Western Australia - Day 1: Perth

We made our maiden trip to Western Australia in late November 2015 during Ian's school holidays.  We had been delaying a visit to this part of Australia simply because of a wrong impression that it was a boring place.  On the contrary, while doing my research on places to visit after booking our air tickets, I had discovered so many interesting and beautiful places that we would not be able to cover within our 11-day, self-drive journey.  So here goes... DAY 1.

We chose a morning flight so that we would be well-rested with a good sleep at home.  The flight took about 5 hours 15 minutes, and we landed in Perth before 1pm.  There was no time zone difference between Singapore and Perth, so there was zero difficulty in adjusting our body clocks.  

Our meals on the flight

First thing after clearing customs was to get our prepaid SIM cards.  Hubby had gotten the cheaper Optus plan ($2/day for 500MB daily data), whereas I opted for Telstra's $30 package so that in places where one operator had no coverage, hopefully the other would have.  There was an Optus shop just outside the arrival hall which was easy to spot, and the Telstra card was purchased from one of the convenience stores.  I DIY-ed the activation of my Telstra card following the simple instructions on the package.  

We collected the key from Hertz and made our way to the carpark.  First stop on our list was Belmont Forum Shopping Centre, which was just about 15 minutes away.  There was a famous Miss Maud branch where we had our lunch.

Black Forest cake, hot chocolate and cappucino

Smoked salmon sandwich

Of the things we had ordered, we particularly liked the sandwich and the hot chocolate.  Before leaving, we purchased some pies from Miss Maud to takeaway for breakfast on the following day.  There was a Coles conveniently located opposite the restaurant and we did our first supermarket shopping in Perth for water, milk, juices and cereal.  Of course, the children did not forget to look for their Kinder surprise eggs.

Next stop was to check into our apartment for the first 2 nights - Assured Ascot Quays Apartment Hotel.  Our spacious 2 bedroom apartment faced a fabulous river scenery.

Living room

Kitchen

Bedroom 1

View of the swan river from bedroom 1

Toiletries

A "wardrobe" for laundry

Bedroom 2 with no view

We were pleased with the apartment as it contained everything that we would need for a comfortable stay.  Although the furnishing was showing a little sign of wear, the place was clean and also offered such a relaxing view over the swan river.  And a must mention - the beds were so comfortable!  This was one of the critical criteria in selecting a lodging, and we mostly checked reviews from other travellers on various travel websites.

Once we had done a quick check around the apartment, we wasted no time and set off to the first touristy spot - Kings Park.

Tree-lined Fraser Avenue

It was past 4pm on a Saturday and the parking lots along Fraser Avenue were full, hence we did not stop to take a proper photo.  We hurried on to the Lotterywest Federation Walk, as it was near to its closing time.  Not sure where was the nearest carpark, we decided to stop at a random one and walk our way there.

Happy children enjoying the vast green fields

A boab tree

As luck would have it, we saw this sign nearby, but could not find our way to the bridge.

Magnificent view over the Swan River and Perth city

After enquiring around, we finally made it to the bridge.

The next must-do place for the kids was the Lotterywest Family Area - Ivey Watson Playground.  It was at the other side of Kings Park so we drove.

Huge playground, and no crowd!

So much fun!

Oops, this kid was a little too old for this playground...

Some parting shots before we left the magical place...

The Ivey Watson Playground was meant for children below the age of 5, but because Belle loved to follow the brother everywhere, we had to keep Ian in the same playground.  They had so much fun here that it was hard to pull them away.  We promised them that there would be more fun in the upcoming days before they agreed to go.

We wanted to try our luck again at the Fraser Avenue Lookout as we could not find a place to park earlier on.  It had gotten even more crowded than an hour ago, hence I got off the car to take some photos while Hubby waited in the vehicle with the children.

Breathtaking scenery

State War Memorial

We returned to our apartment for dinner and also to enjoy the sunset view from our balcony.

We ordered room service from the famed 150 East Riverside Bar Restaurant located at the hotel as our membership card entitled us to some discount.  Food arrived faster than expected, and was beyond our expectations.

Up next: Day 2 - Part 1: Pinnacles Desert