Australian Getaways

Annual Hamelin Bay Trip day 4-7! 2024/25 Xmas visit

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Mel

Day 4-7 saw Jess and the kiddos arrive on a TransWA bus at the Karridale Bus Stop. We had some beach time (pretty) and then a BBQ for dinner with a game of cards against humanity – family edition.

For Day 5 we had booked and planned an adventure day with Mr Pick Me Up and they collected us from Hamelin Bay – something a lot of the bus and tour companies won’t do as it is too far down from the winery region. They also worked with us to tailor a teen/kid friendly itinerary which included:

– 10.30am – Pick Up (driver – Sam)

– 11am – Walsh & sons winery + Lenton Brae winery

– 1pm – Cheeky Monkey (lunch) kids can play in the huge playground / outdoor games and they have good wifi….lol

-1:45 – gracetown viewpoint

– 2.15 to 3pm – Passell Estate (winery but also a possum sanctuary! POSSUMS!)

– 3.15pm -Scoops Farm (icecream + farm animals)

– 4.30pm – drop off back at Hamelin bay

Day 6 was surprise Early Christmas! The elves – who obviously followed us down south for the trip – were sneaky and set it all up the night before as a surprise for both kids. We spent the day at the cabin and beach visiting with our stingray friends, reading (me) and eating snacks. Christmas dinner was tacos and we invited friends staying in the cabin next door so it was a dinner for 9…with enough Christmas crackers for all!

Day 7 saw Jess and the kids heading off for a night in Augusta with family. Gotta admit that naps were had as we celebrated a return to kid free life haha. We enjoyed some beach time under our excellent cool cabana.

We had dinner with our cabin neighbour friends and watched our last lovely Hamelin Bay sunset. This was our third year and while we have held over our dates again we aren’t sure if we can return as school finishes much later in the year for the next few years….we will see what happens when the date change fight opens up in April!

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Annual Hamelin Bay trip Days 1-3! Xmas 2024/25

Posted on December 16, 2024 by Mel

Day 1-3 was the no kids part of our third annual trip! Stingrays, beach, books, movies, sunsets and relaxation. We are staying in Ocean Cabin 2 (Lov Spring) this time.

We visited Glenarty Wines on Day 2 which is about 13kms from Hamelin Bay Holiday Park. They follow a farm to table approach with 80% of what they serve coming from their own property. We were lucky enough to come on a quiet day which meant even without a booking we were able to choose the five course set menu with wine pairings. It was all good but the highlights were definitely the lamb and the frozen meringue dessert. We also bought a bottle of Fume Blanc as it was delicious!

I also read real books (versus ebooks) for the first time in years….mostly because these are only published in Canada so the only way to get the series was physical copies from Canadian Amazon.

On day 3 we drove up to Gnarabup Beach and had breakfast at the White Elephant Cafe. Last time we tried this was peak holiday season and cars were parked for kilometres up the road…this time was less busy. The cafe was very average and unable to cope with the number of people so prepare for slow service. From there we headed to Ellens Brook Homestead and the alleged Meekadarribee Falls waterfall at the end of a 1.3km return walk. The walk was lovely but the waterfall doesn’t exist in summer.

We had much better luck with the unofficial Kevill Road Waterfall. We followed Google maps roadside pin for this one and they have put in some gravel roadside car parking so people can safely pull over.

We then dropped into Gabriel’s Chocolates at their new location which is much closer to Margaret River town (yay) and included an adorable kelpie puppy who needed all the pats.

Another lovely Hamelin Bay sunset (in the biting cold wind!).

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A very short Brisbane visit!

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Mel

I enjoyed a short 3 day trip to Brisbane this week for the eastern states launch of the book I wrote a chapter in! 

I booked last minute accomodation in South Brisbane (the West End) as that’s where the book launch venue was. I stayed at West End Central Apartments which was….interesting. It was cheap and quiet but also felt slightly murder-y at times haha. Very old appliances, building and lifts but it worked for this stay and I would stay again when comparing the price to local hotels. Plus I did get to pat a hallway cat every day.

The wifi was decent during the dsay (important for me as I was still running lectures + studying) although fell over a bit in the evening. There were supermarkets and heaps of food places within a few minutes walk.

Across the road from my hotel, I discovered Soak Bath House – what a fantastic idea! Here’s the link: https://soakbathhouse.com.au/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACOVI7NFXggRDvpbLEIDzNK8z8eOV&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7Py4BhCbARIsAMMx-_IJeZIsWkluBMt5zKAFNdEzmSTTuw4na06HYyIxBggIi-qcaEi5n_caAjfbEALw_wcB  and I visited on 2 days! It was great for my back and I had my headphones on and listened to podcasts. 

