Day tripping to York, Beverly and Brookton

Distance from Perth: 350km round trip
Route: Great Eastern,  Great Southern and Brookton Hwys

A few weekends back (in late August) we took a road trip to... home. It was a nice day for driving so we set out for destinations unknown.

Our son chose the direction we would drive toward by spinning around several times then randomly pointing and checking the direction with his compass. DH did all the driving, usually we swap but he was happy to drive the whole way, he suggested that it will be my turn to drive a whole trip next time... I bet we will be heading out to Road Train territory. Oh how I do dislike driving with road trains.

We headed Northeast to York and did a loop around to the South past Beverley and Brookton and turned back West and home via Armadale. All up we travelled almost 350km on the route shoen in the map.





We had lunch in York (and visited the Penny Farthing candy store). Our son proved he can run really fast across the suspension pedestrian bridge, after several attempts he managed to cross and return in just 20 seconds... but had to get helped back to the car because he was so exhausted. A nice (and clever) way to get a free piggyback if you ask me!

It was amazing to see how different the countryside looked since we visited back in April. I took a few pictures of the beautiful green fields.

We had afternoon tea in Beverley and played a few hands of Uno in the park there. 

I actually took this trip a a few weeks before I began the blog so the photos in this post are just random shots which were taken to amuse myself.
Here are a few more pictures from the return trip along Brookton Hwy.

What a great day together.

Next time we are in Beverley I'd like to stop and see the Aeronautical museum. Also there is a cool historical harvest day at Avondale Discovery Farm planned for November, that would be cool to see.

I must admit we drove through Brookton as a means to get back to Perth, we were tired after a but day of and we wanted to get home to collect the eggs before our chickens went to bed. The town looked cute if not a little utilitarian (we only saw the town from Great Southern Hwy and most towns keep their cool and unique stuff of the main road). There was a cool big horse statue by the road and I can see from their website that the held a "Virtual Rotnest Swim" last year, now that is my kind of quirky event and makes me think I want to return to explore some more around this township.

Day Tripping to New Norcia

Distance from Perth: 132km
Route: Great Northern Highway

New Norcia Church

This weekend we took a day trip up to New Norcia.

This lovely, peaceful town is a Benedictine Community located just 1.5 hours from Perth. All the images in this post were taken by my son and his friend. Asking the boys to take the photos was the sneaky parental trick used to keep them quiet (but interested) in the 2 hour town tour we took.

I can't say exactly what I liked most about New Norcia, and I admit we didn't get to see everything the town had to offer, but close to number one would be the absolute sense of peace and tranquility to be felt everywhere in the town. Pax (Latin for peace) is the motto of the Benedictine Monks of New Norcia and is central to their daily lives and routine. 


Founded more than 16o years ago, the buildings are gorgeous examples of Spanish architecture and there are tool sheds, nature walks, and an art gallery and history museum to experience. The land belonging to the Benedictine Mission (30km x 10 km around the town center) are used to grow canola, grapes, oranges, olives and other crops including sheep and cattle.

The settlement was created when Benedictine Monks fled from Spain to Italy to due to an anti clerical movement in the early 1800's. During that period there was a focus within Italy on establishing world wide missions, so Dom Salvado and Dom Serra (the founding Bishop of New Norcia) travelled to Perth with Dr John Brady (Arch Bishop of Perth) and were allocated a 20 acre land parcel where the township now lies.  Their aim was to do ministerial work with the native Aborigines and improve their lives through encouraging the learning of agricultural techniques, managing their own land and allowing their children to be educated.

Iron gate protecting the Monk's privacy at their residence.

Through many years of hard work and perseverance the monks increased their landholdings and they became a self sufficient community. Boarding schools were built for boys (St Ildephous) and girls (St Gerturde) and for many years they thrived.

St Gertrudes doorway.

