Male … Bangkok … Kuala Lumpur … Perth …

Thu, 29th Nov: via Bangkok @ The Chatrium Hotel, Riverside

Again, our flight is great and we finally check in to the Hotel at 1.00 am for our very short overnight stay in Bangkok. When we awake we have breakfast and a quick look around the hotel before another taxi ride to the airport to join our 2.15 pm Flight to Perth (via Kuala Lumpur).

Fri, 30th Nov: Perth, Western Australia …
We arrive in Perth at 1.30am (now 8hrs ahead of the UK) and are relieved to finally make it to Sullivans Perth Hotel where we are staying for 3 nights.

Over the next few days we discover that the Hotel is in a great location – it is right on the edge of the City and is served by the CAT service – free bus transportation operating around the Central Business District. There is a stop right outside the hotel where buses arrive every 5-10 minutes and it proves very useful indeed!

Sat, 1st Dec: WACA … and that much needed haircut!
Neil is up bright and early – 7.00am to be precise – to be picked up by Pete Simcox. Pete has invited Neil to spend the day with him at the WACA stadium to see the second day of the third Test Match between Australia and South Africa. It was actually Ricky Pontin’s final test match in which he only scored 6 runs but Neil was there! He had a brilliant day watching the Australians get hammered – his words!!!! lol.

I spend the Saturday ‘getting to know Perth a bit better’ in my exploration for a decent hairdresser. It’s been 3 months since it had a good cut and believe me it very much needs a tidy up. I finally end up with an appointment at a really funky place called Hair Studio on King Street and opt to have about an inch cut off – like I said, it really needed it. I have a bit of retail therapy before getting the CAT back to the hotel. Walking around the City, I am experiencing Christmas fever for the first time and enjoy the decorations and Christmas music – secretly thinking that I am so glad to be out of the rat race back home 🙂

I fall immediately in love with Perth – delightfully located on the Swan River, Perth is a youthful, modern city with a warm, sunny climate and an outdoor lifestyle. Glass and concrete skyscrapers dominate Perth’s skyline which maintains important heritage sites alongside new commercial buildings. There are superb views of the city – and it is a busy ‘happening’ city with a population of only 1.5 million people, filled with cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs.

Once back at the hotel, I am barely in the room as Neil calls to say they’ve gone for a quick drink after the match at the Grosvenor Hotel and I arrange to get the bus straight back in to meet him and Pete. We have a drink together after which Neil and I go for something to eat before heading back to the hotel very weary.

Pete and his wife Stella are originally from Derby and very good friends of Yvonne and Les. They very much hoped that we would meet up with them in Perth as part of our travels and we are very glad that we did.

Sun, 2nd Dec: The Lucky Shag … and Fremantle …
We have arranged to spend the afternoon with Pete and Stella and meet at The Lucky Shag overlooking the Swan River for a couple of drinks before heading off on a Captain Cook Cruise down the river to Fremantle. This provided beautiful and exceptional views of the City and on the way to Fremantle we bypassed many suburbs of Perth and millions of dollars worth of boats. The properties lining the river are full of splendour and are jaw dropping pleasure to see.

Fremantle (‘Freo’), one of the world’s best preserved 19th Century ports, is a town of old world charm, its quaint streets filled with renovated historic buildings, alfresco cafes, restaurants, galleries and bustling markets. Whist strolling around you soak up the maritime atmosphere.

As soon as we leave the port, we head for dinner and we go ‘al fresco’ at a beautiful italian restaurant. It was a lovely couple of hours spent chatting, eating and drinking and it seemed like we’d known each other for more than just the one day!

Following a walk around the streets we partake of more beverages !!!!! and take in one of the street entertainers. There is a large group of Santas in the Irish Bar and, with the live music, it makes for a great atmosphere. They are on a charity pub crawl for the local children’s hospital.

Before too long, it’s getting late and, as Pete and Stella have work in the morning (work, what’s work we ask, lol) we grab a metro ride back to Perth for one more drink at the Moon and Sixpence before parting company. It really has been a lovely lovely day; thanks to Pete and Stella whose hospitality has been wonderful. The time to say goodbye has come far too quickly 😦

Mon, 3rd Dec – Tue, 4th Dec: Darby Park Residences, Margaret River
Having packed again, we get the CAT into Perth to pick up our hire care and start the 267km drive south along the scenic Caves Road to the Margaret River Region. Nestled in the beautiful south west corner or Western Australia it is a region of 120+ wineries producing world famous award winning wines that grace tables around the globe. Wine may be the star of the show in Margaret River but the region’s incredible diversity is its strength, with breweries, galleries, history, animal encounters, forests, trails, caves and beaches to explore.

