Posts Tagged With: australia

Rottnest Island!

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Mel

Peak period on Wadjemup (Rottnest island) is Dec – Feb so we initially had no chance at accomodation…but by going on a Thursday night, the day after school started I snagged a unit for 1 night at Geordie Bay.

We caught the 8am Rottnest express ferry from Northport (the best departure point if you have a car) and also added our own bikes on for $20 each. I wore a scopolamine patch and had no nausea at all

The trip is 30 mins direct but took a bit longer for us as we went via the B sheds for another pick up. It all works very smoothly with BYO bike and they load/unload it for you. As my bike is an ebike the battery mist be removable and carried as hand luggage…and the bike mist weigh under 22kgs.

When we arrived we started off on our 26km ride around the entire island. We saw some beautiful beaches.

We also saw one of the NZ fur seals waving at everyone in the water! After a brief lunch break we rode back to the settlement and collected our unit keys. We stayed at Geordie Bay with a beautiful ocean view.

For dinner we walked 1.5kms from Geordie Bay to Pinky’s. The food was very underwhelming (especially for the bonkers pricing) but there were lots of quokkas around…even baby ones.

We walked back and watched the sunset from our balcony with some cheese and snacks from the IGA near our unit.

Checkout is 9am on the island so we were up fairly early. We returned the keys then rode up to the Oliver Hill Gunnery.

We declined the paid tour and instead decided to go back down the hill for a swim at The Basin. Just as we were about to get in the chopper started hovering over and the shark siren went off…apparently there was a 3.5m Tiger shark just offshore. After awhile we were allowed in again. I stayed close to sure because it got very deep, very fast. It was quite rough in the water…I do miss the calm ocean bays in Thailand.

We saw soooo many cute quokkas! It was Joey season as well…babies!

Having not been to Rottnest for a long time (25+ years) I think staying overnight was worth it. No rush back to the ferry and it meant we were there for dusk when lots of quokkas come out to play. One night would definitely be sufficient if you make sure your days are longer on either side.

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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 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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Yallingup getaway Day 3&4:

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Mel

Day 3 was Bs actual birthday! Woohoo! We started with a lovely breakfast view from the accomodation.

It was time then for yet another birthday present for him – a surprise surfing lesson with Crystal Wallace (and her husband Tim) at Yallingup Surf School. I supervised from the beach haha. Unfortunately surfing triggered Bs motion sickness so it was a very short lesson followed by a long nap – the company were great though and I recommend them.

We had a 90 min couple massage at the Empire Spa Retreat in the afternoon. You have to book quite far ahead to get into their only couples room but they were fantastic – super accomodating for some unexpected injuries I had as well.

Bs birthday dinner was at Lamont’s at Smiths Beach with a (allegedly) a lovely beach view and some amazing food choices. I arranged a 6pm booking for sunset. Unfortunately while the restaurant is on the beach, it does not have a view once you are inside. Food was okay – not terrible, not amazing. The pavlova dessert was HUGE!

On day 4 we did a self checkout (which meant we got a delicious breakfast hamper pictured below!) and then drove 3hrs back to Perth. We would definitely stay at this accomodation again, we both really liked the bush/privacy vibes.

On the way home our halfway stop was at Myalup Miami Bakehouse to admire all the kangaroo art.

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Day 4: Albany long weekend

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Mel

This morning we enjoyed a lovely sleep in and some baby goat watching from the warmth of the cottage. The miniature horses were also chilling out the front of the cottage so I made sure they got some love!

It was a bit of a gray and drizzly morning so while we waited for the rain to clear up we headed to Duckett Mill Winery and cheese factory. We had a delicious tasting board with wine/cheese pairings as well as one of their famous toasties for an early lunch.

After lunch we headed to the Denmark Animal Farm to pat and feed some very cute baby animals. It was very muddy (yay rain) but still pretty cool to get to interact with all the animals.

