Year: 2014

Day 3, we went to Rottnest Island. Went to Barrack Street Jetty again to catch the cruise. We signed up with Rottnest Express. Took the package of ferry and coach tour which cost AUD146 per adult.

Was hoping to catch a glimpse of whale or dolphin while on the ferry but none. I also slept my way through to the island once we hit the sea. Was quite tired, need the sleep, woke up very early for this tour.

Rottnest Island, here we are! The sun was hot and the wind was cold! You’ll see a lot of quokkas everywhere! Lots of crows too. They are huge! Lots of crows in Perth in general. I’ve never met one in Adeleide, lots of pigeons in Adelaide though.

Wish can play at the sea but it’s just way too cold and too hot! How contradicting?!?

Nice? Blue sea, blue sky…

Two landmarks which you can find on the island, the museum (yellow building) and chapel (white building). Overall, I didn’t take much photos for this whole Perth trip. I’m learning to experience the environment without fumbling too much with the camera or phone. Many times, I forgot that I have my camera with me too.

Simmo’s Ice Cream can be found in Rottnest Island. We decided to have it, the single scoop cone cost AUD5.50. A bit steep but oh well… It’s OK. Not like we spend like this everyday and it’s WA’s brand. Very hard to decide on what to have, I ended up with honeycomb because I miss hokey pokey ice cream from New Zealand. The honeycomb was sweet but not sickly sweet. With chunks of honeycomb in there and honey and butterscotch caramel, heavenly! Very rich ice cream. Very different from hokey pokey. The photo I took was blurred beyond visible so can’t show you how it looks like.

We missed the first couch tour when we arrived because there’s very short time in between reaching the island to get on the first coach tour. Quite rush. You have to be fast to go the pick up point. Since we were informed at the jetty to take the 1.45pm tour even though our ticket stated we’re on the first tour, we just listened at the same time worried that we might heard the guide wrongly. Luckily there’s second one, we didn’t hear wrongly. Phew…

You can always cycle around the island if you want to but hehehe… Not me… Too much work, too much sun, and too much wind.

You can find Kingstown Barracks where it is a popular accommodation for school outings on the island, picture on the right.

One of the salt lakes and something you can spot on the island which I don’t remember what it’s called. ;p

One of the shipwrecks and some random flower along the way.

Are you rich enough to get a spot to park here? What’s more, the demand is huge while the supply is limited! Perth sure has lots of rich people.

Jeannies Lookout point. Looking out at the Indian Ocean. Surreal!

The lighthouse and the wind turbine.

Left: Those white stuff is salt at the lake. See how salty the lake is?
Right: Geordie Bay Villas is one of the accommodations for visitors.

Left: The anchor from one of the ships that wrecked.
Right: Goodbye Rottnest Island… That’s our ride back to Perth. Didn’t get to see dolphin or whale. No luck.

I don’t mind staying here for a night. Peaceful place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Hopefully, if one day I have the chance to go back to Perth.

That’s the end of our day 3 tour. Another early start the next day.

Day 2 in Perth. We headed to Fremantle. We went with Captain Cook Cruise, AUD38 for return trip.

We took the cruise from Barrack Street Jetty. It’s walking distant from the hotel about 15-20mins walk. We walked along the Swan River, very cold wind from the river! Didn’t get to meet any swan though…

The jetty.

Photos taken on the ship heading to Fremantle. Another way to go there is by driving but we decided to take the cruise, something different.

Left: Skyline of Perth. Lots of high rise buildings. Perth is developing very rapidly with lots of mega building constructions. It will be very different in the next 5 years. Wonder will I like Perth by then…

Right: View along the river.

All the rich people living along the river with yachts belong to them. Imagine seeing this view along the river… How rich those people are? Those houses cost millions of dollar! *gulp* Along the way, a dolphin showed up.

Fremantle… The port city. Took photo with this guy but I don’t remember who this person is hahaha…

Just a small town… Walked around the town, look see, look see, and did some shopping. I bought a tankini top for swim at Target there *LOL* Not cheap, it’s AUD35, no offer some more. Oh well…

Before heading back to Perth, we had our lunch at Cicerello’s, one of the famous seafood restaurant in Frementle. Amazing Fish & Chips and Salt & Pepper Squid (Squid tossed with chilli, salt and pepper, served with chips, lemon and chunky tartare). Portion was quite huge for 2 persons. Don’t remember the prices. Less than AUD40 for sure. Just don’t convert to MYR! ;p

After we reached Perth, we went to buy some food from Woolworths. Bought the roasted chicken for dinner. Miss it so much too!

