Perth Day 3: Rushing Down to Margaret River

Setting off and checking out were so easy when your hotel is your car. Yeah, that was us. Hehe.

Returning the keys was easy peasy too. I had to make Daddy Lim take this pic outside the reception office bcos he missed out on his precious Quokkas. At least he has a picture into his memory bank.

Today would be a long drive from Fremantle to Margaret River. A non-stop drive will take over 3 hours. Of course we cant survive that with a campervan full with of kids.

The 1st stop was the Cape Peron at Rockingham, which was about 30 mins drive away. I didnt know what to expect except that it was some rock formation. I was pleasantly surprise. The 1st thing that we saw was a stairway leading to some kind of defunct fort. We saw 2 adults on the fort and they even taught us how to climb up. Ok, it was not meant to be climbed but it was supposed to be an adventure. So we did climb, my brother went 1st, followed by Zaky, me, Lil Shauna, Ferlin and finally Felicia. The not very "able" others stayed to take pictures for us.

The coming down was more challenging. There were sharp stones and I was so worried that the stones would tear my new leggings. I like them a lot. Haha. Daddy Lim took this unglam picture of my glorious butt, somemore with nice lighting in the back.

We all made it down safely and went on to explore the other parts of Cape Peron.

One of the paths led to the beach. The kids love beaches, any beaches. Lil Shauna was happily collecting seashells and found some really decent ones.

Bcos we had a long way more to go, we couldnt stay long. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic start. Unfortunately, it was not as interesting after that.

We headed to the nearby Shoalwater Island and Marine Center, which was opposite the Penguin island. We would have have visited the penguins but it was closed during winter. Boo! They operated some cruise too but that was fully booked by the time we arrived. We had some hot chocolate, chased some seagulls and continued the painful drive.

It was a long drive (1hr 45 mins) to the next point - Bunbury. It was a long road that went on and on.

If there was anything that the kids mastered on this roadtrip, it was the skill to chew and blow bubble gum. Throughout the trip, their jaw never stops.

Midway, we had to take a pit stop at the petrol kisok and also for petrol and snacks. There was even a playground and the kids had a good stretch.

After a drive that appeared never to end, we finally reached Gnomesville. According to the webpage, somebody left a gnome at a roundabout. His neighbour saw how lonely the gnome was and added another gnome. Henceforth, the gnome population and community grew.

I didnt expect it to be so huge. We should have brought a gnome too.

We found "Athena" but a tad too RA.

Bcos we were rushing for time, we couldnt stayed long. The next stop was the Farmers' Market. I had thought that it was something like the Fremantle market like only for us to end up in a supermarket with fresh products. Zzzzz. At least we got the ingredients for dinner. They were generous with the samples too and we were hungry. Rabbit meat!

We had pies for lunch, just like the Australians. Those were the best pies we had in Perth.

We had planned for Taffy's Candy Shop but had to skip bcos we were short of time. We headed down to Busselton Jetty, which is famous for the mini train that runs all the way to the end of the jetty. However, the service ended by the time we arrived and it was only until 4pm. Zzzzz. This early closing of shops and services was really hard to get used to.

Despite no train, we still walked the jetty and got some really marvelous pictures. If we had come earlier, we actually had to pay A$4 each to walk on the jetty. Yes, almost everything is chargable in Perth.

Soon, we were again on our way. We needed to be at the Big 4 Taunton Park @ Margaret River by 6.30pm for checkin. We wanted to be early so as not to repeat history and be almost stranded. This time, in addition to the powered site for 1 of the campervans, we also booked a 2-room cabin (sleep 6) in case the campervan adventure was too daunting. We made it by 6pm. Pat on our backs.

I actually felt that the campervan was comfortable. However, nothing beats the comfort of a nice warm house. There I was, on the couch that was right beneath the heater, waiting for the room to be heated up. Toasty!

Before the campervan holiday and after reading blogs of others' campervan holiday, I had envisualised enjoying the campervan park facilities, cooking, enjoying the meal and even bbq-ing. Reality is often cruel. With night falling by 6pm, it was too cold to be eatting slowly outdoors, let alone the other activities that I mentioned. Often, we were so cold and hungry, rushing through dinner and then huddling in the comfort of the campervan that has it own aircon/ heating facilities.

The cabin had cooking facilities and Popo whipped up nice dishes while we waited in comfort.

After dinner, Daddy Lim had the noble task of clearing out the campervan toilet. While we had tried as best as we could to use the public toilets or the campervan parks' toilets, there had been emergencies. Particularly, Zaky contributed to the mass, with me coming in second. He even had to take a dump earlier in the day. Arrrggghhh.

