Perth Self Drive - Day 2 Caversham Wildlife Park & Swan Valley

We knew it was a cloudy day yet we go ahead as planned.The purpose of this trip is to give my boys the closet experience with Kangaroo We reached here about 10am which the first show is about to start.

It was a farm show which the staff demonstrate how the wool is shaved from sheep. I watched a similar show at Taiwan but this one is amazed. It wasn't a fun show, the shaver skillfully shaved the wool and explain the process at the same time. The farm show ended with milk a cow session, you got a chance to milk by hand. It is a good opportunity for city boy to experience it, but unfortunately 2 of them were scared.
We managed to escape from heavy rain by enjoyed our show in sheltered area.

Like the way owl stayed at us. It was my second day with new camera X-M1 and failed to master it. But i still like its natural colors straight from jpeg.

Koala bear is another iconic animal in Australia after Kangaroo. We were lucky today because some Koala bears were awake and surprisingly active according to the staff. Koala bear usually spend most of their time to sleep.

The Kangaroo park is open to tourist and you have chance to jump together with Kangaroo. You can feed the Kangaroo with the fodder available in the park for free. My boys were busy walking around to feed the kangaroo.
It was the very first experience for my mother-in-law. She was quite curious how kangaroo carry their baby. Great she enjoyed this trip and finally witnessed there is a pocket at mummy kangaroo's tummy.

Caversham wildlife park is only one of the attraction in Swan Valley. There are park, picnic area, museum, tram ride, and others restaurants which many local spend their weekend. There was an ancient car carnival organised by nearby Motor museum. All the cars are well maintain and they do look "sexy".

We back to Perth city after have our late lunch at the cafe nearby. Bell tower is one of the attraction which we planned to visit but have to change the plan due to rain. We went to Murray street hope to catch the last minute shopping opportunity but almost all the shops closed at 5pm sharp. We used to shop until 9pm or 10pm at Asia countries. I'm not able to reserve more time for Perth city due to short 5 days trip in Perth. Will plan in more afternoon slot for shopping during my next visit to Australia. Need to rest earlier and prepare for long journey down to Margaret river.

Perth Self Drive - Day 1 Fremantle City

The best way to travel around Perth is self drive. Everything is within your control and you can enjoy this beautiful city at your pace. The only drawback is a lots of planning required. Luckily I do have  lot of experience in travel with family and young children, so everything went well. Of course the itinerary was not perfect and there is room to improve which i will talk about it later. 

Touch down at 7am +, immigration check was surprising smooth and we manage to collect the baggage at 8am. In order to save few hundred Aussie, I booked the MPV via Bayswater car rental which located 15km away from Perth International airport. Not a good experience because spent about 50 Aussie taxi fare to reach there, and don't forget you need to return the car at the same place again. Lesson learn and would prefer to collect the car directly from the Airport during my next trip to Australia. You pay extra for the convenience and hassle free process. 

Collected the Tarago (Estima in Singapore) and went back airport to pick up my family. We have 6 adults and 2 children. My wife spent a lot of time to find the accommodation near the Perth city via airBnB. It is really hard to find a budget house or room for 8 of us. Most of the owner don't want to rent the house for big group. Perhaps travel in small groups, or maximum 6 people will make your trip easier. Fortunately we found a room offered by a Chinese couple which allow 8 of us to squeeze into the room. The house is between the airport and Perth city which is quite convenient. If you are driving, then no need to stay within the CBD.

Found the way to the house via GPS. GPS is essential for self-drive because there is no Internet connection when you travel outside the city. The GPS unit we rent is not helpful and always failed to find the address we entered. Fortunately I have Sygic installed on my phone and it saves the day. So please prepare, locate the places you plan to go and save it to favorites before your departure. The GPS unit provided by car rental company usually was outdated as well. Try to find out the car parks around your destination without spending time to sort out where to park.

All right, time to visit Fremantle city after dropping our luggage and settled down. Fremantle city is not far away from Perth city. There are few attractions in Fremantle city you shouldn't miss.

Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour, a beautiful place where you can find a very fresh Fish & Chip and mussel. I decided to start our trip with a nice good. All the attractions are within 1-3km, so you can park your car near the bigger car park facing the Round House and walk to either Kaillis or Cicerello to have lunch. We chose the later. There is a car park near the harbour but too small and hardly find a car park slot.

The ambience here was good and very relaxing. Food are not expensive, about Singapore Fish & Co price and the serving are big. My colleague told me the fish & chip here are one of the best and very fresh. I have to agree with him after my first bite, yummy. The mussel was fresh and taste good. So don't miss this 2 dishes during your visit.

 

Next, Shipwreck gallery museum. It is opposite the harbour and is free. If you like history and ocean stories, this is the best place which you can find the shipwreck, watch the documentary on the few famous ships sink into the Indian Ocean.

Round House is next to Shipwreck galleries. Due to the hot sun we almost want to skip this place. But you will regret if you found out there is a beautiful beach behind the Round house. Round house was the first prison in Fremantle many years ago and now is a tourist spot which you shouldn't miss.

Remember to go up the Round House to enjoy the beautiful scenery and rest on the field. I am glad my curiosity forced me to climb up and discovered this beautiful place. 

E Shed market (only open on Friday and weekend) - the best place to buy souvenirs. It is within the walking distance but I drove and park at E Shed instead.
We were too excited and bought a lot in the first shop. After that we realised the shop at the back sell a dollar cheaper. Do shop around to check out the price before purchase.

WA Maritime Museum is just beside E Shed market but we decided to skip it because it will close in 2 hours time and the tickets are expensive. Parent in law don't really like to visit the museum as well. So I drove past Fremantle train station and skip this iconic building too.

Fremantle Market is one of famous tourist spots which you shouldn't miss. Fremantle market are few kilometers away from E Shed. It is near to the Fremantle prison. You can either park your car behind the Fremantle market's street car park if you manage to find one or park it in front of Fremantle prison and walk over to Fremantle market which is within 5 minutes walk.

There are fruit and vegetable stalls in the market, souvenir shops, restaurant, and etc. You can walk to the main street which all the cafes, bars and restaurants are located. You might enjoy your coffee break here if time permit.

We decided to go back Perth city after visiting the Fremantle Market because everyone felt tired due to the earlier flight. Need to have a good rest and prepare for tomorrow itinerary.