After dinner, we called it an early night. Too cold and tired to go out again. Nothing to see at night too.

That’s the end of day 2.

Part 3 will come soon.

One week ago, I was in Perth. Now that I’m back, it’s time to get this post going.

It was quite a drama before the flight. I booked my ticket months ago but I never realized I need to apply ETA. Of all the times I went in and out of OZ without issue was because I was on my student visa. I totally forgot that now I do not have this luxury anymore.

When I check-in, the staff at the check-in counter inform me that I need ETA. I was shocked! It was 1 1/2 hour before flight. Luckily they told me I can apply ETA on the spot. MY gosh! Good thing I brought my laptop along and thank God for Starbucks free WiFi. Sorry Starbucks for using your WiFi without buying anything from you. Applied for it on the spot with AUD20 payment via credit card and I’m good to go! All done in less than 15 minutes. Thank God for everything! If it’s other country, I’m dead meat, all my money will just gone down the drain from flight ticket to hotel to tours! What’s more, it’s not only my money but my travel mate’s too! She did ask me about it the night before flight and I assured her that we can just go without visa. -.-

Left: Safely arrived KLIA2. Very confusing airport, not enough signage. Luckily we have ample time to navigate our way to international terminal. Before that, we had our dinner at Uncle Lim’s. Ordered the porridge, goodness! Blardy salty and the seasoning was overwhelming that we had to request for hot water to dilute it. Diluted it with one whole mug of hot water but it’s still too salty. Made us so thirsty after the dinner.

Right: Almost slept the way to Perth, good thing no one sat next to me but still not comfortable enough to sleep. The chair wasn’t comfortable. What to expect when you got no-frill cheap tickets and every single thing has to be charged when flying Air Asia? Trying to save as much cost as possible, who to blame but myself. Luckily it’s less than 6 hours flight, if more than that, it would be hell! However, once we’re almost there, we’re greeted by sunrise! Beautiful! Hello OZ sun! I miss you!

First food in Perth, breakfast in the airport while planning our next step once we’re out of the airport.

We stayed at Goodearth Hotel (195 Adelaide Terrace, Perth City Center, Perth, Australia 6004), was lucky to be able to get early bird deal AUD100+/night. If I booked few days earlier it’s less than AUD99/night. Still consider a good deal because it’s in the CBD! Walking distant to many places. It’s an apartment some more! Spacious and clean. Can fit 4 adults some more. The sofa can be transformed to bed. Very happy with it. Just one downside is that no early check-in allowed and check-out time is 10am. However, it didn’t affect us because we check-out extremely early in the morning, 2.30am!

Since we can’t go into our room, we ventured out to find places and started our shopping! This is the only free & easy day. The next four days were going with the tours.

Photos taken along the way…

Murray Street reminded me of Rundle Mall in Adelaide.

We also headed to Harbour Town and glad I went there, I managed to get 2 dresses for AUD30. Just too bad we didn’t have enough time to spend there. We went there using CAT, the free bus. See the grey bus with black cat in the photo? That’s the free bus that’s looping around the city. There’s 3 lines, so you have to plan your journey.

Christmas decorations are already up and the day was very sunny. Was tanned even on the first day out.

At night, we decided to visit the casino for dinner. Not for gambling. Was looking to try out the steak there, found offer there but I forgot the name of the eatery. Didn’t expect it’s inside the Crown Perth Casino. The photo here is the hotel lobby. Interesting architecture. One thing that got my attention, you actually can see people walk into their room, not your usual hotel design.

We saw Market & Co after alighted the taxi and I assumed this is the place. When I saw the menu, I thought maybe they changed the offer (AUD13.99 per dish) and didn’t bother to ask further as we’re too hungry. Just settled with whatever we came across. The steak should be Junction Grill inside the casino.

Left: It’s so filling! Cannot underestimate what you’re seeing. Love the Wagyu Beef Burger, Guyere cheese, lettuce, tomato, jelapeno relish, and fries. The fries was perfect too!

Right: Seared fresh fish of the day, pumpkin and spinach ragout, roasted beetroot puree. This was awesome too!

Overall, the meal was great! However, I would be more satisfied if I get to eat the steak. Didn’t get to eat any steak and Vietnamese pho this trip due to unforeseen circumstances. Hopefully next time.

That’s the end of our first night in Perth. Extremely cold night, was wearing all my autumn clothes that I wore back in Adelaide *LOL*. Day time was rather cold too.

Day 2 will come soon…