside, I only got the information from the travel guide :D

Then we set out to find the way to Kings Park. It always looks easier when viewed from above on a map than it actually is. To get to the park, you have to climb quite a few meters in elevation and walk through a huge intersection of streets and highways. The signage doesn't make the search any easier, it confused us already at the Ferry Station. But Australians are nice and could describe the way to us well.

In the end, we arrived at Kings Park and the view from there is truly breathtaking. Beautiful - even in the rainy weather and partly foggy views yesterday. Kings Park in general is the largest park in the city and over 5 square kilometers in size. There are different viewpoints, picnic areas, monuments, hiking trails, and a botanical garden with many Australian plants. The free guided walk we took happened to be the Botanic Garden Walk, which focused on native flowers and shrubs. And since it is winter in Perth at the moment and the day wasn't so nice, Andi and I were the only visitors on this tour. So we had our private guide through the park. That was really cool! :D She was also super nice and asked us where we come from and what we do, etc. And she explained all the plants to us and told anecdotes and you could really tell that she enjoys this topic and thought it was great that at least two people came on her tour on such a day. In the end, we walked through the park for 1.5 hours and just as we were saying goodbye and Andi and I wanted to get a fish burger to recharge, it started raining heavily. It was pouring! And we were so lucky with our tour!

We waited out the rain while eating and then went back to the city. But this time with a free bus. In the city center of Perth, there is a free transit zone and 4 bus lines that are free. Totally cool. We took the bus to the Perth train station to take the train back to our hostel. Near the Cottesloe Station, there is a library and all libraries in Australia have free Wi-Fi. We definitely took advantage of that, then we bought something to eat at Woolworths and finally walked home.

It was a very interesting, cold and wet, but great and exciting day :)

(By the way, sorry for the pictures that are sometimes uploaded upside down, somehow the site sometimes doesn't recognize which way is up and down in the pictures. I'll write to support about that...)