Perth We Go Again!

So here it is! We went Perth again!


The Planning
We didn't plan this time. It was a free and easy. It was a short trip.

Please remember to get your visa before flying. it can be done online via Australia's Electronic Travel Authority. Do note that this online application is only applicable to the following passport holder:

• Brunei - Darussalam
• Canada
• Hong Kong (SAR PRC)
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Korea, Rep of (South)
• United States.

Looking back at our previous Perth trip in 2014,
My Perth Trip Day 1
My Perth Trip Day 2
My Perth Trip Day 3 & 4
My Perth Trip Day 5 & 6

Setting Off
Day 1

Scooting off

Scoot has been a pleasant experience so far, so we decided to go with Scoot again this time. The timing was pretty good too. Our flight was in the mid day so I can wake up late and slowly make my way to the airport.

This is the first time we tried airbnb. Booked a house at Subiaco. The house was pretty decent. Pictures speak a thousand words.

The house (check out the dog statue at the top of the house)

The entrance

The  exterior

Level 1 corridor

Living Room

Dining Area and Kitchen

Comes with refrigerator ad stove

Microwave oven and more

Washing machine and dryer

Utensils included

Glassware

Miscellaneous equipment

Stairway to level 2

My bedroom

Toiletries provided

Level 2 corridor

Not sure what this is but it seems like this place is somewhat an icon

Its a pretty interesting house. Oh, and what is not included in the pictures is the garage. This house comes with a garage as well.

After we get ourselves settled down, it was about 2100hr. It isn't that late in Singapore right? But almost all the shops were closed already. I just suggested to go Northbridge because that was the place I am pretty sure there will be food to eat still. So we ended up at U & I Pho shop at Northbridge

U & I Pho

To be honest, the food there is very expensive. 

Beef Pho

Fried Rice

Fresh Spring Roll

Calamari

The most expensive dish was the Calamari. It cost AUD7.50 and I expected it to be a basket of them. Guess what, it's only 4 rings. That basically means each ring cost me almost AUD2.00. I have learned that eating Asian food in a western land will cost you a lot, so just eat fish & chips.

After dinner, we just pop by a 24hr convenient store to top up some necessity before going back.

24hr convenient store

A summary of what we bought.
*The alcohol was from the airport*

Cheers to holiday in Perth!

Day 2

CT arrived in the morning of Day 2, so I woke up early to pick her up.

Sunrise

And she brought me to watch sunrise. Don't ask me where this place is. I don't know, I just followed her direction and drive.

Headed back to the house and fetched the remaining people for breakfast at Toast.

Toast

The counter

A group photo of all of us

Eggs Norwegian (AUD18.50)

Ham, Cheese and Mushroom Crepe (AUD15.90)

Smoked Chorizo (AUD23.90)

 It was Swan Valley day (check out my last visit to Swan Valley), so we headed there straight away after breakfast. I will just touch on NEW places that I have not been last year to make things easier.

The Magaret River Chocolate Company

We heard a lot about how good Lancaster was, so we decided to stop by to have a look.

Lancaster

Grape field

I think this year the season was delayed. The grape plant were still very bare compared to last year, so the view was not as nice.

Jump shot

But, at least the scenery as a whole was good for some jump shot!

Wine tasting

The wine here was pretty decent, I liked all of them. The price was good too. I was so tempted to buy it, but... Remember we had like 3 champagne and 2 red wine waiting at home? So I didn't get it in the end.

Windarra Honey

We didn't stop at any honey store last year so we stopped over Windarra Honey to check out what they have to offer.

Honey

I am not an expert in honey, and I got no interest in honey, so I just looked around and left. It was just a small shop. I was expecting to see bee farm with lots of bees, but none in sight.

Forget about the honey, we were all looking forward to lunch because we were going to Duckstein Brewery!

Duckstein Brewery

This place is a beer brewery, so beer is a must right?

Sample Paddle (AUD12.00)

We were driving, so just a beer sampler was good enough. Fresh beer is always good. I just love it. You ought to try their Tasting Plate too. It was so good.

Tasting Plate (AUD49.00)

The girls love the cheesy mushroom and I love the sausage. Nobody likes the kebab though. It was quite dry.

Our adventure continued after lunch to more places in Swan Valley. Up next was Mondo Nougat and Morish Nuts.

Mondo Nougat and Morish Nuts

Mondo Nougat Section

Morish Nuts Section

This place is worth spending some money to get some goodies back for your family and friends. I didn't get anything though, because I don't have any luggage space for any gift. I traveled light this time. Sorry my friends, I didn't get anything back for you this time.

Cheese Barrel

I have been wanting to go to Cheese Barrel for the longest time. I wanted to see all the cheese (although I am not a fan of cheese), because they have so many kinds of cheese in there.

Whole fridge full of cheese

Olive Farm Wines was just beside Cheese Barrel. I was curious so I went in to have a look.

Olive Farm Wines

Inside Olive Farm Wines

Initially my thought was "do they make wine out of olives?", but sadly it wasn't. They were wines from grapes still. I felt cheated.

I was told that Houghton was the biggest and best winery in Swan Valley so I decided to check it out myself.

Houghton

Inside Houghton

The whole concept was similar to Sandalford Winery which I went last year. Not sure who copied who, but both are equally nice to me.

Alfred's Kitchen

Of course, at the end of the day, we need to stop by Alfred's Kitchen for their burger. It is a must right?

