Trip to Perth (Day 9): Perth Mint

Our last day in Perth saw us visiting the Perth Mint, which was a very educational experience. We learnt about the gold mining legends and events that have shaped Western Australia, and also got to see an interesting gold exhibition in a highly secured area.

The famous one tonne gold coin

Find out what your weight is worth in gold

Gold pouring demonstration

We had a yummy dim sum lunch with my cousins before we left for the airport. The dim sum was fresh and delicious- and it was nice to see everyone again before we left.

What an amazing trip to Perth!

Trip to Perth (Day 8): Caversham Wildlife Park

The next day, we spent a full day at the Caversham Wildlife Park. The highlight was feeding the kangaroos, of course! The kangaroos did not seem too hungry, although they were fairly happy to nibble a little here and there. 

A great experience- especially for the kids. 

Look at that face!

What a life!

We also saw beautiful birds and took photos with the wombat and koala (both of which had orderly queues- which helped).

 

Caversham is not a very big park, but throw in the shows and take your time to walk around, and it can take a full day. Oh, and leave time for the souvenir shop at the exit :)

Trip to Perth (Day 7): Busselton and Araluen Botanic Park

We had to make our way back to Perth the next day. Before we left, we managed to have another go at feeding the animals. The weather was dreary and it was drizzling- so it wasn't as fun. Am very tickled by the first photo below- the humans are inside the pens, and the animals outside.. Hahaha!

Hairy coos

We stopped at Busselton Jetty and had a quick lunch. It was raining and it was SO WINDY! We didn't end up taking the train ride, as the weather wasn't all that conducive. So we hid out in the little tourist information centre for a bit, and waited for the rain to die down.

Busselton Jetty- longest wooden jetty in the world, stretching almost 2km out to sea

Closer to Perth, we stopped by the Araluen Botanic Park to see the tulips. The weather had not turned for the better, and so we just had to make the most of our little time in the park (we stayed there until closing). It was nice to see the lovely patches of tulips; I can imagine how much nice it would have been in good weather!

Trip to Perth (Day 6): Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Jewel Cave and Chocolates!

Entrance to our lovely farm homestay

Day 6 saw us making a day trip further down south, to see the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, located at the most south-westerly point on the mainland of the Australian continent, where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. We travelled all the way there only to find that the lighthouse was closed! Aarrrgh. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the audio tour and a stroll in the area, enjoying the amazing view. We tried to keep a lookout for whales, but couldn't see any (although to be honest we were not entirely sure what we were looking at/for- no binoculars!).. Hehe.

Our next stop was Jewel Cave. I was really in two minds about doing this- as I was still quite traumatised about our previous experience at Gua Tempurung. I need not have worried. The interior walkway was really well done- with good, atmospheric lighting and dry steps with ample safety features. I really enjoyed myself and did not regret visiting the Jewel Cave at all. The kids had fun as well, learning about stalactites and stalagmites.

Yummy lunch- fish and chips (with shark meat)

Next up was food hunting! We stopped at Providore to check out jams and wines, and then moved on to The Margaret River Chocolate Company. Free samples of chocolate buttons (milk, white and dark) made us all happy bunnies; and we also tried some yummy ice cream as well. Talk about sugar overload!

Trip to Perth (Day 5): Yallingup!

We woke up in the morning to crisp, fresh air and admired the scenery around us (since we couldn't see anything the night before). It was animal feeding time, and we helped Farmer Vinnie feed the animals- it was so much fun! What a great place for families- Margaret River Hideaway. Highly recommended indeed!

Like animals lining up to follow Noah up the Ark?

Isn't this little darling too cute?

Alpacas- but don't touch them- they spit!

We collected some fresh eggs too

Next up was a trip to the Yallingup Shearing Shed- an interesting experience, especially for the kids. We watched a sheep getting sheared, touched the wool (felt the lanolin oil on it), watched the sheep dogs 'work', and bottle-fed little lambs. Sounds fun? It was :)

We wanted to do something a little different next- and so we went to Yallingup Maze. Yes- you read that right- a maze! It was more fun than I expected- and it was great fun for everyone. Our family worked as a team- and trust me, teamwork is very much needed for this. There were some hidden doors- sneaky! Drove us crazy- we were like mice running around for some time- but we made it; YAY!

We also played some games out in the open area afterwards, and that was fun too. It was really nice to see the kids playing out in the open, breathing in fresh air and enjoying nature.

This game is harder than it looks!

We prepared a simple dinner at home and called it a day. It might not seem like we did a lot- but with kids taking their time to explore and experience (even finding joy in simple things like stepping over tree stumps)- time flew by. What a lovely day indeed.

Trip to Perth (Day 4): Margaret River (via Bunbury & Canal Rocks)

Next on our itinerary- a few days in the Margaret River region! We put together some snack boxes and went on our merry way.

Love the colours!

View from the car

We stopped at Bunbury to check out the Dolphin Discovery Centre- hoping to see some wild dolphins swim close to the beach. We waited and waited- alas, it was just not meant to be. Sigh. We basked in the sunshine, played some games in the grassy area, joined a guided tour and saw some cute creatures in the centre; so I guess it wasn't a wasted detour overall.

Rescued turtle

As we travelled further south, we headed for Canal Rocks. It was absolutely amazing- and it far exceeded my expectations. We spent some time climbing over the rocks, which was actually not an easy thing to do for us sedentary folks. Haha. We initially left our little girl with her grandma, but she looked so forlorn that we went back to get her to join us in the climbing. Everyone managed fine in the end, and it was a great experience! Check out the gorgeous photos below.

We then for the Margaret River town centre, had dinner, and then went to check-in into our homestay. It was an interesting experience- it was pitch dark (imagine driving into a jungle- no streetlights, ya) and we had to open and close the gate carefully (and not let any animals out). Our cottage was nice and there was a real fireplace- which hubby got to work. It was lovely to have a real fire (although we were slightly paranoid about carbon monoxide poisoning), but despite the fire, it was still very cold. Waaay colder than I expected! We should have packed warmer clothes- didn't expect this leg of the trip to be so chilly. Yikes.