I wish to write down my holiday experience before my memory fade. Perth-Joondalup trip was my first overseas holiday since my retirement on 2 April 2010. This was a free and easy self drive holiday.I went with my wife,my daughter,my wife's sister and her husband. We secured the Perth-Joonalup golf resort bungalow for the period from 16 August to 23 August 2010. The Singapore International Airline (SIA)air tickets were booked on line when SIA was having the air fare promotions (S$698 pax). We rented a Toyota Camry from Hertz.It can accommodate 5 passengers & all our luggages. The vehicle was picked up and returned at the Perth International Airport. It was a very convenient arrangement. The whole journey was very relax. Daily driving to the shopping mall had never exceeded half an hour. The longest journey was one hour drive to Fremantle. It was winter season in Perth. The weather was cool. The temperature was ranged from 7 degree C to 17 degree C. During our stay in Joondalup, the weather forecast was occasionally shower.We were considered very lucky as we did not encounter any heavy rain while we were walking out door.
Our itinerary was as follows:
1. Day one 16 August 2010
We took the SIA SQ 225 flight at Changi International Airport terminal 3. The plane Airbus (A330-300)departed at 0115 hrs.It touched down at Perth International Airport at 0625 hrs. My daughter's friend Mr Gavin Yap(Singaporean), who is an Australia PR came to the airport to meet us. He drove his Honda CRV SUV and showed us the way to his house. Gavin served us morning coffee. He is living with his wife and his parents.The house is a two storey terrace house. Gavin later showed us to the near by Swan River park. A beautiful park with jogging track and BBQ pits. He told us that the BBQ pits are free for all. No booking is required. The user is required to clean up after using the facilities. The residence there are very self disciplined. The facilities there are kept clean.
Gavin and his wife brought us to Perth Chinatown for lunch. We had tim sum 点心 for lunch. Since we did not sleep well on board the plane and were rather tired after the flight, we decided to buy some ready cooked food back for dinner. We bought roast duck, roast pork and white rice. We also went to the WoolWorth super mart to get some bread and eggs for our next day breakfast. The roasted duck and roasted pork dinner was fantastic. We checked in to the Joondalup Golf Resort at about 2.30pm local time (Perth and Singapore is in the same time zone). The golf resort environment was very nice and quiet. It was a pity that I do not play golf, what a waste! The golf enthusiasts started their game as early as 7.00 am. in the morning. We can see the actions from our unit. The bungalow is facing the golf course.
2. Day two 17 August 2010
We drove to Swan Valley after having self prepared breakfast. We visited the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. We had lunch at Mash Brewing Brasserie & Bar. After lunch, we stopped over at the Oggie's cafe for ice cream. At the Oggie's cafe we saw a few nicely done up antique cars. I guessed the antique car club was having their meet up there. We got some Australia famous Nougats at the Mondo Nougat shop. And later we went for the wine tasting. We bought a bottle of Shiraz red wine from Houghton wine cellar. We opened the red wine to go with our self cooked beef steak dinner - yummy!
3. Day three 18 August 2010
We visited the Farmer Jack Super Mart, Marmion Marine Park, Wanneroo Farmer Market. We had lunch at the Wanneroo food court.We had beef steak, fish & chips and Singapore fried noodle. The Singapore fried noodle taste was lousy. We went shopping at the Lakeside shopping Mall after lunch. Then we had cappuccino coffee at the Side Walk Cafe at the concourse of Lakeside Mall. This is life style.
4. Day four 19 August 2010
We went to Yancep central park & crystal cave after our in house breakfast. We later went to Sorrento Quay for lunch. We ate at the Dome cafe. Sorrento Quay was the place where the pleasure boats berth.There were many sea gulls. The surrounding water was very clear we can see fishes swimming.
5. Day five 20 August 2010
We drove to Fremantle. The journey took about 1 hour. Fremantle has many old Roman/ British designed buildings, very interesting. They were very well preserved. We had lunch at the Cicerello. The mussel and the fish & chips there were delicious 无得顶.
6. Day six 21 August 2010
We stopped over at the IGA super mart (near our resort) before we went to the Lakeside Shopping Mall. We spent the whole day there exploring the shopping mall.We tried out the famous MacDonald Angus beef sandwitch and also the MacDonald A$0.5 ice cream. The ice cream was very creamy. It was value for money.
7. Day seven 22 August 2010
We went to the Wanneroo Farmer Market for the final day shopping. Lunch was at the food court. It was cheap & good. We had coffee at the Coffee Connection before we returned to the resort and then checked out.
Dinner was at Perth city Chinatown Chinese restaurant 顺德餐馆 . The dinner was very good. After dinner,we dropped by the Kings Park to enjoy the Perth city night scene before we drove to the Perth International Airport. We returned the rented vehicle at the airport before check-in.
8. 23 August 2010
We took the SIA flight SQ 216. The plane took off at 0110 hrs and landed at the Singapore International Airport at 0635 hr. Home Sweet Home.
Perth is a nice place for holidays and relaxation. But for living, I still love the little red dot - Singapore.