We bought the burger but we didn't sat by the fireplace to eat though. We went all the way back to Cottesloe Beach to watch sunset and have our burger for dinner.

Sunset at Cottesloe Beach

Playing at the swing

 Right after dinner, we rushed to Claremont Market to get some flowers before it close.

Claremont Market

Choosing flowers

The flowers that we bought

Thinking what use do we have for the flowers? You will know if you continue to read Day 3

Day 3

Breakfast at "That" Cafe on Hay

Well, by now you should know that CT love this cafe. We came here last year too.

Guess what did she order?

Latte (AUD5.00)

"That" Morning Glory (AUD8.50)

Same as last year too. "That"Morning Glory with a cup of Latte.

The rest of us shared "That" Big Breakfast and "That" Omelette.

"That" Omelette (AUD16.50)

"That" Big Breakfast (AUD21.50)

So right after breakfast, we headed to school.

At our faculty

Go school for what? Because the girls are graduating!

The graduands

Congratulations to all of them!

The mandatory shot at school

Saw the bouquets? That's what the flowers were for that we bought the day before.

Anyway, we wanted to go to the blue house to take some graduation photos, but the house was under renovation. It was a disappointment that they can't get any nice shoot with the blue house. It is like the icon at Perth.

Anyway, graduation calls for celebration.

Celebration time!

Day 4 (Last Day)
So on the last day,we decided to head over to Rottnest Island to find the legendary animal, Quokka! Quokka is know to be the happiest animal in the world, so we wanted to see it ourselves!

Off to Rottnest Island

Rottnest Express

We took the ferry from Fremantle, B-shed to Rottnest and the journey was about an hour. The ticket wasn't exactly cheap though. If I remember correctly, it cost us AUD85 for a 2 way ticket, but I felt it will be worth it if you get to explore Rottnest island before you travel back to the mainland.

The island from the jetty

We actually skipped breakfast because we were rushing to catch the ferry timing. By the time we reach there, we were all famished. Luckily, there was a Dôme Café operating. It saved our lives.

Chicken Chop

Nasi Briyani with Naan

We didn't order anything fanciful, just the usual Asian food.

Setting off

We did not plan to stay overnight here so we rushed through lunch and went over to the bike store to rent a bicycle. It would have been easier if you have rented the bicycle from Rottnest Express. It cost about the same and you will receive the bike the moment you reach there. We wasted quite some time at the bike shop trying to find the correct bike and administration work. So now we learn from our mistake. Don't follow our mistakes.

Cycling around Rottnest Island

Cycling is not so much an individual sport.

Cycling around Rottnest Island wasn't very easy for the girls. They don't cycle as often as me, so they actually suffered. There were a lot of ups and downs on the hills. They ended up pushing the bicycle most of the time.

Back to the purpose of this trip, we managed to see Quokka in action. They are really so adorable!

The happiest animal on Earth

Mandatory Quokka selfie

Go google online, there are many Quokka selfie shot, so I must have 1 too. This one that I found was exactly like me. I was stroking it and its eyes started to close. It really did fell asleep for a while; so much resemblance in that area. 

Anyway, since we were there, we decided to go for some snorkeling fun too. The place is well known for their clean water too.

The seaview

After snorkeling shot

I didn't manage to catch any nice image while snorkeling. There wasn't much to look at except lots of corals. The current was quite strong too, so I didn't dare to snorkel too far out. In summary, we did snorkeling at a 17 degree Celsius water, even the wind doesn't feel cold after you come up from the water.

Anyway to be honest, 1 day there wasn't enough for us to explore the whole island. It is huge. I would recommend to stay for a night if you want to experience the full Rottnest Island.

CT brought a Quokka hone

Leaving Rottnest Island

Leaving Rottnest Island and back to Fremantle, it makes sense for us to spend the rest of the day there since we were already there.

Famous Ferris Wheel at Fremantle

Some of them were not feeling very well and some got cuts from while cycling, so we dropped by the pharmacy. The place is huge.

In the pharmacy

We ended up at Little Creatures for dinner. Beer is a must!

The beer is a must try! (AUD6.00 - 7.50)

Cheers!

Flat Bread (AUD4.00)

Woodfired Pizza - Prawn, Coriander pesto, Shiitake mushrooms (AUD24.00)

Woodfired Pizza - Mushroom, Olive, Mozzarella (AUD19.00)

Grilled Chicken Skewers, Honey, Chilli (AUD22.00)

Beef Nachos, Capsicum, Guacamole, Jalapenos (AUD22.00)

Chilli, Tomato Mussels (AUD24.00)

The dinner was good. I love the Beef Nachos especially.

We didn't stopped there. We continued to San Churros for dessert! I heard their churros is good and I didn't manage to try it their other time, so I decided to go for it this time before I  fly back.

Death By Chocolate Cake (AUD9.90)

Churros for one (AUD8.95)

To be honest, I felt cheated. The churros wasn't good at all, I was so disappointed. It was so hard that the fork cannot even poke through. I'm not sure if I am just the unlucky one, or their standard has always been like that. I hope it's the former. The cake was decent nonetheless. Nothing fantastic though.

After that my dessert, it's time to head to the airport and bid farewell to Perth. It was quite a short and rush trip but I enjoyed it. See you next time, Perth.

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Posted by Flying Panda on Wednesday, 4 November 2015