The book launch was at Covent Garden, which was a smaller venue than the Perth one but it was absolutely beautiful. I had some help with hair and makeup from a local lady and felt very pretty.

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Gold Coast, Australia: Day 3-4 Ripleys believe it or not, Movie World

Posted on July 29, 2024 by Mel

Day 3

Following our draculas evening adventures we started day 3 with a sleep in. Then icecream for breakfast. We walked down the main stretch of Surfers and saw some very interesting characters.

From there we headed to the Gold Coast institution of Ripleys believe it or not – we chose to do the mirror maze and the museum. The mirror maze was trippy! And I struggled haha.

The museum was super interesting and a lot bigger than it was when I came here 20 years ago. B had never been before and found it interesting. The newer art section was cool!

We walked back along the beach and then had an afternoon rest. 6 weeks of travel is catching up with me and I’m starting to feel very run down with a sore throat. The sunset on the beach as we walked 5 mins back into Surfers Paradise central area to have laksa at Yum Cha Noodle Haus was beautiful.

Day 4

Movie World today! The website says the gates open at 9:30am but as we learnt on Saturday that’s a bit of a fib and it’s actually 10am. We also had a lot of trouble working out how to get there and back. Movie world is a 30min drive out of surfers but it’s a multi train / bus trip on public transport. The con-X-tion shuttles are the same price as an Uber and you’re locked into specific times. So we decided to Uber which was $40 there and $53 return.

Sadly, movie world was a bit of a disappointment. Nearly all the adults rides were closed with only the hyper coaster, super man roller coaster and batman jet drop thing operating. We went on both rollercoasters.

We also waited all day for the Wild West ride to open (it’s opening soon everyone, we promise x 57 times) but no luck. We got in at 10am and honestly we could have left at midday easily….like I said – disappointing. If I had known it would be so bad I would have also done dreamworld on the same day.

Dinner was at Montezuma’s Mexican around the corner from the hotel which was average. The $10 margaritas were good though.

Home time tomorrow! I am so ready for my own bed after almost 6 weeks of travelling. And to see my fur babies.

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Gold Coast, Australia: Day 1-2 at SeaWorld and Draculas

Posted on July 27, 2024 by Mel

I travelled to regional Queensland for a conference last week and managed to arrange it so I had a few days in between when my flight got into Brisbane and when the next one left. B flew over to meet me on Friday afternoon for a Gold Coast long weekend.

We are staying at BreakFree Longbeach in surfers paradise which has an amazing view. It’s very noisy due to construction opposite though.

The drive from Brisbane airport to the Gold Coast was hell. I didn’t believe people when they told me how much worse it is at the moment…I should have listened. Almost 3hrs and it was all stop / start with brakes being constantly slammed on. We used Con-X-ion Shuttles so at least we were not driving! I am not looking forward to the return trip on Tuesday.

I was utterly exhausted on arrival after 5 days of a conference and in a crappy motel room so I basically went to bed with some icecream. B went out to catch up with his cousin who lives here.

Day 2 was a busy day! We started with Sea World! It was really not busy at all which was amazing for a Saturday. We didn’t queue for longer than 6 mins at anything.

While it wasn’t busy, we rode Leviathan which is a huge wooden rollercoaster. They have other rides and rollercoasters but unfortunately most of them were closed.

We went to multiple animal shows including the sea lions and the dolphins!

But the highlight of the day was doing a behind the scenes tour of polar bear shores! No phones allowed so no photos of that part but I stood a metre away from a 500kg polar bear. Amazing. The bear in these photos is Mishka and I also met her – she weighs 300kg.

We got back to the hotel around 4pm for a nap before dinner, drinks and a show at Draculas. It’s changed a bit from 20 years ago! The “ghost train” is definitely not as good now but probably a whole lot safer. We also agree that they have lost a lot of the characterisation that made the wait staff so much fun. They were just staff in weird makeup…no character identities.

We had VIP seats so got to enter first, ride the ghost train and then drink in the bar. It had amazing decorations.

We were the. Taken to our seats. I was glad we booked VIP as the lower level tables had one side facing the stage but the other side with their back to it. Not sure how that is meant to work! Our tables were like stadium seating. The food was average. Not terrible, not great. Drinks were yummy and prices were around $20 a cocktail.

The show was great. I love aerial performers and this show had silks, a double performance on nets and a male aerial artist. The lady leading the whole thing had an amazing voice as well.

