Pixel Perth 2014: Overview

"Life will find a way" - Jurassic Park

Hey guuuuuyysss

Some of you may know I went to Perth for a short holiday. Travelled with Q and his family (a first). Am currently back home in Singapore and not adjusting too well to the heat. I kid you not, the moment we landed, my pits started to sweat. I even started to break out a little due to the lack of crisp, clean air. It was that bad. I don't know why I'm even surprised. Hahahaha.

L-R: Me, Q, Dad, Mum, Sis

So anyway, presented below is just our brief itinerary and some general information.
I'll go further in depth in posts to come.

Travel Dates: 7 to 14 September 2014
Season: End Winter / Early Spring

Flight Details
SIN/PER
SQ225/07.09.2014
0005/0515HRS

PER/SIN
SQ224/14.09.2014
0630/1155HRS

I managed to spot us a sweet deal two months beforehand for our return flights via SQ at $599.70 per pax inclusive taxes. As far for flights go, it's still a little pricey but for one of the best full cost carriers out there, not bad at all!

I would usually stick to budget carriers because fact is, I'm just a student with the occasional part time job. Hahaha. Why waste my hard earned cash just for a slight added comfort?

Unfortunately, due to our conflicting schedules, we couldn't skew our travelling dates to get much cheaper fares. Q could only go after his reservist, his sister had to finish filming for her show and I had to be back for school by 15 September. Hence for our preferred dates, budget carriers like Scoot would actually cost us the same as SQ to fly to Perth. Weird right? Especially considering the fact that they're essentially the same company. Even the much feared Malaysia Airlines costs double for our dates. I cannot emphasize enough that travellers who are on a tighter budget to always do your due research to get more bang for your buck.

Itinerary
Day 1: Cik Jumali's @ Riverton
Day 2: Fremantle
Day 3: Ferguson Farmstay
Day 4: Ferguson Farmstay
Day 5: Busselton
Day 6: Busselton
Day 7: Cik Jumali's @ Riverton
Day 8: Depart for Singapore

Our trip was 7D7N long as we had an early flight home. 7 days is by no means long enough, especially if you plan to do what we did which is to travel to different parts of Perth. Riverton and Fremantle are only 10 minutes apart by car and are located nearby Perth City. On the other hand, Ferguson and Busselton are located along south of Perth.

I would have preferred to stay at least 10 days total, like what I did for Brisbane last year. Also, my personal practice is to stay at least 3 nights at each spot, unlike the 2 we did for this trip. I highly recommend taking that route. Reason being, if you stay only 2 nights, it's as good as getting only one day of exploration. Alas, Q and his dad couldn't take more time off work.

A very important note: In Australia, most attractions and shops close at 5pm sharp. And during weekdays, most eating establishments close from 1430hrs to 1700hrs.

If you don't learn to adapt and manage your time well, you would at most be able to fit only 3 attractions in a day; 2 if the attractions are located further apart from each other. Bear in mind that we rented a car from Hertz. Taking public transport would probably only get you as far Fremantle from the airport. Not to fret, there's actually a lot to explore at Fremantle. Unfortunately we only had a day's worth there due to time constraints.

To browse rates, click here.

As mentioned, we rented a car from Hertz. Why Hertz? Coz my Aunt works there. Haha. Not that we could get a crazy discount, it was more for our convenience. If we had any doubts, I could easily contact her for clarification. Being frist time car renters,, this proved to be a useful asset. It also helped that because we were travelling so close to the NATAS fair, we could cash in on the promo they were having, which was 20% off rates. This promotion was open to everyone who attended the fair. However since my Aunt works there, we didn't have to step foot in that crazy place. Hahahaha. Will share with you how much our rental costs were below.

Amount shown including it's various components are true to what we were charged

We rented a Holden Captiva (shown below) which fit the 5 of us fine. We aren't skinny by any means. Hahaha. The boot itself is quite spacious. If you view their website, you'll find that the Captiva or similar has the biggest boot size. As quoted from the website, it can fit "two large suitcases and two small suitcases". In practise, the boot could fit one 27'' x 30" suitcase, two 21" x 18" suitcase, one 18" x 15" suitcase and an additional 15" long duffel bag. (All measurements are approximate). Pretty spacious if you ask me! Oh and always, always get maximum coverage for your car rental insurance which also covers lost luggage from the car, unless your personal travel insurance already covers that. The most unpleasant incident happened to us right before we left.

I do like to add that do check the opening hours of the location you wish to collect and return your rental car. Though we were due to arrive in Perth at 0515hrs, the Hertz airport counter is scheduled to open only at 0700hrs. However for some odd reason, the counter was already attended to when we went at around 6ish. Not gonna complain there!

One last note, before departing for any part of Australia, please ensure that you acquire a Visa. Australia is very strict with their immigration rules. Flout them and it'll be hell for you. Not the best way to start a holiday. It costs 20AUD which you can apply online here. Or if you have any travel agent friends with access to the Abacus system, they can probably do it for you for free. That's what I did. Thick skin required though.  Hahaha.

With that I shall end this post. Do check out future posts for our daily doings!

♥ Sheena V