Here at We Love Perth we are all about getting to know our fantastic city better, discovering great places, new and old, and sharing them with others. So, naturally, we were super excited to hear about Two Feet and Heartbeat – a group of locals who run walking tours around Perth and Fremantle and whose aim it also is to share knowledge about our city.
We’ve been on a pair of Two Feet and a Heartbeat’s walking tours lately, and have really enjoyed learning about Perth and being shown around from a different perspective. These are tours with a difference, aimed at getting you out and about and immersed in Perth and its culture.
The first tour was a Perth Urban Adventure, which involved two hours of being taken past landmarks of historical significance and interest, drinking in the history of our fine town as well as plans for its future. Our guide, Ryan, presented the information in a very easy to digest way. He’s really chilled out but super knowledgeable at the same time. It was a joy to be in the company of someone clearly passionate about Perth: where it has come from, what we have now, and where we are headed as a city. Despite having a historical focus, this tour was not like a history book. Ryan’s personable nature and sharing of information he himself was genuinely interested in, made us walk away having a stack of interesting facts and conversation starters up our sleeves!
St George’s Cathedral. Did you know the sculpture is a representation of Saint George slaying the dragon?
Our second tour was focused on showcasing the way Perth in changing, in particular the emergence of small bars in the CBD. Eat/Drink/Walk Perth is a tour aimed at those who might be unfamiliar with all the little spots in the CBD that are off the beaten track. During the tour we stopped in at three small bars, where we enjoyed either food or a drink put on by the establishment. While wandering through the city, our guide, Michael, pointed out the location of a stack more places around the place, as well as giving us a taste of the history of Perth and, once again, its plans for redevelopment. A great opportunity for those who don’t normally get into the city, and who aren’t familiar with all the new bars that have opened over the last few years, to get out and about, try out a few places and meet other people hoping to do the same thing.
Our Eat Drink Walk Perth tour finished up at Cheeky Sparrow in Wolf Lane, where we were treated to some tasty, gourmet pizzas. We were interested to learn that serving gourmet pizzas, as well as only playing music at a certain, low level, formed part of Cheeky Sparrow’s bar license.
We took this opportunity to have a chat with Ryan Z, one of the two mates (incidentally both named Ryan) who started the business, and who guided us on the Perth Urban Adventure tour.
How did starting up Two Feet and a Heartbeat come about?
The idea isn’t new. They have been running in European cites forever and so there was no reason why they shouldn’t work here. The weather is normally great for them and there is a lot of history that is seldom discussed. People are curious by nature and we had participated in similar tours overseas and in the eastern states. We noticed that they didn’t exist here when looking at tourism experiences when a friend came to visit so we decided to give it a go. That’s how it came about!
What do the tours involve?
The Urban Adventure tours are based on history, however we never wanted the tours to feel like a lesson in school, so we took all of the key stories such as early European settlement, how the colony grew, famous pioneers and more recent history like the foreshore development and emergence of small bars, and formulated them into conversational pieces. The experience we wanted for the participant was for them to feel connected, informed and able to share the info they learned over a cuppa with friends. So we share the information with them in the exact same way. It’s very informal but accurate and researched, and we like to share anecdotes too because these are the things that most people can really connect with.
Who is it that tends to come on your tours, and was this the demographic you expected when starting up the tours?
Our Eat/Drink/Walk Perth group at our first stop, Old Canton bar. Turns out this venue was originally one of the first Chinese restaurants in Perth, which is what inspired the bar’s name and decor.
How do you pick your tour guides?
Generally, tour guides pick us. There are always people asking if they can come on board and be a guide. Some are extremely knowledgeable with a gift for the gab and proud of where they live, others have just returned form overseas having participated in similar tours and like the idea of guiding. We are lucky to never have to look too far!
What’s the best part about your job?
The best part of the job is seeing so many locals who have always had this preconceived notion that there is no history of interest in Perth and they know about CY O’Connor, and therefore they know all about WA… then at the end of the tour they realise they had it all wrong and it really has an amazing history, nothing like any other city in Australia.
What is your favourite part of Perth to walk around in, and why?
Hard question to answer. It can change from day to day but Claisebrook Cove is green and leafy, however it was the original sewer for Perth that has been transformed into a liveable space. Seeing places get a new lease on life is fun to see and be around. There are still old warehouses out there too, so it has retained a lot of its original, industrial feel too. I also like lanes and alleyways… just as a method of getting around. I spend a lot of time in the city and these shortcuts save me a lot of time but are also nice sanctuaries away from crowds and heat!
After walking around the city and Fremantle all week, where do you like to go to relax?
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