Sunday, 30+ degrees, so we headed for the beach. The Sunset Coast, just north of Perth city, goes from Cottesloe up to Scarborough, miles of white sand. You’ll get the idea from the picture. To get there you have to get down to Riverside Drive, then onto the Stirling Highway. What we didn’t know, though everyone else in Perth did, was that today is the Perth Triathlon. The cycling bit was taking place along Riverside Drive, so all the access roads were closed. We had no choice but to head into the city, where we had an hour or more of sitting in a jam, trying to find a route, anywhere. We couldn’t even get back to our apartment. Eventually we discovered that we could get to Kings Park, where we knew we could park and get some lunch, and wait for the roads to reopen.

After some lunch, and a visit to the Aboriginal Art exhibition, we could see traffic was moving along the river, so we headed off up to Cottesloe, three hours later than planned. Given it was a Sunday, and hot, the beaches were pretty parked up, but we found a place at Swanbourne (or Swanny, as it says on the life guard’s hut) and had our first dip in the Indian Ocean. The swell was not enough to please a surfer, but enough to trouble you if your bathers elastic was a bit dodgy. If you like the beach, this was the place to be: a few surfer dudes, families, a beachside restaurant with showers, and a life saver hut with Swanny on its board. What more could you ask?