New holiday destination: Perth
March 2021
With no ability to travel abroad we decided to head to Perth for a week. I lived in Perth for about five months back in 2010 but I hardly did anything while I was there, mainly cause I was broke and working in the night club scene so night life was my jam. It was nice to head over and explore the place. Perth is so beautiful, the city is so modern and the roads are dreamy and smooth (none of those North QLD pot holes we’re use to). Weather was beautiful while we were there – lows of about 13 degrees and up to about 26 degrees in the middle of the day.
Costs and logistics
Flights – We flew with Jetstar from Cairns to Perth, its the only direct flight from north Qld to Perth, we had to drive four hours to get to Cairns airport. Pretty average flight times, we got in at 10:30pm and left at midnight for the trip home, but we only paid $550 return so no real complaints.
Airport parking – We paid $78 for the car to stay at the airport for the week, that was parked near the domestic terminal and there is no cover. You can pay more if you want it under cover. Check out Cairns Airport Parking for more details.
Accommodation – We stayed at Peppers Kings Square Hotel, which is right in the city. We got a discount with a work deal so only paid $60 a night – so cheap! The place is nice enough, the restaurant was closed when we went but there is so much close by that you probably wouldn’t consider eating there anyway. We really only stayed there cause it was so discounted, it would be nice to stay at Scarborough or Freo for a beach escape and just come into the city for a day trip.
Getting around – We used Uber and then we swapped to Ola when friends told us it was cheaper, they give you heaps of deals when you first sign up so we ended up getting around the city reasonably cheap using the Ola. We got a train once from Freo to the City, it cost $9.80 for us both but we had to wait half hour for a train and switch trains as they were doing track work. We walked a lot as well, its a very easy city to walk around, its not very big and you learn where you are pretty quickly. We also hired a car for a day which only cost us about $50 with a work discount code I had – should have been $250 for the day so we were very lucky.
Rottnest Island
We got an Ola to Fremantle Boat Sheds ($25) and caught the Sealink Ferry to Rottnest Island – this was $160 for us both which included bike hire for the day – SeaLink Rottnest Island. We got on the ferry at 9am and got the island at 9:35am – quick trip and was nice and smooth on the water. When we got off the ferry we walked about 300 metres to pick up our bikes, we got some mountain bikes with gears and I wished I had padding in my pants cause those seats are hard! haha We road the opposite way around the island to what most people do, we were just advised that it was super windy so going the opposite way would be beneficial. I don’t think it made much difference to us, if you go the opposite road you are riding on the same side of the road as the ocean so I guess you see more, but were rebels and rode all over the road anyway 😉 It was a super beautiful day! We rode about 25km all up, took us maybe three hours to ride around the island – we could have taken more time but we tapped out for sunburn and hunger and the need to spend some time with the quokkas.
We had lunch at Hotel Rottnest – Hotel Rottnest – it was great, big open beer garden and right beside the ocean. We got oysters and champagne; then I had the fish and chips and Laws had the seafood pasta which was beautiful. It was all really delicious and we were joined by a few quokkas and a big peacock.
After lunch we went to the middle of town where there is a little grocery store, a bakery and a few other shops. There are some trees with fenced areas and the quokkas hang out at the bottom of the trees, they’re really friendly and you can pat them and try to get the famous quokka selfies – which are a little bit harder than you think haha. We got the ferry back at 4pm and the train back to the City.
Swan Valley Wine Tour
We did a day trip to the Swan Valley Wineries with Swan Valley Wine Tours – d’vine tours this was a great day, we went to three wineries – Sandalford Wines, Mandoon Estate and Lancaster. We also went to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory and Duckstein Brewery. We were lucky to have a good group of people all our age and everyone was quite intox by about the second winery, we had lunch at Mandoon Estate which was lovely, we both had a marinara pizza – which we both thought was a marinara pasta – maybe we were drunker than we thought, but still delicious.
Fremantle
We went to Freo on a Saturday, its a great suburb to spend a day exploring. We went to the markets, had massages, sushi, fresh juices, watched some street performers from the balcony of some pub next to the markets while sipping beers. Then we went to Little Creatures Brewery Fremantle – Little Creatures had a cheese platter and tried some of the beers. Then we went to get an Ola and stumbled across a skate park, so we stayed and watched some young girls ripping it up on roller skates and a skate board. Was a cool spot. Lots of cute little boutique shops in Freo, was nice to walk the streets and duck into the different stores. Half vintage half funky fresh feel to it all.
Kings Park
We took a walk up to Kings Park one morning and walked around the paths, its really pretty and a great place to get a view of the city. There was a café up the top which was crazy busy, so must be alright for a brew. Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority – Kings Park (bgpa.wa.gov.au) for more information.
Bar hopping
Northbridge is definitely a hub of bars and restaurants and anything you are looking for. We went to the Patriots Sports Bar to watch the UFC, it was really cool, lots of big TVs and plenty of beer on tap. It’s attached to the Brass Monkey Hotel which is a great old pub.
We went to Leederville for a bit of an explore and bar crawl – we went to The Garden for lunch and had a jug of red sangria to kick us off. Pretty nice spot, very garden-y with fish ponds at your seat – very sweet. Then we went for a walk and found a cute little bar called 21st Amendment – this place was funky and had different craft beers on tap as well as a good wine list. Funky 1920’s feel and lots of live music events – definitely worth a visit if you are after a nice place to kick back with a nice drink.
We went to Subiaco then and had a drink at SUBIACO HOTEL we tried a craft beer that tasted like rainbows and it was seriously delicious. We had a couple of drinks there then went to The Boardroom which was very cute as well, had a few cocktails there before deciding we would head to Northbridge for dinner. We got an Ola to Northbridge and went to a Japanese restaurant that I forget the name of cause I was to drunk. My bad. But there are so many restaurants in the area, Perth has really nice options for food.
Pinnacles at Nambung National Park
We hired a car and drove north about 170km to Nambung National Park – seriously the roads are so nice and open and easy to drive on. We may have gotten a bit lost coming back into the city, but that was more due to my inability to give accurate directions (oops). The park was cool, $13 access for the vehicle and who ever is on board. You drive through the park itself, amongst the pinnacles, they’re really awesome, some were twice as high as us and others half our size. Cool spot for some nice shots and to see something different.
Cervantes and the Lobster Shack!
We then went to the town of Cervantes which was 15 minutes north of the pinnacles, we went to the Lobster Shack for lunch which we 100% recommend – we had Abalone as an entrée – Lawson wanted to try these, they’re pretty exy $40 for three of them. They’re like a very muscular oyster, they were nice but not super flavoursome and we both agreed we prefer oysters. Then we had WA (Local) Rock Lobster grilled with garlic butter, chips and salad. It was so delicious and we ate lunch looking out over the ocean – absolutely a beautiful spot to go! Lobster Lunch & Boat Tours | Visit the Lobster Shack They have tours there at the factory and some boat trips as well, so you could spend some time in this little town if you wanted. There’s a nice jetty we walked to after lunch, Lobster Shack has beach access so we walked along the beach, and had a little look around. Cool spot to add to the list.
After lunch we started driving back, there are so many sand dunes in the area so we pulled over and walked up this super big one. The sand is so soft and nice, so fine and not even hot to walk on surprisingly. This was literally on the side of the road, you can go sand boarding nearby but we weren’t that keen on it, we met some people that did it but and they said it was awesome.
The dunes just went on and on, like a sea of sand, so pretty. Definitely recommend a day trip up north if you are looking for something out of town. This was a great trip.
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