Gonna start my new job in Mar, kinda free now so thought I'd upload some of my travel pix ^^
The Perth trip was our first self-drive trip. With the help of some self-drive suggestion brochures, I planned the route, accommodation and must-eats. It was a huge success, all thanks to my hubby who has a good sense of directions, with some surprises, hits and misses of course. We managed to visit most of the places in the original itinerary and try lotsa great food!
Day 1: Perth
Arrival at Perth Airport 21:15 via Tiger Airways.
Boarded the Airport City Shuttle outside airport terminal (return trip - A$25/pax). They have a small booth whereby you can book with them on the spot.
Overnight at Goodearth Hotel (195 Adelaide Tce) - A$105/night. Quite a small room.
Day 2: Perth -> Mandurah
Mandurah is a coastal town blessed with crystal clear blue water.
Route: Kwinana Fwy -> Safety Bay Rd -> Mandurah Rd (1 hr)
Car pick-up at Bayswater (160 Adelaide Tce) - 5 days A$220.
Highly advisable to "feed" the car before setting off as it came with a 1/4 tank petrol. We'd wanted to pump petrol in the suburbs of Perth thinking that it'd be cheaper, but once we were on the freeway, there was no turning back! I was flipping through the road directory to confirm the directions with hubby and so panicky about the car dying on the freeway at the same time (first self-drive trip after all). Fortunately, we came across a petrol station but it was already 1/2 hr from Perth xp
 |
Mandurah Note that the main roads actually don't have signs so you won't end up like us going round in circles in search of Cicerello's fish & chips (75 Mandurah Tce Unit 2/73) ;p
Simmo's ice cream (Unit 6/73) They've got over 30 flavours! ^^
|
Mandurah -> Busselton
The beautiful setting of the Busselton foreshore can produce stunning photographs that you will be proud of.
Route: Mandurah Rd -> Old Coast Rd -> Australind Bypass -> Bunbury Bypass -> Bussell Hwy
-> Causeway Rd (3 hrs)
 |
We popped by the award-winning Miami Bakehouse (617 Old Coast Rd, Shop 6 Falcon Grove Shopping Ctr). Yummy meat pies they've got! |
 |
Busselton
At Busselton Jetty. Beautiful seaside! It was a chilly town >.< |
 |
Jesters Jaffle Pies (37 Queen St) ^^
|
We settled for Chinese food for dinner, which came in large portions.
Overnight at Paradise Motor Inn, which was an impromptu choice (A$80/night). Very nice elderly lady boss :) The room was clean but old, and the air con was noisy ;p
Day 3: Busselton -> Dunsborough
Visit the historical lighthouse and take a walk on the beaches.
Route: Bussell Hwy -> Caves Rd -> Cape Naturaliste Rd (45 mins)
 |
Dunsborough
Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse (opens 09:30) - A$10/pax. We spotted 2 whales! |
 |
Near Sugarloaf Rock (Meelup Rd) - a few mins' drive from the lighthouse.
The ocean view was spectacular! |
Dunsborough -> Margaret River
There are plenty places of interest along the way to MR!
Route: Caves Rd -> Metricup Rd (45 mins)
|
Cape Lavender (Carter Rd off Metricup Rd, Wilyabrup)
Ooh.... my lavender dream came true! ^^ |
Route: Metricup Rd -> Harmans Mill Rd (10 mins)
 |
The MR Chocolate Company (corner Harman's Mill Rd & Harman's South Rd). Closes 17:00.
They've got free chocolates sampling P: |
Route: Harmans Mill Rd -> Bussell Hwy (20 mins)
 |
Candy Cow (Bussell Hwy, Cowaramup)
They are famous for fudges. Free sampling too! |
We had Indian food for dinner and take-away some roast chicken as well. The staff was kind enough to give us extra as they were closing for the day.
Overnight at MR Holiday Suites (corner Wilmott St & Townview Tce) - A$129/night. Nice and spacious room!
Day 4: Margaret River -> Pemberton
Route: Bussell Hwy -> Brockman Hwy -> Stewart Rd -> Vasse Hwy (3 hrs)
We were in a dilemma on whether to include Albany in our plan as according to the visitor centre, the journey would take 7 hrs from MR ~faintz* So, the travelling duration info on an OZ website showing 5 hrs was not accurate :(
We'd originally planned to stay 2 nights in Albany, travelling via the South Coast Highway. If we couldn't reach there by the end of the day, it'd mean that we had to travel all the way there just for a 1 night stay. We decided not to be too ambitious and see how far we could go, resulting in a change in route.
 |
Margaret River
The MR Fudge Factory (152 Bussell Hwy). I think it opens 10:00 'cos I was their first customer
waiting for them to open. There were so many choices of chocolates! |
|
| Along the way to Pemberton. |
 |
| It was really a disaster zone as we came across 6 dead kangaroos along the way, but we were blessed not having to run down one! |
 |
Surprise bonus!
We chanced upon Karri Valley Resort, a tranquil paradise. |
|
| Entering the towering Karri forests as we were nearing Pemberton. |
 |
Pemberton
A quaint town well-known for giant Karri trees aka the Gloucester Trees. |
 |
Surprise bonus!
