Perth VI: All about Sea

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Hari Malaysia to all of you.... Feels like wrapping up this Aussie post ASAP, as many other trips are still pending in the row...ehehheheh, macam la banyak pegi melancong plak kan?

So we went from York to Mandurah for some coastal drive.....As usual, the Great Southern Highway would be the main route. As we drove along the freeway towards the coastal area, the Perth CDB could be seen far from our view. Memang tak sabar nak sampai sana. The great thing about this highway was the attitude shown by the drivers where tailgating is such a no-no....speed limit is 100km/hour and every vehicles in the lanes were having the same speed which no worries for us.

As we reached Mandurah, we filled up the gas, cuci the kereta and tried to find some place for lunch but it seemed every place were closed for ANZAC holidays..huhu...even Woolies pun tutup kodai....Never mind, we continued our journey to Rockingham and of course the end of this coastal drive would be Freemantle. In Shoalwater Island Marine Park at Rockingham, we stopped to see some local people doing their weekend stuff - picnic, swimming, lepaking at the beach side...it seemed the Oz people truly enjoy themselves in the water.

I tried to dip my feet into the water, and guess what, it is quite freezing cold. Macam mana la mat salih ni boleh relax mandi-mandi kat sini lama-lama, i think tropical warm sea suits me better!

From Rockingham, you can take some ferry to Rottnest Island, where many activities such as snorkeling or scuba diving can be done there (huhu, tak sempat nak pegi due to limited time), so perhaps in the future, I will be coming here again for another sea side experience....

Kapal Layar dan Bot Orang-Orang Kaya Freemantle

Enough of some dipping, which was less than 5 minutes, we tried to find lunch where a stop at this public beach helped us to get some fish and chips.

Had two fish and chips set and sea platter of calamari, prawns, abalone and fish cakes... Yummylicious...

After we had our lunch, it is the time to head to Freemantle for the E-Shade Market (souvenir shopping and more sight seeing!)... Seriously, aku jatuh cinta dengan tempat ini as most of the buildings here being preserved in good condition... imagine bangunan-bangunan lama di Penang sudah, macam lebih kurang terdapat di Freemantle, minus the trishaws.

Di Freemantle rail track, sayang tiada keretapi pula...

Aini and Nabil post at one of the building.....banyak attraction spot like the museum being closed for ANZAC Day....

The view from the sea side.....I wish I had my camera to capture more pictures since I did not recharge the batteries....All pictures taken in Freemantle and Rockingham are taken from Aini 's album. Thanks yeah......

So after some souvenir shopping in this shop belongs to a Singaporean, we left Freemantle to Perth CDB. Time to check in the hotel for an overnight stay...till then....

New Addition (Korea Trip)

While I am trying to go details with the itinerary for Korea trip, some miracle happened.

I decided daughter should be following us, instead of being left with babysitter.

The half month bonus help to purchase the flight ticket. Prior to that, The Whale of The Sale Promo by AA is about time when the bonus came in. Just the right timing....

Alhamdulillah......

Welcome aboard Miss Nurul Fatiha..... you are lucky to have a mum who belanja u this trip...:)



And now to plan the itinerary to Jeju....

Perth Part V : Avon Valley

I have to say, having 2 or three days in Avon Valley - Toodyay, Northam, New Norcia, York, Beverley, Brookton was not enough cause these small towns have their own unique tourist points so it seemed that time was something we could not afford. I would dare to say, it should be like 4 days for that....

The Map of Avon Valley

Toodyay is like a Kampung tapi ada gak Free Mason Lodge... ada bran???

Part of Avon River, Northam

Curious biri-biri looking at us in Northam... at this point we just drove away, scared of being chased ahahhahaha

Never in my life visiting a wheat farm....tu dia, sangat kering dan kontang selepas musim menuai....Northam

Bukit Gondol... banduan lari conpem boleh nampak ehehehheheheh

Mengambil peluang....