After the animal farm we took advantage of a slight break in the weather and explored Elephant Rocks and Green Pool beaches. There is some amazing rock formations down this end of WA.

We then headed back towards Denmark with a stop at Bartholomew’s Meadery (yummm honey and mead) and some beer paddles at Boston Brewing. Phew! Now back to our farm cottage for some relaxation, treats and goat pats. Home tomorrow

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Day 3 Albany long weekend

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Mel

Today we checked out of our accomodation in Albany to head to a farm stay in Elleker (halfway between Albany and Denmark). On the way we stopped at the Whaling Station for a walk around and history tour. Definitely worth a visit! We arrived right on 9am when they opened which was a good call as by the time we left at 11am the car park was completely full.

After the whaling station we drove out to the Treetop Walk in Denmark. It’s about an hour drive from Albany but it was absolutely amazing! When it’s busy there are some wait times but the 600m long walk up 40m through the tress was accessible, easy and really pretty. I don’t like heights but felt okay the whole time as it feels secure and has a good height on the enclosed railings. We also walked through the ancient tree walk which had some red eucalypts that were over 600 years old.

From here, we drove to our farm stay and checked in. It is a gorgeous little cottage on a working farm with a bath overlooking the paddocks. They also have baby goats!!! Dinner was homemade scones and a cheese platter from the farm owner as well as some bubbly.

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Day 7-8: Monkey Mia to Geraldton to Perth!

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Mel

We left Monkey Mia around 9am and headed for the Ocean Park Aquarium in Denham. I had booked the visit here on the theory we would get into the shark tour with a booking but they don’t actually allocate booking times so lesson learned…no point booking ahead for this place. Instead we arrived at 8:30am and had a great breakfast before their first tour at 9:20am. The breakfast views were next level.

The aquarium tour was amazing! Probably one of the best aquariums we have been to and I saw a tiger shark for the first time ever! His name was Boof. Best shark name.

We then drove the 4.5hrs to Geraldton with a short roadhouse stop at Billabong Roadhouse again. Our accomodation in Geraldton was at the Ocean Centre Hotel as I picked something easy, quiet and with an attached restaurant. We arrived in Geraldton around 3pm to an easy check in at a lovely ocean front room.

The attached restaurant was actually shut due to easter so I booked dinner at Skeeta’s which was a 5 min walk from the hotel and had amazing tapas and cocktails with a view of the marina at sunset. They were busy though so you definitely need to book.

We had breakfast at Dome on the beach and then left Geraldton around 9am for the 4.5hr trip to Perth on the inland road. Apparently the coastal road is nicer but for us inland was a slightly shorter trip – about 25 mins saved. We stopped at Badgingarra as the halfway point to stretch our legs (great pies, gross toilets) before being reunited with the fur babies!

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Day 6: Monkey Mia Resort, WA

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Mel

We started the day very early! Lots of people had said feeding the dolphins at Monkey Mia is super crowded and adults rarely get picked (especially in school holidays) so it would suck. Instead, we were advised to head to the jetty well before the first 7:45am feeding time and enjoy the dolphins swimming in peace. Then when everyone crowds in for the feeding….go to breakfast! This turned out to be excellent advice as due to covid they actually aren’t allowing guests to feed them, which they didn’t mention at all until just before feed time.

After our dolphin visit we went to brekkie at the local boughshed restaurant and then prepared for our marine reserve catamaran cruise on “Aristocat 2”. This is the only your vessel around here that is legally allowed to enter the conservation zone twice a day. After researching online, it was highly recommended that the morning tour be taken over the afternoon one as you are more likely to see wildlife – although as with all animal cruises they can’t guarantee anything. I was pretty disappointed with this experience to be honest. They obviously can’t control the wildlife but watching the skipper talk to customers for most of the time and not look for any wildlife to point out to us was….disheartening. Letting people ride in the boom net was also a 45 min waste of time that could have been better spent hanging out with some animals! In the end we saw 4 dolphins and 2 dugongs. Photos are terrible.

