WA Road Trip: Rottnest Island & Penguin Island

A long trip to Perth will not be completed without a visit to these two off-shore island; Rottnest Island and Penguin Island!

We visited Rottnest Island in 2011 and explored the island on bicycles, it can also be explored by bus or on foot. The island is serviced by 45-minute ferry rides from Perth and Fremantle; the Fremantle port is located at B Shed, Victoria Quay (near E Shed Markets). We rented bicycles and helmets (compulsory) from the rental shop and spent the entire day exploring the island.

It is best to prepare some food to snack along the way and for pit-stops to rest and enjoy the scenery. Some parts of the ride are pretty challenging so do be prepared for sore bums and burning legs.

Along the way, remember to keep a lookout for the quokka, the happiest animal in the world!

We visited Penguin Island which was located close to our Rockingham base in 2011. The more adventurous and young-at-heart can take a walk on the sandbar from the shore to the island during low tides. It can be quite nerve-wrecking as you can’t really see the path that you are taking through the water. One can always opt for ferry services that are available.

As the name suggests, the island is a penguin sanctuary. There is a penguin conservation center which holds penguin shows and education talks. We attended the show and then proceeded to walk around the island to do some penguin spotting.

They can be found huddling in caves or hiding beneath the staircases, please refrain from touching them! You would also see many different types of birds on the island, try not to approach their nests as they are really territorial and will attack you.

WA Road Trip: Caversham Wildlife Park and Lancelin Dunes

A must-visit location in Perth for animal lovers and families with small children is Caversham Wildlife Park. The park has enough activities to keep the family occupied for an entire day, it offers lots of chances to get up-close and personal with kangeroos, koala bears, wombats, etc. Just make sure you check the time for the meet-up sessions so that you won’t miss it.

After the park, we drove to Lancelin dunes which is known for its sandsurfing. This spot is north of Perth and quite out of the way, we actually got lost and had to ask a local for help. The boards have to be rented BEFORE getting to the dunes from any of the local shops (look out for the signs). Once there, climb the dunes and try your hand at sandsurfing! This is not an easy activity and it would be good to have a change of clothes; the sand is extremely fine and it gets into everything!

WA Road Trip: Perth City

Perth is the largest city in Western Australia. Accommodation is expensive here so our previous stays had us staying in towns outside of Perth, such as Fremantle and Rockingham and then driving into Perth for a day trip. Be prepared to spend loads just on parking fees.

We visited the Perth Mint and attended their interesting tour on the mining history of Australia. Photos are not allowed during the making of the gold bar but overall we liked the tour as it was informative and the guide was entertaining.

Kings Park is a large park overlooking Perth City with lots of trees with open spaces and playgrounds for kids to just run about. There are trails to walk through and restaurants to sit down and have a meal. There are even free BBQ pits with electric grills to have a family BBQ picnic!

The back of the Kings Park also leads to Blue Boat House, famous place for wedding photos and scenic shots; although you need to cross a rather busy road to reach the house. Sadly it seems that we are no longer allowed to walk on the platform.

 

 

WA Road Trip: Fremantle

Fremantle is a popular coastal city that is just a thirty minutes drive away from Perth City. Dropping by Fremantle or “Freo” for short, is a must-do for almost anyone visiting Western Australia. Attractions include the Fremantle Prison, Fremantle Market, E-Shed Market and the famous fish and chips at the harbour. We visited Kailis in 2011 and Cicerello later in 2015; we preferred Cicerello!

Fremantle Market is a weekend market that is comprised of two halls. The first hall is made up of a number of stores selling souvenirs, toys and other touristy stuff. The second hall is made up of food stalls and fresh fruits and vegetables stalls. It is a lively place to walk around in but do take note that parking is limited and expensive.

E-Shed Market, a short drive away from the Fremantle Market, is open on weekends as well. This whole place is almost entirely made up of stalls selling souvenir which are much cheaper than those found in Fremantle Market.

We stumbled on this lighthouse on our 2015 trip, lovely place with scenic views but very very windy!We also visited Fremantle Prison and did two tours, each lasting about an hour. The tour guide made the content entertaining and fun to listen to.

WA Road Trip: Albany Day 2

We were up bright and early the next day and drove to Porongurup National Park for a gentle hike to Castle Rock.

Next up was Stirling Range National Park, where we hiked up the Bluff Knoll. This hike was pretty challenging, we had to climb up a stream at one point so footwear is extremely important! We took about 2 hours to get to the top and another 1.5 hours coming back down; thankfully our parents did not follow us for the entire trail. It does get pretty cold towards the top so remember to bring along some warm clothing!

WA Road Trip: Albany Day 1

Albany is a much larger town compared to Pemberton or Bunbury but also felt more isolated, perhaps due to the fact that it’s all the way down south. Our accommodation is the local Albany Bay View YHA where we stayed in a spacious room for six; the kitchen and bathrooms were shared.