After we left Toodyay, we went to Northam for some sight seeing then to York to (check in hotels) before continuing our journey to the rest of the areas....Aini and her bro checked in Faversham Boutique Hotel while I on the other hand, a sengkek traveler prefer something cheaper : Kookaburra Backpackers Lodge. It was AUD90 pernight for single room..not really a budget one but I had no choice since being ridiculed by the this bartender for a room above a busy bar (damn it was AUD195 one night, similar to what we had in Faversham... deng...)

I was so really annoyed when the lady bar tender said, "Well Madam, I dont think you can afford that!"

Cess....Rasa nak campak sekepuk aussie notes tanda macam la aku lekeh tak mampu bayar ahahhahahaha. I was carrying AUD1000 at that point of time, too bad huh.....so please make bookings prior to your visit... walk in guest during ANZAC and Easter Hols macam membunuh diri (dan juga wallet) kerana mostly lodgings are fully booked...

Aini and her bro after check in..time to ronda-ronda.......

All about Beverley..........

We stopped for some nature calls somewhere at Brooklyn........

So, it was quite of journey from York, exploring down south like Beverly, Brookton, Pingelly, Popanyining, Cubbaning and Narrogin, thanks to Great Southern Highway which I think we managed to do it till the evening... Seronok tengok gelagat local menghabiskan waktu cuti bersantai bersama keluarga, tak kira dalam caravan, BBQ, or kids playing, running kat pavement depan rumah rumah cute pelbagai design with picket white fences, as if you are in real life simulation of The Sims, heheheheh Kita pun tumpang seronok!

I think one of the best spot was Dyandra Woodlands which situated somewhere near Narrogin. Mati mati aku ingat hutan itu macam hutan hujan khatulistiwa penuh lantai bumi dengan pokok tapi it was trees with small trunk... I was feeling grateful with our own tropical forest dengan pokok-pokok besar beberapa pemeluk sampai tak cukup dipeluk. Da tentu tentu sumber untuk membekalkan kayu papan untuk segala jenis kegunaan manusia di muka bumi ini buat rumah, perabut dan sebagainya...syukur....so never take for granted when we have our trees...sayangi lah hutan anda ehheheheheheheh...

Dyandra Woodlands...main paintball conpem conpem game over cepat hehehehehhehe

Somewhere in Pingelly, seeing the old cart for display...kuda itu patung sahaja.

Great Southern Highway....

After like a whole day, sight seeing, we decided to go back to York for our hotel cause it was getting dark, malam tak nampak apa weih......

Dinner time at some local restaurant in York....kopak wallet main dish sahaja sorang AUD30.00 belasah steamed baramundi with poached egg, kebuluq......

So after dinner, we had some short time exploring the night time in York which had nothing spectacular to highlight here except for the noisy local pubs, obviously people were drinking and chilling out due to the holidays... I went back to my hostel, trying to sleep but my next room occupant, some Aussie families were making noises.. huhu, hardly slept due to the coffee...

It was a great day exploring the Avon Valley caused it was for us to head to Perth City the next day....

Perth Part IV

After saying goodbye to Angela, we went to check the town itself... awesome.... Thankfully, it is not Easter or ANZAC days when we came here to Toodyay... the Aussie sort of like having one stretch of week for holidays, so the possibilities of shop or tourist spot being closed was high, like we have in Malaysia..... so guys, if you happen to visit the country, please check these two dates cause you might end up with frustration.

What is ANZAC Day by the way? Please refer to Wiki, if you have more time or something like we have for Hari Pahlawan.....

A row of shop where one of them was the bakery.....for a large loaf of whole wheat kind, the price was AUD10.00, and it was sufficient to supply us for 5 days for breakfast.....

One of the landmarks... the mill.....

The Tourism Centre for Tooday...

The Coke Museum and Cafe...many collectibles.....

The Jail House....cool.....

From Toodyay, we continued our to journey to Northam and to York.....Yup, someday I will be coming back to this small town again for its peacefulness and mind relaxing...

All images were taken using Canon EOS 500D.