Dugong mum and calf

After returning, we did some napping/souvenir shopping/people watching/dolphin spotting before having dinner at the Boughshed. i had to book ahead for dinner as they fill up pretty quickly apparently.

Tomorrow: 4.5hrs to Geraldton for a one night stop then another 4hrs home!

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Day 5: Kalbarri to Monkey Mia, WA

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Mel

We left Kalbarri with the intention of stopping at Hamelin Pool to walk the boardwalk. Unfortunately this has still not been repaired since the cyclone smashed it apart in 2021 and without the access to the walkway you can’t see much of anything – instead we stopped at Billabong Roadhouse for a delicious toastie and leg stretching.

Then we travelled through to Shell Beach. There is only one other beach in the world made up of billions of tiny shells instead of sand! The shells all come from one specific animal and the beach is close to 100km long. That’s a lot of Dead tiny animals.

From Shell Beach we drove another 20 mins into Denham (to stop at the IGA for supplies) before continuing on to the Monkey Mia RAC resort. We had booked an ocean view cabin when the option came up to stay here. We can see the beach and ocean from our balcony so could watch dolphins frolic on the shore and emus roam around.

I had booked a scenic flight (flight option 2) with shark bay aviation, paying the extra for a private flight. It did not occur to me that this meant we would be in a tiny 4 seater plane!! Eeek. The views were amazing though.

We made it back to Monkey Mia with about 5 mins before sunset and then enjoyed a gorgeous hour long sky changing colour while drinking moet on the balcony. We also watched a pod of 4 dolphins swim back and forth in front of our room!

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Day 3 + 4: Cervantes to Kalbarri, WA

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Mel

The drive from Cervantes to Kalbarri is just over 4hrs with no stops. I planned for us to stop at the Pink Lake in Gregory (Google pink lake lookout) which is about 40mins before you arrive in Kalbarri. We got lucky it was sunny (unlike yesterday) so the pink was quite noticeable, apparently on overcast days it can be a little disappointing.

Our accomodation in Kalabarri is an adults only air bnb opposite Blue Holes beach and it is veeeery nice….even comes with a plunge pool on the outside deck! A cold plunge pool I didn’t even want to put my feet in haha.

We checked in to the air bnb at 3pm and then wandered over to check out the well known Blue Holes beach which is apparently great for snorkelling. It was a bit too rough for us to get in the water.

Dinner was booked at the Kalbarri Edge Restaurant which was a 20 min walk from the air bnb along the Melaleuca Walking Trail. The walk along the Murchison River mouth was lovely.

The restaurant food was good but the service was absolutely terrible. We tried to be understanding they were short staffed but once they seated a walk in group of 10 in reception – when they were already full and struggling – my sympathy waned. I do recommend the chicken supreme and the churros though.

Day 2 in Kalbarri started with a visit to the Kalbarri Bakery. We then drove out to the Kalbarri sky walk and natures window – about 40 mins inland. I’m reasonably unfit, managing spinal pain (and scared of heights) but was able to manage both of these walks! I couldn’t do the Z bend one which is a lot steeper and 2.4kms return.

No filter! The colours were insane

At 4pm we walked down to the local boat ramp (15 min walk from our accomodation) where our river cruise up the Murchison River was scheduled to depart from. We went with Kalbarri Wilderness Cruises and were able to bring along some cheese and crackers to nibble on and buy some drinks on the boat. Worth noting the cheese and crackers were a challenge due to no table so definitely pre-cut and store for the trip! We saw a white bellied sea eagle though which was very interesting.

After the cruise we managed to sneak into a fully booked Finlay’s (recommend you book if wanting to eat here!) for delicious fish and chips and fish tacos.

Tomorrow: off to Monkey Mia! With a stop at Shell Beach along the way 🙂

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