We visited the Albany Wind Farm, a impressive renewable energy project that powers the town. Visitors can walk right up to the base of the turbines and get a good look at all eighteen turbines from the lookout points near the carpark. Personally, the man was very impressed by the wind farm and thought that this is the perfect place to stay in the event of an energy crisis or a zombie attack.

We also visited two coastal attractions called the Gap and the Bridge which are rock formations created by water erosion on rocks of differing hardness. We didn’t manage to visit the Blowhole due to time constraints but the Gap and Bridge are pretty impressive by themselves already!

WA Road Trip: Denmark

We left Lavender Berry Farm reluctantly and drove further south towards Denmark. On the way, we stopped by various business selling honey, sauces, wines and chocolate. We were supposed to visit the Valley of the Giants and set up camp on Parry Beach but the rain didn’t let up; and so we ended at this lovely chalet place called Riverbend Caravan Park in Denmark. This wonderfully comfortable accommodation was a recommendation by the Tourist Information Centre; we were pretty impressed by the facilities in the park. They have a small garden where we can pick fruits and vegetables and the owner gave us a huge basket of eggs!The weather cleared up the next day and visited scenic locations nearby; Greens Pool, Elephant Cove and Waterfall Beach. Green Pools had, well lovely waters that appeared green.

Elephant Cove is so named because of the many rocks eroded and ended up looking like a herd of elephants.

The water flowing from the rocks created a nice little stream that flows to the ocean; hence the name Waterfall Beach. Had the flow of the water been larger, the waterfall would have looked more impressive and cut deeper into the sand bed.

Unfortunately we didn’t bring along our swimming gears, this would have been a great place to spend the day swimming and having a picnic!

WA Road Trip: Apple Picking at Spring Valley Orchard

We chanced upon this orchard while researching for our Perth trip in May 2014. Coincidentally, May is the apple harvesting season in Perth and Spring Valley Orchard offers apple picking tours for $10 per person (you get to take 1 kg of apples home with that price). We emailed Diana who owns the orchard and informed her about our date and time of arrival. She gave us very precise directions as the entrance is not easy to find and the google maps address is incorrect. The place is just after Donnybrook if you are driving from the direction of Perth. Our tour began with the Diana and her niece letting us feed some apples to the farm horses. We were shown the process to polish and sort apples and their vegetables and herbs garden. Of course the highlight of the tour was the apple trees themselves. The farm is entirely organic and comprises of both Pink Ladys and Granny Smiths. It was a great experience plucking the fresh apples and placing them into our bags. At the end of the tour which lasted for an hour, we had 9 kg of apples! As there were five of us, 5 kg of apples are complimentary and we paid $20 AUD for the remaining 4 kg and a gorgeous pumpkin.

WA Road Trip: Pemberton

We stayed in Pemberton for one night in 2011 and decided that we had to go back for a longer stay; all because of this place called Lavendar and Berry Farm. Apart from the peaceful accommodations that the farm has to offer, Pemberton is close to quite a few natural attractions. As it is surrounded by karri forests, so the scenery around is tree-centric.

The Cascades and the Beedelup Falls are a series of rapids. The parking lot was practically empty when we visited and took a short thirty minutes walk through the quiet and beautiful forest. The trails were all properly maintained with restrooms and parking areas. The trails are part of a one thousand km long trail called Bibbulmun Track, marked by their snake signage. How we wished we can afford the time to do a proper fortnights hike.

Big Brook Dam is a lake area which is also a beach, so families could come for a swim or use the BBQ facilities. It is a popular spot in the summer we heard, but the water was too chilly in May when we visited. A picnic here is also highly recommended. Once again, we were the only ones around to enjoy the surrounding tranquilty. Two thumbs up for off-peak travelling!

We visited the Gloucester Tree, a fire lookout tree where you can climb up seventy meters and take in the surrounding scenery over the treetops. From our two visits, only one out of the eight of us climbed all the way to the lookout.

There is also the Pemberton Trams that takes visitors on old train tracks and winds its way through the surrounding forests, over bridges and along rivers and streams. We didn’t ride on the trains but did stop by for some phototaking.

W.A. Road Trip: Margaret River, Augusta

After Ngligi Caves, we set up camp at Big Valley Campsite. It is located in a quiet valley with grazing sheep and surrounded by luscious forests.

The next morning, we continued our trip down south. Along the way, we stopped by Hamelin Bay where we hoped to see some giant stingrays but we didn’t. But we thoroughly enjoyed the view of the ocean and its crystal clear waters, something extremely rare in Singapore.
We then visited Cape Leeuwin where the point where the Indian and Southern Ocean currents meet can be seen just off the coast. We signed up for a tour which got us to the top of the lighthouse where we had sightings of dolphins! It can get pretty windy at the top, so hang on your hats and cameras!