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Crown Towers Perth 3 night staycation

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Mel

Since we are both working and can’t have more than a few days off, we decided to take a little staycation to Crown Towers in Perth this week. Advantages were:

– staying Sunday to Wednesday means basically half price room rates

– it was much quieter than a weekend

– it was easier to get into places, get food or drink service and to move around to different parts of the hotel

We checked in on Sunday and decided to enjoy the adults only section of the pool area. There are two parts here, one is free and one has an additional cost. Given this was our only day of nice weather (31C! At the end of April!) we decided to pay for the private section and ended up being the only people there.

After paddling around and drinking pina coladas in our private infinity pool for 4 hrs, we headed back inside to watch the sunset from our room.

Then it was off to find some food (junction grill inside the casino) and drink some more cocktails to finish the day.

On day 2, we slept in then enjoyed the birdcage high tea at TWR. We couldn’t finish the food! It was very good but very filling.

B had a nap while I enjoyed relaxing in the adults only spa in the pool area for the afternoon. We then had dinner at Fortune 88 in the casino before some cocktails and the only type of gambling I engage with…the money wheel!

Day 3 we had a relatively early breakfast at Epicurean (a little over rated in our opinion but maybe buffets are just not for us) before we went for a 2hr / 19km bike ride around the river on hired ebikes.

My butt was pretty sore after that! It’s been awhile since I cycled anywhere, so more spa time was needed. Dinner tonight was booked at Rockpool and we did the degustation 4 course paired wine menu. It was delicious. We also thoroughly enjoyed eavesdropping on the awkward date next to us 😂 the photos of the food were terrible due to low lighting but the taste was DELICIOUS!

Home time tomorrow.

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Hamelin Bay Jan 2024 visit: Days 3-7 Busselton Jetty and relaxation time

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Mel

Day 3 was an early start to head into Busselton to take the kids on the Busselton Jetty tour. The jetty is about an hour drive away from Hamelin Bay and we pre booked the tour as it often sells out in peak travel periods. When I went to check in at 10:40am they were telling people the next available ticket was after 1pm. The cost was around $175 for 3 adults / 2 kids to go on the jetty train, do the underwater observatory tour and then come back on the train.

Lunch was pre booked at Shelter Brewery and B was happy to catch up with friends staying nearby and enjoy their range of beers on tap while I took over his usual driver role. We all went home with Jerry cans of ginger beer – yum! We got back around 5:30pm and it was straight into the ocean for the kids to enjoy their last evening with Stingy, Ray-Ray and co.

Day 4 saw us sleep in and chill at the beach for the morning before we headed into Augusta. Jess and the kids checked into their new accomodation and we did a restock shop before saying goodbye and heading back to Hamelin Bay. This year we decided to spend our extra few days while they are in Augusta in the same cabin since the cost is reasonable, the scenery is amazing and no wifi/phone can be very relaxing. We spent our evening reading, watching the sunset and enjoying some wine and quiet time.

Day 5 for us was more reading, napping at the cabin and eating snacks. Sunset was once again stunning.

Day 6 included a lunch booking at Voyager Estate approximately half an hour drive away. They do a fantastic seasonal degustation menu with paired wine including a “mini flight” of pairings for the driver. We do love our food!

On Day 7 we met Jess and the kids at Karridale Tavern at 9:30am to load back into one car for the return trip to Perth. We did a short stop at Pinjarra bakery for lunch on the busier drive back this time but still managed to make our 3pm furbaby collection time.

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Hamelin Bay Jan 2024 visit: Days 1-2 Ranger Redz Zoo and Cosy Corner Beach

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Mel

This is our second year visiting Hamelin Bay over the new year period! Once we got the first booking in a 6 sleeper ocean cabin we have been able to adjust it for the year following and are hoping to adjust again for next year…. now that we are one of the in crowd with a repeated booking! The first year we got 2 nights mid January through the public ballot, this year we got 6 nights early January and next year I’m hoping to stay over new years.

We drove down on Day 1 via Ranger Redz Zoo in Pinjarra. I had bought the kiddos animal experiences for Christmas as they were moving house so didn’t need yet more crap to stockpile and we had booked the “treetastic tour” with sugar gliders, squirrel gliders and possums! The zoo were also very nice and let us sneak a 5th person in so B didn’t have to miss out like he usually does for stuff with the kids haha. The experiences was AWESOME and although the zoo is small it’s worth a visit. Note there is no food on site but the Pinjarra Bakery is only a 2 min drive away.

We arrived in Hamelin bay around 4pm and then proceeded to go on a scavenger hunt left by friends who had stayed in the same cabin 2 weeks before! The kids enjoyed finding the clues although did brute force the cypher…finding things is more exciting than solving them apparently.

We then visited the famous sting rays, watched a movie and had an early night after a long day.