Our tour guide (Roy) was a student at the boarding school and was very knowledgeable about New Norcia's history. As we stood in the field just south of the large Monastery building He related a story about a rather savage fire which threatened the monastery in the early years of the settlement. It is said that exhausted and running out of time and resources to fight the fire bishop Salvado removed the Our Lady of Good Counsel painting from the chapel and positioned it facing the fire. He knelt to pray for divine assistance and incredibly the wind weakened, changed direction and burned back on itself. The mission buildings were saved. Bishop Salvado recounted that he knew enough of the native tongue to understand that the Aboriginal witnesses to this event looked at the painting and remarked that white woman in the image was very powerful. Miracle, coincidence or a bit of both, you decide for yourself, either way it is a colourful bit of history.

Wide open spaces, the field in front of the Monastery Building.

The museum and art gallery is amazing, there are all manner of artifacts from yesteryear. In the gift shop we purchased some really delicious New Norcia Bakehouse bread and several other trinkets including a calico shopping bag and a beautiful china milk jug.

Next time I would like to visit the hotel, stroll along the heritage walk, and attend midday prayers in the chapel.

Shortage of Ivory, Bounty of Ebony

On our return trip to Perth we stopped briefly in Bindoon and purchased some delicious locally grown oranges and mandarins.

Day Tripping to Bunbury

Distance from Perth: 159km
Route: Forrest Hwy

Ah Bunbury just a hop skip and jump South from Perth. Recently (i.e. since I last went to Bunbury) the state government spent millions of dollars on laying the Forrest Highway joining the Kwinana Freeway to Old Coast Road just North of Bunbury.
The weather started out good in Perth but deteriorated as I travelled further South... to the point that I considered turning around several times. I really dislike driving in bad weather, especially when sharing the roads with caravans and trucks all doing 110km/hr.
Anyway what can I say about this day trip? First off the Forrest Highway is BORING!!!! Considering it is only about 5kms shorter and only saves about 12 minutes of travelling time I think I prefer the Old Coast Road route to Bunbury. There is virtually nothing along this flat straight boring new road. Add to this the fact that we bypass Lake Clifton which used to be home to The Center of the Universe BP Roadhouse which was closed down last year due to lack of trade from having it's passing traffic diverted to the new highway. I can't imagine any of the other businesses are doing much better.
So uninspired by the awful weather and the uninteresting trip that I didn't get out of the car (apart from filling up at the Bunbury BP service station). I did drive around town though and I was surprised at the amount of new buildings and businesses that had opened since I was last in Bunbury.


Since this day lacked photo opportunities here are a few from the web:

Bunbury boardwalk

Statues near Entertainment Center

Mangrove Boardwalk

I admit that Bunbury is usually a pit stop on the way to destinations further South, but it does look very interesting and I will visit again on a better day.

Perhaps I will visit a future festival or market, check out the native animal park, see some local arts and crafts or learn about the local aboriginal culture. There is also the Dolphin park, beaches, Boulters Heights Lookout, Mangrove Boardwalk, the Wellington Discovery Forest and 40km's out of Bunbury is Gnomesville.

Day Tripping from Perth - The Beginning

This blog is dedicated to the pursuit of finding something interesting within a day's travel from the city of Perth.

My SIL (and the clever lady who suggested I put my little trips on a blog) is Japanese. In the last few years, since she and my brother returned from living in Tokyo, we have a fair number of visitors to Perth. Every time we make plans to be a 'guide' for one of our visitors we stand around scratching our heads wondering what could possibly be interesting for them to see.

Having been born and bred in Perth, I have pretty much taken for granted most of what my local area has to offer. When living or visiting in other countries I make a pretty good tourist, I want to see everything (or at least as much as possible) in the short time available. So my challenge is to become a tourist in my own town.

I have roughly a six hour gap on a weekday to travel from Perth (and a little longer on weekends but I always aim to be back in my own bed every night). How far can I travel, where can I go and what will I discover in and around the edges of Perth?

Map of Perth, WA from Google Maps

Please keep in mind that the opinions shared in this blog are just my opinions, you might not agree with them and that's cool. We can agree to disagree or if you feel I got it totally wrong about your favourite place leave me a comment suggesting how I can enjoy the experience (or what I should put on my must see list) on my next visit. Now let's settle in and just have a bit of fun.