Western Australia - Day 4 (Pt 3): Voyager Estate

The last item on our list for the day was the beautiful Voyager Estate.  Even if you are not into wineries, this place is worth a visit just to see gorgeous Cape Dutch rose gardens.  The restaurant was renowned too, but we did not have the luxury of time to sit down for a long lunch, and our young children would probably not appreciate it.

Western Australia - Day 4 (Pt 2): Hamelin Bay | Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse | Berry Farm

Right after the morning farm activities at Sunflowers Animal Farm, we set off to Hamelin Bay which was a 35 minutes drive away.  The best timings for spotting the eagle rays at the beach were early in the morning and late afternoon when the fishing boats returned.  We were running a little late, but nevertheless, we decided to try our luck.

Western Australia - Day 4 (Pt 1): Sunflowers Animal Farm

Although it was already summer, the night in Margaret River still felt a tad too cold for us.  (According to a friend who was local in WA, at this time it was unusually cold.)   I was so glad that I had chosen a room with a reverse air-conditioner and it proved very useful.  It was a restful night, and I woke up before the rest of the family to catch a glimpse of the morning sun.

The scenery right outside our room was a real treat!  Watching the sheep grazing was kind of therapeutic in its own way, and time seemed to pass very quickly.

Western Australia - Day 3 (Pt 3): Margaret River | Sunflowers Farmstay

From the Busselton Jetty, we continued to drive southwards towards our accommodation for the next 2 nights - Sunflowers Farmstay.  We made a couple of stops along the way for some retail therapy.

#1 - Vasse Virgin
I loved the beautiful tree-lined driveway that would lead you to their store and small soap factory.

Western Australia - Day 3 (Pt 2): Busselton Jetty

Our first touristy stop of the day was Busselton Jetty, which extended 1.8km over the protected waters of Geographe Bay and was the longest timber piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.  We arrived at about 11am, and the first thing to do was to purchase our combo tickets (Jetty Train + Underwater Observatory) for the next time slot at noon.  That meant we had an hour of free time... and the children could not wait to hit the beach.

Western Australia - Day 3 (Pt 1): Perth to Margaret River

Woke up to this fabulous view again!!!

Perth at sunrise...5am maybe?

As we had plans to savour the award-winning pies from Miami Bakehouse along the way to Margaret River, there was no breakfast to prepare and so I had some time to enjoy the views on the balcony.

Western Australia - Day 2 (Pt 3): Strawberry Picking in Bullsbrook | Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour - Kailis

Strawberry picking was another highly anticipated activity in our itinerary, so on our return leg to Perth, how could we miss a trip to one of the pick-your-own strawberry farms in Bullsbrook (roughly 45 minutes from Perth)?

Our trusty Google map brought us to the address of Ti Strawberry Farm, but we did not find any sign except for a "PICK your OWN STRAWBERRIES HERE".  

Western Australia - Day 2 (Pt 2): Lancelin

Right after the awesome visit to the limestone formations at the Pinnacles Desert, we drove southwards towards Lancelin for the sand dunes.  We had spotted many white sand dunes along the way, and hence, the kids were filled with anticipation at the prospects of playing on one of these.

Again, we saw the amazing wind farm in the distance before reaching Lancelin.

Western Australia - Day 2 (Pt 1): Pinnacles Desert

Woke up to this fabulous view from the balcony of our apartment.  I stood at the balcony for some time to absorb the views, then started the preparations for the 200km long journey ahead to the mysterious Pinnacles Desert.

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.

A Short Getaway ... Club Med Cherating

Hubby's company treated them to a retreat and he topped up $800+ for the 3 of us to tag along this company trip.  We did not take the coach, but drove up all the way north, with 3 other cars. 

3 Sep - At 4am on Saturday morning, I woke up to finish packing the last of the things that needed to go with us.  It was a little challenging to get Ian to wake up and get dressed.  When he was done, we simply picked up Isabelle as she was ready to go in her pajamas.  We drove over to my mom's place to pick up the visitor's cards, and as I had expected, she was waiting for us.  She came out to the car to see our 2 kids, before we went on our way to meet the leader of the cars gang.

