All thanks to our generous and passionate hosts Simon & Tash, we had the most perfect adventures in Perth! We want to take this opportunity to thank this animal-loving couple for a pawsome stay at their ‘royal castle’. Simon always says we’re the ‘royal’ family and truly, we’ve been given royalty standards while living with them!
The family has been doing diligent research and bookings to engage us full gear the Aussie way of life. Here we go-
2) Koorong bookshop & Sound Brewing Co
I am happy with wherever the itinerary was for the trip, and the only place I googled and knew I wanted to go was Koorong Christian bookshop. I wanted to get Ruth Simmons’ devotional books as she is based in Australia. I love her godly weaving of art and the gospel in her writings and illustrations. It was a pity that her latest book Emmanuel was sold out. I was still happy to have her other books.
Everywhere we went, these beautiful purple Jacaranda trees will pop out to cheer the surroundings with their soft pastel lavender blooms. One of the couple’s favourite brewery is Sound brewing Co where they have a variety of different flavoured beers for sampling.
3) Caversham Wildlife Park
It was an excellent morning to visit Caversham Wildlife park. We took the customary pictures with our Koala and Wombat friends. Then the kids went wild in the free roaming vicinity feeding the kangaroos and goats and prancing around with them. We were very blessed to have the proud peacock strutting luscious full feathers to display her splendour!
3) Wild Hop Brewing Co
Along the way to Busselton town, we dropped by Wild Hop Co to enjoy the calm and idyllic jazz of the restaurant by the lake. They have very interesting gourmet food and again fanciful beer flavours. With the sunny and warm yet cool air, this was one of the loveliest eatery place to hang out! There’s also a playground for kids to play while parents chatter away.
Busselton Jetty Beach Stay
We also travelled to Busselton and stayed at an air bnb place nearby the Busselton beach. The clear lucid and pristine clean waters were still inviting despite the cold! Papa and 2 kids braved the cold to swim in the chilly waters. Korkor Yi was not feeling well for the first half of the trip so we didn’t join them. I was glad i managed to take these exciting moments of their sporting swim! I really thank God for hubs who always takes the lead in getting our kids to take risks and step out of their comfort zone. The playground is a hefty big slanted ship structure which even my teen and tween and enjoyed.
This is our spacious air bnb house that we stayed in Busselton.
Ngilgil Cave
This was an interesting and one of the favourite experience of the trip for us. The tour guide shared that this was used to be a honeymooners go-to spot for their honey moon photos taken in their elaborate wedding gowns which would be torn by the time they exit the cave. It was tempting, but we were not allowed to touch the cave crystals.
The unique area of the amphitheater was how it had excellent acoustic qualities. I tried singing and surprisingly, there was no echo at all. All sounds and noise alike were clear and bright. It was fun lying on our backs to view the pins and needles forming into strange pointilism of creatures your imagination can hold! We thought it would be very cold, on the contrary, the guide advised us to leave our jackets at the entrance as it will get warmer as we go deeper.
Canal Rocks
Another majestic view and a different experience to climb and dip our feet into the cool babbling brook-like area where the ocean teases us by creeping up to the canal rocks to play with us. We could play here all day if not for the programmes lined up. This is one of my favourite place!
Cape Lavendar
We did a quick snack snippet at this lovely Lavender tea house. I love their soft and buttery scone, the pretty purple trinkets, variety of teas and scented soaps except for the lavender tasting ice-cream which tasted exactly like lavender soap, it was a delightful way to spend time reading a book and relax if you can afford the time.
Teddis Big Spoon (Korean cuisine)
After many days of fish and chips and the likes, we were all goo-goo ga-ga over this korean cuisine at Margaret river! It was one of those Asian eatery that sells really good flavourful korean meals. Their beef broth, fried chicken, stir fried noodles and pasta were gone in a flash. We also went to Margaret river’s chocolate factory. I was a tad disappointed that they did not have dark chocolate range of nuts, they only had milk chocolate. Nontheless, we got our favourite mint dark chocolates, rum and raisin and ruby chocolates to try. There were free samples to try. We reminded our kids not to be greedy and over indulge and we were glad they took our advice.
