After grabbing lunch, we headed over to this brewery called Little Creatures to try out some of the local brews. If you happen to be new to the area, they’ll give you a free tasting plate so you can figure out what you like. The cider and the Dog Days brew were absolutely delicious.

 

Kangaroo Burgers and Australian Ice Cream

After sampling a few brews, we headed back to the house and had a cookout. It was my first time trying kangaroo and I was certainly not disappointed. Interestingly, it’s popular in Australia to use beet slices as a burger topping, and it’s definitely something I intend on trying at home.

For dessert, we had Golden Gaytime ice cream bars. Original to Australia, the name has managed to stick around since their release in 1959. They’re also available in New Zealand, but are less interestingly called Cookie Crumble.

 

The Pinnacles and Lancelin

The next day, we packed up the Jeep and made our way through the bush to Nambung National Park to visit The Pinnacles. Once inside the park, you can walk among the limestone formations sticking out of the sand.

After checking out the desert, we made our way to Lancelin to grab lunch.

We checked out Endeavour Tavern in Lancelin and grabbed a seat with a great view of the ocean. I ordered a fantastic chicken parmigiana. Australia definitely does it right.

 

Caversham Wildlife Park

Next up, we went to see some kangaroos at Caversham Wildlife Park. Ordinarily, you don’t want to approach kangaroos in the wild, but at the park, they’re all tame and approachable.

In addition to the kangaroos, they had a bunch of other Australian animals such as koalas, wallabies, possums, and the infamous cassowary, which is considered one of the most dangerous birds in the world.

After spending tons of time petting all the kangaroos (seriously, my trip wouldn’t have been complete without doing so), we headed over to the cassowary exhibit. The cassowary is the second heaviest bird in the world and can disembowel a human with its powerful claws. There was no petting the cassowaries.

 

Varsity Bar

So here’s a little backstory. When I met Karen in New York City for the first time on Halloween two years ago, I figured I’d be funny and take her to the Australian themed steakhouse we have back in the states. To continue with that theme, she took me to an American themed restaurant while I was in Australia called Varsity Bar. The food was pretty fantastic, as were the frozen drinks.

 

Swan Valley

Sadly, it was now my fifth and final day in Australia. Our flight to Singapore departed at 6:35 PM, so we had most of the day left before we had to leave.

For lunch, we checked out Duckstein Brewery wonderful German restaurant in Swan Valley with a fantastic veal schnitzel.

We also checked out Morish Nuts and sampled a few of their offerings. The real standout was their wasabi macadamia nut. The associate described the taste as “Like being slapped in the face”.

Afterwards, we did a rum tasting over at the Kimberly Rum Company. All of the rums presented were pretty great, but the spiced rum was like no rum I’ve ever had before.

 

Perth Airport

We arrived at the airport and checked in for our Scoot flight with ample time to spare. After clearing security, I grabbed a couple more things to bring home with me.

 

In Conclusion

So that completes my first trip to Australia. I got to experience more than I could have ever expected and I hope to make a trip back soon to see even more.

Next stop, Singapore!