After meeting the leading car and another car, we headed to the causeway checkpoint.  We passed through smoothly, and headed to the first rest point to meet up with another car.  After a quick toilet break, we proceeded up the highway.  We had a break for brunch along the way, but Ian was not fond of eating burger.  Luckily, we had packed some Coco Crunch and he snacked on them later on.

Ian pretty much enjoyed the scneary outside, while Isabelle was sleeping most of the way, thankfully.  (During our last self-drive trip to KL when Ian was only 5 months old, he got cranky along the way and was yelling in the car.)

We took a different route from the rest of the colleagues who were in the coaches.  Our way was longer but less bumpy.  We spotted the Twin Towers about 3/4 of the way to Cherating.  It had been 2 years since we saw this landmark.

We reached the desination at about 2pm.  To our dismay, we could not check in as the last coach had not reached yet, and had missed the lunch hour in the restaurant.  Anyway, we managed to sneak into the restaurant and took whatever was left on the buffet tables.  When we finally got into the room, we quickly showered the 2 kids, and then Hubby had to change and attend their team building session.  I was alone in the room with both kids, and as usual, Ian made me want to pull my hair.

When Hubby was back, it was almost time for dinner.  We had to wait a little while outside the restaurant before they were opened for the guests.  The buffet spread was not too bad.  Ian enjoyed the ice cream cone the most!

After dinner, we walked around the resort to see what other things there were to do.  There was a show at 9pm, so we went in to join the crowd.  It was a prize presentation ceremony, and we got so bored, plus Isabelle was not very happy with the noise, so we left the place and went back to our room. 



4 Sep - Early this morning, we woke up later than we should.  Hubby had to attend a meeting with the colleagues at 9am, and we were left with around half an hour for breakfirst.  To our surprise, many of them were late as well, and we quickly ate and Hubby joined the team for the meeting, while Ian, Isabelle and I stayed back at the restaurant to eat some more.  Ian was not interested in his food as usual.  We hanged around for a while until Hubby returned.  After that, Ian and Hubby went for a dip in the pool.  Needless to say, Ian enjoyed the pool a lot!

After the swim, we returned to the room for a short rest again, before going out for lunch.  After lunch, we explored the area again, this time going to the beach.  It was a hot day, and we walked for only a while and returned to the pool area for a drink. 

We went on to explore the other activities that were offered in the resort, like archery and mini golf.  Ian enjoyed playing golf for a short while, and on the other hand, Hubby and I enjoyed shooting some arrows.  There was nothing much for us to do and we decided to take the tram to check out the other beach.  There was nothing much to be seen, except that it was a super bumpy ride! 

After a short rest, Hubby brought Isabelle back to the room for a shower, while I brought Ian to the Mini Club for a cookie making session at the beach.  Ian enjoyed it immersely, thinking it was playdoh!  After the session ended, we returned to the bar area to meet up with Hubby again.  Dinner for the day was slightly different from the previous day.  I discovered the Japanese section that served pretty delicious soba and roasted barley drink!

We had an early night after some packing, because Hubby was going to have a long day ahead the following day... driving all the way south!



5 Sep - We woke up slightly earlier and went for breakfast as usual.  After breakfirst, we joined some of the colleagues in the mahjong room to idle the time away before checkout.  After checkout, we had lunch and took a group photo before heading off.  When Ian boarded the car, he was holding and staring at the Angry Bird game that his Daddy had bought on the way here at one of the rest points.  This time round, we passed through KL and saw the Twin Towers again up close!  Unfortunately, there was jam and it delayed us a bit.  It was about 10pm when we finally reached home. 

So glad to be home!  It was a nice getaway, and at least Hubby did not have to work for that one weekend!  I think Ian enjoyed it the most though.  Forgotten to mention - he had an ice-cream cone at every lunch and dinner there!  It was also very kind of the colleagues who had helped us with our many luggages!