I was sure Daddy Lim hated the task bcos he had been procrastinating for days and I had been nagging. The tank was heavy when he removed it and I could see liquid overflowing as he carried the tank to the dump point. Eeewwwwweeee... The waste had to be disposed of at designated point. While it wasnt difficult after watching the tutorial, the experience aas definitely gross. We sure needed a shower after that.

My brother's waste tank was even heavier. Hahaha. At least they didnt have poo.

Meanwhile, the kids were celebrating the availability of a big common space for play. It was a night of endless heart attack and murderer.

By the time we finally settled down already, it was almost 11pm. While Zaky was lured to sleep in the cabin, it was more important to sleep with mummy. So Daddy Lim, Zaky and I slept in the campervan for the night. It wasnt too bad, we had mastered the controls and it felt like a nice aircon room.

We all agreed to wake up early the next day so that we can maximise daylight. There was too much to do in Margaret River but too little time.

Mummy Lim

Perth Day 2: The Fruit Corner and Fremantle Fishing Habour

We woke up at 7am and lazed around bcos the day's agenda was lax. Popo made us bfast. It was nice to have hot food in the cold morning.

We set off after we had cleaned up. The very initial plan was the Adventure Theme Park, only to realise a few days before the trip that it was not opened for winter. Luckily we checked. We thought of heading to the Rottnest Island for the Quokkas - those cute little always appeared to be smiling animals. Daddy Lim was really looking forward to snapping a selfie with one of those. Unfortunately, it was way too expensive. The ferry and admission tickets would cost us over A$250 per family.

After much debate and compromise (between the kids, it was eventually decided on the Fruit Corner, where we could do fruit picking. The orchard was 45 mins drive from the campervan park.

The 1st thing was to already start with some fruits to try to get "things" moving.

It was a day not meant for fruit picking bcos it started drizzling the moment we arrived. Then it started raining very hard, the hardest I have seen in Perth. We had to wait for rain to lighten before we headed to the apple trees. Those were in season now.

I was hoping that we could move soon bcos the kids were getting restless and it was a matter of time before they became Tasmania Devils, witj Zaky leading the pack.

We set off when the rain was reduced to a heavy drizzle. The 10 of us shared 3 umbrellas, which meant most of us were walking in the rain.

Walking in the rain would have been so fun but not in winter definitely. It got especially hard when the wind was howling. Midway, we had to hide at somebody's patio bcos it was raining so hard. Look at the 2 uncles' attire. Lol.

We eventually pressed on despite the rain bcos we didnt know how long we had to wait for the rain to stop. We did eventually pick green apples. Far far away, we could see rows and rows of apple trees in full harvest but with the rain, there was no way to walk over. Though the green apples were sweeter than usual, I still prefer the red ones and there was no way to even think about trying to find the red apple trees. We had to pay for whatever we picked and we didnt pick too many to avoid wastage. The buckets were for show. Our kids each picked 2 apples. Haha.

It was still raining when we were back but the rain stopped immediately when we left the farm. Zzzz.

I still got my red apples.

We drove back to the Fremantle city as we wanted to try the Perth best fish and chips at the Fremantle Fishing Habour. Bcos it was right next to the sea, the wind was again howling. We had all changed into our dry clothes except for Daddy Lim who only had 1 (damp) jacket. Haha. He was dry fairly quickly, all thanks to the wind.

We walked past a playground and of course had to linger. What is a Perth holiday without parks and playgrounds?

What was Popo doing? Hiding behind the big tree; from the wind!

The tummy reminded us the purpose of the trip and set us going.

The best fish and chips in town.

We found a table easily, probably bcos it was after lunch time. The kids were happily playing with seagulls while waiting for lunch to be served.

The fish and chips were really not too bad.

Zaky was restless and I brought him explored a little.

Soon, the other restless monkeys joined him.

A family picture with the iconic signage.

There was no agenda after lunch. We took a aalk around. I wanted to tick off the bucket list and visit the Cappucino strip. It was a street with many cafes. We didnt have coffee bcos we were still full from lunch but Lil Shauna had a tummyache and used the toilet at Hungry Jacks. Haha.

There was still daylight when we arrived back at the campervan park. The kids invaded the playground again while Popo cooked dinner. Tgis jumping pillow is like a trampoline and the kids had so much fun.

We stood in the cold waiting for them. Poor us.

The night ended earlier bcos we settled down faster after experienced the 1st night.  Yes, we had a half burnt pizza for dinner. Lol.

We swop sleeping places and we all slept better the 2nd night after getting used to the "beds".

Mummy Lim