Sundays in the Swan Valley

Falling in Love with Our Own Backyard

Recently, Rupert and I made a simple decision: Sundays are ours to explore the Swan Valley.

When you live and work in the Swan Valley, you don’t always pause to enjoy what’s right on your doorstep. You’re busy steering the House of Honey ship, production schedules, running the shop, café, Meadery and beekeeping activities. The rhythm of business can quietly replace the rhythm of the region.

As honey producers here, our drive has always been about more than offering honey products. It’s about connecting people, place and produce. The Swan Valley delivers Western Australia’s rural experience in a way that is authentic and tangible. Visitors aren’t just customers; they become part of the story.

So lately, we’ve stepped out from behind the counter and into that story ourselves, rediscovering the warm, genuine hospitality that makes this valley so special.

Let me explain…

Cruising over the Swan River and settling in at the Rose & Crown on a Sunday afternoon has always been a ritual. On hot days, the cooling misters drift through the garden while soft music hums in the background. As Perth’s oldest pub, it carries enormous character and the newly renovated garden area looks fantastic.  It is not to be missed.

Afterwards, a gentle wander through the antique shops in Guildford (just around the corner) feels like stepping into another era. If you can, it’s the perfect unhurried afternoon.

When grape season arrives, you can’t miss Kato Grape 3000. Queues form for the boxes of freshly picked, crunchy seedless grapes that burst with flavour and have an incredible crunch as you bite into them. Add fresh figs and local garlic to your basket and you’ve captured the season in one stop.  Well, that what I always do.

Then there’s watermelon season.

Driving along West Swan Road or the Great Northern Highway, you’ll see the remains of split watermelons on the roadside, pink flesh glistening in the sun. Handwritten signs in all shapes and sizes, some with charming spelling mistakes, that direct you down back streets to family farms. Many growers don’t speak fluent English, but their produce speaks clearly enough. It’s raw, real and wonderfully Swan Valley.

When I want an intimate experience, I head to the smaller wineries.

Taylors Wines and Lancasters represent Swan Valley at its most authentic, rustic tin sheds, drying racks, and weathered barrels casually scattered about.  Friendly winemakers stand behind the counters, always ready for a genuine conversation, whether about vintages, the season just passed, or life in the Valley. It’s common to meet multi-generational families who speak of early settlers, the first vines planted, and the orchards that helped shape the region.

The Swan Valley we know today was profoundly shaped by waves of migration. After World War I, and again following World War II, sons and daughters of migrant families particularly Croatian farmers, such as my neighbours who have stories of resilience and determination. Through sheer hard work, they have transformed traditional agricultural land into the vineyards that now define the landscape. Their legacy is etched into the soil, preserved in the cellars, and shared across tasting benches where stories flow as generously as the wine.

There really is something deeply grounding about breathing in fresh air as you look out over the green vines drawing your gaze up towards the hills and blue cobalt sky. Finding a lunch spot with sweeping valley views completes the picture. And if you’re lucky, the day ends with a tangerine sunset filtering through eucalypt trees as you sip a glass of wine and watch the first stars appear.

The Black Swan is our favourite for this view, sitting with a glass of bubbles, looking toward the hills, shaded by grapevines. The lunch menu never disappoints.

Olive Farm Wines, where the very first vines were planted in 1830 is one of the valley’s oldest wineries, offers an extensive tasting experience steeped in history. Upper Reach, meanwhile, boasts one of the most beautiful wine decks in the region, overlooking vines and a pond where ducks and ducklings gather in season. The sky feels vast there, space, light and freedom, a great combination. Their Twilight Concerts in summer are a highlight. Stretching out on the lawn with a picnic (or wood-fired pizza), wine in hand, jazz music drifting through warm evening air, it’s simply perfect.

Pinelli Wines is another standout for us. Driving through the large wrought iron gates feels special from the start, and when the owner hosts the tasting, it’s full of personality and warmth.  Their Rose and Chenin Wines are definitely worth trying.

Some Sundays we begin on bicycles along the Boorloo Bridge, a pedestrian and cycle crossing over the Swan Valley. We ride over the bridge, pause for a moment to gaze over the river that mirrors the sky above. You have to pass Sittella to go over the bridge and down West Swan Road to Yahava KoffeeWorks for coffee on the lawn. Great coffee, great service and planes flying low overhead, carrying excited (or perhaps nervous) passengers preparing to land nearby at the International Airport.

On the way home as we cycle along the footpaths, I always stop at West Swan Fresh and fill my backpack with vegetables and fruit. Their range is fabulous house-made spice pastes, chilli salts, and fresh Asian produce like coriander, pak choy and pre-peeled pineapple. If you’re cooking with Asian inspiration, this is your destination.  I love it!

Sometimes you want everything in one place, so I go to the big three, Mandoon, Sandalford and Nikola Estate who all deliver a polished experience. They are destinations in their own right. Sandalford’ s dinner menu, in particular, is superb. The service, the wine pairings, the setting, it’s where we go for special occasions. It feels refined without losing the warmth that defines the valley.

These Sundays have left us with a renewed appreciation for the Swan Valley.

It is extraordinary to live so close to the city, yet feel completely immersed in rural life. You can almost smell the freshly turned earth as fields are ploughed, see red tractors chugging along the roadside, and watch farm stalls appear and disappear with the rhythm of the seasons. The vines shift in colour throughout the year, from vivid green to deep crimson and burgundy, and finally like old men’s bare arms, the canes rest on their wires, as though exhausted from carrying the weight of the harvest and now relieved, settling into the winter dormancy.

Above it all I love the Ibises arrowing through the evening sky in perfect formation, so elegant as they return to their roosting trees. I never quite know where they go, but they arrive with remarkable punctuality each dusk, high overhead and in that moment, watching them, I feel an immediate sense of calm.

This is quintessential Swan Valley, grounded, generous and magnificent.  Of course, there are many more amazing places to visit for produce and wines, cider or beer.  I definitely have more Sundays to do more cruising, who knows, you might see me sitting somewhere with my face to the sky, glass in hand, the warm sun kissing my cheeks as I take a deep breath to consider how lucky I am live in the Swan Valley.

Sometimes, you don’t need to travel far to fall in love with a place.

Sometimes, you just need to take Sunday off.