Home-cooked meal
1) Bunbury Farmers Market
Call us Sua-Ku or city dwellers ignorant of the farmers’ way of life. We were open-mouthed gaping at the HUGE cabbages that were bigger than our heads! It doesn’t get anywhere fresher than here. To the locals, it is pricier than the usual markets, but for us, it was already a big bargain to have such fresh food at one-third to half the costs of our sg imported food markets. For example, I got 11 pcs of big free range drumsticks for about $9.
Our hosts kindly considered how Yi has a tummy upset and offered to let us cook some comfort food for the family. Bao did a great job in mincing the garlic and onions like a pro while running to wash his teary eyes. Tian washed and helped prepare the ingredients. I was very proud of the team work! It started out with only a macaroni soup meal, but as I considered how it may not be sufficient for the adults, I slowly cooked up 1) Soy sauce chicken 2) Tomato scrambled eggs and chicken radish vegetables soup (with Tash’s wonderful home-made chicken soup broth). Despite my making a mess of the kitchen, they graciously insisted on cleaning up after us and thanked us for the home-cooked meal. We really appreciated the home-cooked comfort meal in between the rich foods we had. We were very touched by their concern over Yi’s well-being and also provided all sorts of timely medication for his discomfort! Thank ya’ll!
Cervantes Beach: Sea Lion Tour and Lobster lunch
We had to sign up and register for the Sea lion tour swim at the lobster shack below. We booked for the early morning 8.30am slot. I ensure all of us plastered ourselves with sunscreen before heading out to the sea.
A bus will drive you down to the jetty where we can board the boat. It is only about 10mins time and we reached the island where the sea lions gathered. The sea level was not too deep, according to Bao, it was to his shoulders level when he stood up. The Sea Lions are attracted to loud noise and movements and bubbles. Only a few came out to play and as long as we do not touch them, they are friendly creatures.
We had the first hand experience of viewing how the fisherman dealt with the lobsters. It had to be a certain measurement using the caliper before they can keep them and those that do not meet the minimum requirement were hurled back to the ocean. Those that qualified had their ends clipped off and kept in the basket. These were not for commercial use. Apparently they have different types of licenses for different purposes.
Lobster Shack
This was the best part for the seafood lovers. Eating freshly caught crayfish! It was another eye-opening experience.
Pinnacles National Park/Dessert
We also visited the Pinnacles dessert. Photos and words cannot justify the experience of being in the open field filled with only brown golden sand and rocks, plenty of rocks suddenly surrounding the whole area out of the shrubs and space. It was a mysterious and mind boggling arid experience. When the wind started blowing hard, we had a literal taste of the sand ‘storm’ effect and I could taste the crunch of the fine sand in between my teeth. God’s creation is really unfathomable.
Fremantle
Now to the chic Fremantle market place! It was bustling with a variety of bohemian, local and Asian crafts and products. We enjoyed the juicy sausages and coffee. The old architecture captured my artistic attention and I really just enjoyed sight seeing the different sites in Fremantle. Of course, there was the shopping too.
FOMO Fremantle Fun
While I was shopping, the guys made sure our teens and tween were also having fun in this arcade area. It was one of their highlights in Fremantle. They were particularly excited over the raving rabbits AR game at the bottom left.
We also took a drive by Fremantle Harbour and as usual I was intrigued by the Shed C of the port. The other ports were converted into brewery eatery.
COCO+BOHO Cafe
On another lovely morning, we had a hearty and yummylicious breakfast at this chic cafe in Cogee Beach area. It was a monday so there was space for our big group. Come weekends, it would be crowded. This is a go-to cafe for their breakfast meals. Loved the rosti bacon set, the pancakes which has honey crumbles that melts in your mouth.
