16th - 25th Dec 2006

My family at King's Park with the city area in the background

As most of you probably know,i was away in Perth Australia over the past few days on holiday with my family and relatives.This entire trip was self planned and everything was free and easy,without the help of any tour agency.There was no tour bus to drive us around and there were no meals provided. We had to do everything by ourselves,from planning the itenary to getting around and even settling our own meals. During this trip,i also gained some experience and some thoughts also came along the way. On the whole,the trip was pretty enjoyable but there were some hiccups along the way which ranged from flight delays to late delivery of our rental vehicles. We also made some mistakes in planning the itenary. We misjudged the distance we had to travel to for some destinations and ended up having to leave some of them out and on the other hand,places which we could have ommitted we ended up visiting just because there was so much publicity about them.In the end,we were pretty disappointed with some of the things we saw which included the size of the supposed "factories".Well,enough said,the following is a brief summary of what took place during the past 10days and 9 nights. Enjoy=)

Day1(16th Dec)

Flight from Singapore to Perth via Qantas flight QF72. Flight left the berth on schedule but take off was delayed for about 1/2 hr or more as one of the 2 runways for changi airport was closed for maintenance and there were many other planes before us taxi-ing on the remaining runway waiting to take off.Upon arrival at perth,we checked into our apartment and by the time we had settled down,it was already 4plus perth time(3plus Singapore time) and their shops closed at 5pm. Did some grocery shopping at the local supermarket before purchasing our dinner and heading back to the apartment for the night.

Day 2(17th Dec)

After having breakfast comprising of self prepared bread and tea,we left the apartment at about 10am perth time and did some city exploring. Visited the Perth mint where we witnessed the gold pouring demonstration.Thereafter,we went to the central shopping district to do some shopping and got myself a t-shirt.had lunch there as well and the meal for my family came to 40plus Australian dollars again. Thereafter,we took a stroll down to the swan river area to visit the swan bells while the adults made some enquiries at the ferry agency on possible ferry rides to rottnest island that was located off fremantle. Thereafter we made our way back to the apartment and dinner was instant noodles with chicken slices in a bid by all families to cut costs. That day,we travelled around by taking the free bus service around the city and what irked me was the way some of them rushed to get off the bus despite the presence of elderly.They really shoved around as though in a rush for limited edition hello kitties.At the supermarket,they were also rushing to pay for their groceries and get out as there was this lady who used her supermarket trolley to bang my leg twice before saying excuse me.What a culture shock.

Perth Mint

Mum and I outside the Perth Post Office

Day 3(18th Dec)

The greatest hiccup in the trip occured that day. Our checkout time from the apartment was by 10am perth time and it was arranged with the vehicle rental company for our 2 rented vehicles to arrive around 10am so that we could begin our drive to our next destination. Turned out that the agency experienced some problems and in the end,by the time we received both vehicles,it was a already 3pm perth time. A delay of 5 hrs! This was unplanned for and we were now worried about being able to reach our next lodging area before sun down. Turned out our fears came true. Although the sun sets only around 8plus perth time,by the time we reached our lodging for the night which was a farm stay located in bridgetown,some 297km away,it was already 10plus perth time.That meant that we were driving on roads which we were unfamiliar with and in complete darkness(their roads do not have street lights you see) for about 2 hrs.During that period of time,it was really a nail biting experience as not only were we lost a couple of times,we were also facing the risk of colliding with kangaroos which were known to come out during dusk and at night.But thank God,we reached there safe and sound.That day,before we collected our rented vehicles,we were waiting at the lobby of the apartment and there was this man who seemed rather sick. Both his wife and daughter were there with him and apparently,they had already called for an ambulance to send him to the hospital. After more than 1/2 hr,the ambulance still did not arrive and at this point of time,the man who was seated in a sofa fainted and he collapsed onto the carpet floor. All of us got a shock and rushed over to see if he was alright. The wife was crying away as the apartment staff tried to get the ambulance to come faster. About 10minutes passed and the ambulance finally arrived.I do not know if it was the same case all the time but from what i observed,both crews in the ambulance did not seem to be in a rush at all. They did not seem to worry that the man was rather ill. During one point of time,one of the crew whom i believe was the driver went back outside to park the ambulance at the entrance. That was when i saw the most unbelieveable,he actually had time to put on his sunglasses before making his way back in. That entire scene made me realise how fortunate i was to be living in Singapore where our emergency services respond so quickly. It got me thinking about how the welfare of the Australian people and for a moment i pondered to myself that the people there seemed to rush when they shouldn't and they took their time when they had to hurry,what a contradiction.

Day 4(19th Dec)

The morning was spent at the farm,feeding the animals while the children played miniature golf as well. After lunch,we drove down towards pemberton but stopped short of reaching it as it was going to rain. Along the way we visited the Goldfields orchard,the manjimup Timber museum as well as Diamond tree fire lookout tower which was actually a tree by itself with a tower constructed at the top.I took the chance to scale to the top of it and boy was the view fantastic.There after,we did a little shoppping in manjimup town before heading back to the farm for the night.