Day 2 started with a sleep in and then a trip to Cosy Corner beach. The wind and climb down are a bit nuts here…poor me trying to climb back up an insanely steep sand dune! The beach scenery is spectacular though.

It was very windy with rough conditions not suitable for the kids to swim so we did some exploring and then headed back to the car. Last year we had lunch at Hamelin Bay Winery and it was very quiet so we thought to do the same this year…to discover they were completely booked out! We stopped for a drink instead and made a note to book next year before having lunch at the Karridale Tavern instead. Wifi was enjoyed by all.

The afternoon saw us head back to no wifi/phone reception at the cabin and attempt the first use of our cool cabana on the windy beach. Overall opinion: It lives up to the hype. Hamelin Bay is a very windy area and the cabana coped well and did not fly away….although it is definitely not a one person set up in wind. It also packed away easily.

Dinner was sausages and kebabs on the BBQ (with wine for adults) and some Cards Against Humanity family edition as well as taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza. Both were winners but the youngest in our group was definitely a fan of all the butt references in CAH haha.

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Sydney – 2 day girls trip!

Posted on November 10, 2023 by Mel

I headed off at 5:30am on a Friday morning to catch a flight to Sydney! The plan for the weekend was to meet up with 4 girlfriends from Canberra, watch a play and then have dinner before flying home Sunday.

I flew Qantas and the trip over was uneventful. On arrival I saved the Uber fare ($35-$40) and instead caught the train ($19) from the airport to central and walked 5 mins to Ultimo Hotel. The hotel is okay…it’s very, very noisy as it is opposite paddy’s markets and Chinatown. From 8-10pm I listened to buy racers and party people shouting, then at 10pm I realised my room was above an all night karaoke bar. I asked to be moved (to their credit, they did this in under 10mins) and then had a much smaller room above a laneway full of restaurants throwing out trash, an alarm that never turned off and drunk people. So ear plugs are your friend in this place!

The family room (my first room after an “upgrade” which was above a karaoke bar )
My queen room after I got moved over an alley /above an alarm

Of course the plus side to being that close to Chinatown is…dumplings for dinner!! I was on my own for the first night as the other girls all caught the bus up Saturday morning. That didn’t work for me as the time difference would have meant a red eye – no thanks.

I met up with my friends at midday and we headed off to the matinee of “The Dictionary of Lost Words” at the Sydney opera house. Absolutely amazing play, some of the best staging I’ve seen in any production!

After the matinee we had a drink at Whale Bar on circular quay in the beautiful sunshine. Couldn’t resist your standard tourist photos of course.

Dinner was at Bar Patrón which also had a bridge view. The food here was absolutely amazing but the venue and service left a lot to be desired. We ended up with free dessert due to poor service and lo me wait times. The cocktails were also very good and I’m saying that as a non tequila fan!

We got around during the trip using the light rail and in Sydney you can now just tap on and off with your phones pay wave. So easy! I had an opal card from a previous trip which I was able to load up with autopay and that worked too.

An 8:30am flight on Sunday got me home at 10am Perth time. Lovely weekend!

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Injidup Spa Retreat – long weekend trip

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Mel

It’s our 10 year anniversary – yikes we are old!

So we headed down to Injidup Spa Retreat for a winter weekend get away (cheaper due to winter). We started with a stop at the Crooked Carrot Cafe for lunch. This was our first visit and I can see the attraction for families as it is half way, lots of play equipment and fairly quick food – 20 min wait at a busy time. The food was quite average though.

After the Crooked Carrot we stopped at Gabriel’s chocolates for some snacks and then checked in. There is no on site food here so we brought lots of snacks, sausages, steak, salads etc ourselves to make the most of the gorgeous views from the deck and heated pool. They also gift you an arrival platter!

We spent the Saturday of our long weekend visiting the day spa for an amazing massage.

Then, we walked a section of the cape to cape track down to the Injidup natural spa. You can access the track from the accomodation and it’s only a 1km or so walk along the trail. So we did 2kms return and it was gorgeous!

We had a late lunch at Swings and Roundabouts (very busy but if you go at 3pm it’s possible to get in without a booking) and had delicious pizza and wine. Then another gorgeous sunset while floating in the heated plunge pool followed by wine by the fire.

On the last full day of our stay we had booked the degustation lunch at Voyager Estate. So both of us could join in with paired wines, I ended up booking a taxi each way with south west taxis who were on time and very reasonably priced. I did book ahead though as a long weekend means they are verrrry busy and needed a lot of notice! They arrived exactly as scheduled both ways. The lunch was DELICIOUS and we highly recommend this place for another visit!

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