En route, we call into Bunbury for a brief stroll along the beach and call into Kanuba Bay where it was recommended you could experience ‘swimming with dolphins’. As we are only passing through we do not book anything up but it does give us an idea of what to expect in other areas. We arrive at the Darby Park Residences – self contained warden controlled suites. Set in a forest in Margaret River, it’s another pleasant area to stay in and already we feel we could do with more time here – however, we remind ourselves that this is likely to happen everywhere we go and that we need to stick to an itinerary! We head up the street (the town!), taking in the area, and to sort out some australian SIM cards, pick up some necessities and hit another bar for beer and pool.

Tuesday saw us leaving the hotel and heading for a cafe – the highly recommended White Elephant in Prevalee. It is another breathtaking location overlooking a small beach and the ocean. Unfortunately, due to the amount of flies (literally doing our heads in) we do not stay.

Instead we head off in the direction of wineries, which this area is renowned for. The countryside here is stunning and we opt to call in to the very first winery set up in this area – Vasse Felix in 1967. A very manicured establishment presented itself to us and, once we had participated in a little wine tasting, we decided to eat lunch here – a very nice but elaborate affair.

In hindsight, we would have preferred to dine at one of the other wineries we visited – Woody Nook. This was more quaint and, whilst Vasse Felix was perfect, Woody Nook was more relaxed and the wine tasting was just like we were sat round a table with an old friend.

On the way back to our suite we find a gorgeous home made ice cream place….OMG, the best ice cream we’ve ever tasted.

Tired and ‘warm’ on wine, we return to our suite armed with a dvd (Dictator) and just crash out.

Wed, 5th – Thu, 6th Dec: Karri Valley Resort, Paemberton
We are captivated by the tranquility of Lake Beedelup, our next destination, in the heart of the secluded Karri Valley Forest – the only natural Karri Forest in the world.

Our Lakeside Room is perched on the edge of the trout filled lake (although we didn’t catch anything!) in the Forest and is only a short walking distance to the picturesque Beedelup Falls. We settle quickly into our room and head off to explore our new surroundings.

There are many local attractions which are accessible from here which would keep you busy for days. Staying on site, we take a boat out on the lake to fish and the only thing we manage to ‘hook’ is a bear lol.

Later we use the mountain bikes to tour the forest and seek out the Beedelup Falls.

Out on our balcony we ‘meet’ lots of Australian Ring Necked Parrots. These cute characters loved a treat or two and were very interactive.

On site we also meet two joeys – one is 8 months old, the other 6 months – and get to interact with them very closely. One of the Activity Coordinators here is a volunteer on call to go out to kangaroo road traffic accidents and she rescues any joeys that are left without their mum. These two guys are her latest wards and she cares for them on the resort until they choose to wander off into the wild. They are delightful and its not long before I have to have a cuddle!

Taking a drive out to town, we come across a famous landmark in Pemberton, the Gloucester Tree. This is probably Western Australia’s most famous Karri tree and, originally used to serve as a fire lookout, it is now a scenic spot which to enjoy. It was a stunning setting and we were pleased to meet a colourful little character whilst we were there – a parrot! Today, visitors can climb to the cabin 58metres above the ground in its upper branches for sensational views of the surrounding Karri forest. Neil managed a climb of about 15metres and, since we’d been drinking and didn’t have the correct footwear to climb it, we left it at that.

Fri, 7th Dec: Sullivans Perth Hotel
All too quickly it seems, we are heading back to the City. We leave at mid-day and, once back at the hotel we retrieve our baggage and repack everything for our onward travels tomorrow. We hit the City again and have our tea at the British Pub – the Moon and Sixpence – and decide to see Skyfall at the Piccadilly Theatre. Back at the hotel there is time to catch up with folk via facetime before some much needed zzzzzzzzz’s before our journey to Melbourne in the morning.