Amongst the rows of fruit trees at Golfields Orchard

"Top of the world" after scaling the Diamond Tree fire lookout tower

Day 5(20th Dec)

We woke up early and after breakfast,we left the farm at about 9am perth time for the 190km journey down to margaret river. Along the way,we stopped by Busselton for our lunch and we had originally intended to visit the Busselton jetty underwater observatory which was some 2km from the shore,at the end of the jetty. But unfortunately we had to give it a miss as we were hard pressed for time and the schedule for the next commentary was an hour away. Thereafter,we headed to margaret river where the margaret river chocolate factory as well as fudge factory were widely advertised about.But when we arrived at these 2 locations,we were very disappointed as they weren't the size which we had expected them to be. The chocolate factory was the size of a bungalow while the fudge factory was actually just a shop.Thereafter,we headed back to the farm for the night.

Busselton Jetty in the background

Day 6(21st Dec)

We had to check out by 10am that day and thereafter,we started our trip back to Perth,yet another 297km away.Along the way,we stopped by Mandurah which was reputed to be a seafood town and there,we had a meal of fish and chips which came up to a whopping 50 plus australian dollars.After our lunch,we continued on our journey all the way back to perth and when we arrived,it was about 3pm perth time. After checking into our apartment,the children went for a swim,the women folk went across the street for some shopping while i took a rest in the apartment and watched TV,haha.

Day 7(22nd Dec)

After breakfast comprising of bread and bacon for the 6th straight day,we left for the town of Fremantle and while there,we visited the old Fremantle prison as well as the maritime museum. The tour of the old prison though expensive was well worth the money as we got a tour of the entire prison complex from the cookhouse to the cells and even to the gallows. Along the way we got an insight into the life of a prisoner and were educated about things we never knew about which took place beyond the prison walls.But before our tour begin,we had the chance to meet our first racist a**hole. As my dad was the driver for one of the rented vehicles and he was not very familiar with the carpark layout,he had parked his vehicle slightly out of the carpark lot thus obstructing traffic a little although there was still enough space for vehicles to pass through. Then came along this ang mor in his car and after passing through the narrow gap and parking his car,he walked by my dad's vehicle with him still inside and commented out loud "if you cannot park your vehicle then how how you got your license." I mean,although my dad's vehicle did obstruct traffic a little,he did not block it completely and at that point of time,he was already shifting his vehicle out of the way and parking it properly. So whats the big fuss about? This is a place we are foreign to and the least that a local person can do is to show some form of patience and understanding rather than just blast others like that.But this incident aside,the day went on well and we had lunch of fish and chips as Fremantle was reputed to have one of the best fish and chips in Australia if not the world.After that,we went back to Perth where we visited the local "chinatown" located in northbridge and after a meal of chinese food,we headed over to King's park and caught a breathtaking view of the city area at sunset.After sundown,we returned back to the apartment for the night.

Inside the Fremantle Market

Outside the Fremantle Market

Dad with me at the Fremantle Fisherman's Wharf

Sunset atop King's Park with the city area in the background

Day 8(23rd Dec)

After breakfast comprising of the usual bread with bacon,we left our apartments and headed towards caversham wildlife park in our rented vehicles. While there,we got to see the Australian native animals and were given a chance to come into close contact with the kangaroo,koala bear as well as wombat,cool! Thereafter,we travelled on to AQWA,the Australian version of the underwater world. The only difference being that AQWA showcased marine animals that were once again native to Australia.After that,we headed back to our apartment for the night.

In the Kangaroo Enclosure

At the Camel rides area

Mum,Bro and me outside the Caversham Wildlife Park

Day 9(24th Dec)

The day was more relaxed with less travelling as compared to any of the other days. After breakfast,we headed for a local warehouse located slightly out of town where we could pick up things at retail price. Thereafter,we headed back to the apartment for the rest of the day. Back at the apartment,i spent the day watching TV while the womenfolk went across the street to do some shopping. Dinner was pizzahut which we bought earlier in the day and while waiting for midnight to come,me and my cousins played blackjack.

Day 10(25th Dec)

We had to check out by 10am in the morning and our flight was not until 4.30pm perth time. Going by the 2hrs in advace check in time which was required,we still had till 2.30pm to keep ourselves occupied. Since it was christmas day,we had it figured out that all the shops were closed.We then settled upon going back to King's Park once again so that the young ones could have some place to have some fun while the grownups including myself could enjoy the scenery. At about 12.30pm,we decided to search for a fastfood joint thinking that it would be just like in Singapore,staying open despite the holidays but we were suprised to find that even fastfood chains like Mcdonalds were totally shut. In the end,we decided to try out luck and headed over to the airport inhopes that we would find food there and true enough,there was indeed food to be eaten. Everything then went smooothly until boarding time. We were informed at the last minute that our flight would be delayed,this time round because the plane had just landed and needed to be restocked and refuelled for our flight. After a wait of about half an hour,we boarded our plane and headed back to Singapore.

Outside Perth international Airport

Summary

On the whole,i felt that the trip was pretty fun minus the hiccups that occurred along the way. Throughout the entire trip involving the rented vehicles,i was the navigator for both cars. Basically i was the one who identified the routes to take and instructed my dad on how to get to our destination while the vehicle behind driven by my uncle would just follow. It was a little stressful since the maps we had with us were rather inadequate and in come cases,the maps were even outdated so we were thrown offtrack at certain points of the journey. On the whole,our experience with Australins were also very pleasant as they were always ready to give us directions with a smile on their face. They were all pretty friendly except for the bad experiences we had with some of that. Sadly though we did not get to visit some of the intended places because of distance misjudgement but to sum it all up,we all enjoyed the trip but only lamented the fact that things there were too expensive and we could not afford to buy more souveniers.