Kings Park
Kings Park is also another lovely area to picnic and enjoy the morning breeze. The hill top view was also splendid. It was also a popular place for our host and his friend who proposed at that park too! I was in the souvenir shop for a long time tryin to savour and admire the endless arts and crafts, the beautiful illustrations and books they have to offer. During this time, I count my blessings of how our kids have matured along the way and now could chit chat and enjoy each others’ company together with us climbing trees and wandering around for fun. They even surprised us with a human wave.
Matagurap Bridge
We got to view the tall architecture of a fluid curved bridge that could have people climbing up and doing a zipline down like a flying fox. The kids were contented to play at the nearby playground.
Perth City: RAC Arena
Before we went for the basketball match, we had hot pot at this Chinese stall Dragon hotpot and were deeply satisfied by the mala goodness and hot broth.
Our final highlight of the trip. Our first-hand experience of watching a live basketball match from the local Perth team; the Wildcats vs the Melbourne United. When we entered the stadium, we were taken aback by the electrifying atmosphere. Almost all the seats were taken up and the acoustic was loud and pumped up for the opening of the match! Everybody stood up until the first ball made its first entry into the net! In between the matches, they had cheerleaders dancing, jumping of trampoline to slam dunk, shooting of freebies, a $10,000 one-time half-court shot and more.
The match was nothing short of a twist of miracle for the Wildcats as they were still a 3-points away and there was 9seconds left in court, when the 3-pointer throw was shot before the time ended rocking the whole stadium with uproars of victory ringing through every space in the hall! We thought this only happens in the movies. If you are a backetball fan, you should definitely go for this live experience!
Isn’t this a Perthfect adventures? It is the reason why I took so much time to blog about it. This trip had taught us what friends we have in Perth! Lastly, I really thank God for the growth of our children. This trip has been the best trip so far with little squabbles and despite Yi feeling unwell, he did not complain and went along with us everywhere in good spirit. Kids all participated and were engaged fully with us in almost all the activities.
May this holidays be a blessed one as you too spend that time intentionally with your loved ones!
For more post for Dads, hop over to my hubby’s blog
For more posts on PSLE thoughts
- Mum and Son intertidal bonding
- Staycation with Second Son Shared by Papa
- Our Milestone Momentos from Tween to Teen
- Papa shares his staycation time with our 12yo son
- How to help our Post PSLE son transit to teenagehood?
- Counting up blessings to PSLE
For more posts on English Learning
- Rib-tickling Creative Doddling Games
- Read to Me Campaign
- The Write Connection
- Current Affairs
- Preschool English Lapbooking
For more posts on Chinese Learning
- SG Primary School Chinese Recommendations
- Top 3 English and Chinese Reading Choices by my Three kids
- Spark Joy in Chinese Learning through Audio Books (Ximalaya)
- Free printable: Chinese Characters Illustrations Series 1
- Free printable: Chinese Characters Illustrations Series 2
- Free printable: Chinese Characters Illustrations Series 3
- Learn Chinese with inspiring biographoes, comical chickens and more
- Nightly Routine of reading Chinese Chapter books
- Our Favourite Chinese Picture Books
- Review of Chinese Comics, Chapter Books and More
- Resourceful Ways to Help Children Learn Chinese (四五快读 and More)
- Chinese Learning Video Series
- 47 Chinese Qns to ask instead of How was your day?
- Learning Chinese through a Chinese Translating App
- Chinese Copy Cat 1
- Growing In Touch with being a Chinese
For more posts on Learning
- Tech wise or Unwise Parenting?
- Home-based Learning Loving & Home-based loving learning
- Process of education starts from the heart of our home
- For what is worth in our academic pursuits?
- New Routine: Interest based 1 to 1 and chinese reading habits
- Teach the art of learning to learn?
- How do I maintain creativity in kids?
- Moving Minds, Heartening Hearts
- A loss nothing compared to gains in Sept Hols
- The heArt of growth mindset
- The heArt of growth mindset: I can learn anything!
- Smile it’s Exams! Great time to grow and glow!
- Raising motivated kids
- Small spaces for 3 growing hearts
- Younger Peek-a-day! Routine
If you enjoyed the post, help share this post and follow our journey at
Growing HeARTS 123 