Short stopover at the Pemberton Lavender & Berry Farm (Browns Rd) |
Pemberton -> Manjimup
Route: Vasse Hwy -> South Western Hwy (30 mins)
 |
| Along the way to Manjimup. |
Dinner at a fast food restaurant trying to copy Red Rooster, but paled in comparison.
Impromptu overnight at Manjimup, a small town with limited decent accommodation. A motel owner was very honest to tell us beforehand that his rooms do not come with a hairdryer and TV, and recommended us elsewhere!
Day 5: Manjimup -> Mount Barker
We need to get past Mount Barker to get to Albany. Total journey took 4 hrs.
Route: Muirs Hwy
 |
| It started to get misty along the way to Mt Barker. Drive with caution. |
 |
Surprise bonus!
We came across Lake Muirs Observatory. On a treetop walk. |
 |
Mount Barker
A small, quiet town where we stopped by for tea break. |
Mount Barker -> Albany
Albany's got amazing scenic spots, both natural and man-made.
Route: Muirs Hwy -> Albany Hwy
 |
Albany
Torndirrup National Park (Frenchmans Bay Rd). Freezing! My jaw is dropping! |
 |
| Natural Bridge |
Route: Frenchmans Bay Rd -> Princess Ave -> Sandpatch Rd
 |
The Albany Wind Farm
Being so close to these towering structures and listening to the sound they made
was such a unique experience! |
 |
Lunch at Red Rooster. Oh I miss their pineapple fritters!
 |
View of Middleton Beach from Mt Clarence.
It was a dangerous spot with lotsa cars passing by. |
|
Having had too much fast food, we were craving for Chinese food for dinner.
Overnight at Frederickstown Motel (corner Frederick St & Spencer St) - A$92/night. Friendly boss who knows Singapore well! Decent room.
Day 6: Albany -> Perth
Route: Albany Hwy (5 hrs)
As it was a straightforward route, we took frequent breaks at break points to freshen up. We'd sped unknowingly on a few occasions (max 140 kmph) along the stretch of long and relatively straight road.
 |
| This lovely field really made our day as we were soon dozing off from the long journey. It'd got us parking by the roadside and snapping away, ignoring honks from other motorists ;p |
 |
Kojonup
A small, quiet town. The visitor centre caters free coffee for motorists. How sweet! |
 |
We met up with our friend at Westfield Carousel Shopping Centre (Albany Hwy, Cannington).
 |
Perth
View from Kings Park. |
 |
| Kings Park's got a wide variety of wild flowers. It's huge too- great for leisure walk! |
|
Overnight at Aarons Hotel (70 Pier St) - A$224 for 2 nights. Quite a small room.
Overnight parking at a nearby car park (A$22). This was cheaper than parking at the hotel.
Day 7: Fremantle day trip
We slowed things down after having had a few adventurous and tedious days on the road.
After returning our car, we took a blue CAT bus (free) to Barrack Street Jetties to purchase tickets from Oceanic Cruises (return trip - A$26/pax).
We'd planned to take the train back to Perth so that we have more time in Fremantle, but were told that due to some road works, the trains would not be operating in the evenings. Hence, strictly speaking, it was a half-day trip.
 |
| Along the way to Barrack Street Jetties. The tower in the background is Swan Bells. |
 |
Fremantle
First stop: E Shed Markets
 |
| Nice souvenirs for kids :) |
 |
Second stop: Fremantle Markets
Fremantle is easily accessible by the free orange CAT bus. |
 |
| Don't miss out on Morish nut products ;) |
|
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Northbridge. There were other Asian eateries such as Vietnamese and Japanese.
Day 8: Rockingham day trip
We signed up for the Rockingham Tour which started early in the morning, via their website(A$111.50/pax).
After check-out from the hotel, we took the red CAT bus to Wellington Street Tourist Coach Stand whereby they picked us up at 07:45. It was bad weather and we did not get to see the wild dolphins despite being on the cruise for 2 hrs :,(
 |
| Our captain driving the boat while he searched for dolphins, which was such a hilarious sight! We were brought to a mussels farm. Our guide poached the mussels in white wine for us, which were really tender and fragrant. I don't usually eat mussels, but ended up requesting for a second one! |
 |
| The Penguin Island Discovery Centre |
 |
| Set off to the Shoalwater Island Marine Park in our glass bottom boat. Look at the bad weather! |
 |
We were parked on Seal Island.
The sea lions were all sleeping, hence aka "sleep lions". |
 |
| My first close-up encounter with wild pelicans. |
 |
We finally spotted wild dolphins towards the end of our cruise! They were too agile for us to
snap good shots. All missions of the Rockingham trip accomplished! |
The day trip was done by 15:30 and we had some time to shop at Harbour Town (Wellington St), which was Perth's only outlet shopping centre.
We boarded the Airport City Shuttle 18:30 at Aarons Hotel to Perth Airport for our flight back.
To view more beautiful pictures, go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43062&id=557122529
