Ellenbrook our new home
Well it's about time I tell ya all about where our new home is, and take you for a little tour around this ripper little town. Well Ellenbrook is about 21kms from Perth town and is bedded in the beautiful city of Swan, and is a stones throw from the stunning Swan River with the ripper Darling Scarp in the background.
The population of Ellenbrook and neighbouring areas now stands at over 25,000, and what's about the place I hear you ask? Well just East of us is the beaut Whiteman Park, which your's truly reckons is probably the best recreation and conservation reserve in Australia. Fairdinkum it's got bushwalks, playgrounds, cycle trails, Train rides, a motor museum, picnic grounds with BBQ facilities, a tractor museum, Transport museum and you can even have a tram ride... how cool!
Ellenbrook takes its name from Ellen Stirling, the wife of Captain James Stirling, Western Australia's first governor. When he traveled up the Swan river in 1827 he camped at the sight where they built the All Saints Church which still
retains its original structure and is Perth's oldest standing church.
The area use to be owned by farmers and use to be a sheep paddock until the government turned it into a pine plantation, now some of the pines are still present but most have been dropped to become useful things like power poles, roof trusses and .... toothpicks. There's 4 high schools and 8 Primary schools in the place, which one 'Ellenbrook Secondary College' is where Harrison will start his first year of high school at it's only a nice easy 6 minute bike ride for the young fella.
Ellenbrook Secondary College
Development of Ellenbrook commenced in 1992 turning it from a Plantation into a township, from where we live it's only a short walk of about 9 minutes to the smaller shops IGA, Fish n' chips, Chinese restaurant, A ripper local pizza shop, bottle shop and newsagent. And if you want to go for a little longer walk to the Ellenbrook Shops are just about a 12 minute walk, along a ripper water stream reserve walkway which takes you under a little tunnel to the shops. Fairdinkum just going for walk is real refreshing and reminds you your living on a ..... well an old sheep paddock.
If your going to spend some time having a gander at the Swan Valley, you will be blown away with the choice of countless wineries, cafes, restaurants and even coffee shops!
Yes there's a place named 'Yahava Koffeeworks' which was started in 2001 by a Dutch fella named Alex Kok Yahava, He's dream was to travel the world’s great coffee growing regions on his motorbike and discover the very best of the best coffees, then ship the beans back to WA. In his Metricup Road shed he would roast the coffee beans to perfection, carefully grinding and then brewing the most indescribably good coffees. So if your up this way you have to give it a burl.
We even have a Bunnings and while it's still going a Masters, and a friggin' Dome, Big W, Coles n' Woolies, and heaps more.
But the region is best known for it's Wineries, Breweries and Restaurants and here are some that are just down the road, if you want to have a gander at their websites just click on places name...
And if wineries and restaurants are your go....
Riverbank Estate, Jane brook estate wines, Swanbrook Winery & Cafe, Sittella Winery & Restaurant, Twin Hill Wines, Penny Garden Restaurant, Henley Park wines,
Little River Winery & Restaurant, Talijancich Wines, Ugly Duckling Wines, and a small little winery called Sandalford Wines is just down the road, and there's a fair few more about the place.
Oh and if your feeling like a nice luxury weekend away there is The Novotel Vines Resort & Country Club at the Vines, where you can wine and dine the misses to your hearts content (or until your bankcard runs out), and you can swing a club around their world class course which is just a touch better then the old Toronto one.
