Vacation in WA- Day 07

Wow...so many things happened and I totally lost the momentum to blog. Just to summarize, the most major of all was probably our moving house. Yes, we have moved and are now nicely settled at our new place. Then it was CNY and so many things to prepare. Had to ready our house for CNY so that we can host and have guests over. I was craving for my own made pineapple tarts and so I was busy baking. Aidan is now attending half-day childcare so I have some time in the morning to go marketing, bake and do some housework. I have been cooking dinner everyday. Life's great but I better get on with blogging or I won't be able to remember Perth soon.

So on the morning of this day, we went to Candy Cow, the candy factory. There's a honeycomb making demonstration in the morning and when we got there, it had just started.

See the golden slabs on the table behind the glass? They're honeycomb. Aidan was quite intriqued to see the honeycomb rising and growing in a huge tub. Then when it was done and cut in to slabs, they gave us some to try....it was nice and warm and it melted in the mouth.

Aidan riding on a wooden cow rocker

I think Aidan must have missed the presence of kids very much after being with just mommy n daddy for so many days. He was quite excited to see children and tried to 'mingle' lol.

Lunch Time! Olives! I never knew they look like this fresh. I've only seen the black rings on pizza and the pickled green ones in Martinis. Hehe...sounds like the story of kids nowadays who didn't know eggs had shells? I didn't really like eating this but DH seemed to enjoy it.

We had lunch at a winery estate, Lamont's and the prices on the menu were just exhorbitant! And also the menu was quite confusing to read. It doesn't say which are appetisers, starters or mains. I later realised that some people would order a full 3-course meal and most at least a 2-course. In Singapore, we would usually order just a main course each and maybe an appetiser to share if there are more people around. So we ended up with a tuna on skewers and some fried squid thingy (both starters!) haha....both were so delicious and we were all hungry for more!

A still hungry daddy.

In the end, we went to the supermarket and bought food back to our cottage to cook! Meat was cheap and we had BBQ beef and lamb. All our accomdation so far came equipped with a gas grill outside for our use. No pictures cos I refused to go outside to be irritated by the flies.

Aidan chilling on the couch in his PJs.

Vacation in WA- Day 06

Didn't take any pictures of our accomodation in Busselton because it's erm...a rickety old house and not very nice.

Anyway, we are in the South! So it's animals time! Our first stop, Country Life Farm. It's one of the many establishments in South WA that has animals kept so that we tourist can pay them a fee to feed their own animals! Isn't that a most clever idea?!

In the smelly barn with enormous number of rabbits and guinea pigs. I heard someone commented that the rabbits are breeding like rabbits in there. Hmm...but of course.

There's a carousel and I didn't expect Aidan to go on it but he did and enjoyed himself alot. This one doesn't go up and down though, it just goes round.

It went on for really long time! Till the parents were tired of taking pictures and the kids wanted to come down. haha...

Back to feeding more rabbits. We had a whole tub of carrots which we never finished using. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of the other animals but there was 1 kangaroo, which was very lazy and wasn't interested in food at all, many birds, Alpacas or Lamas and I don't remember what else.

It wasn't very enjoyable so we didn't spend much time with those animals because firstly, the place kinda stinks. Secondly, the weather was really really HOT and the HUGE FLIES were darn irritating. It's your normal houseflies but like triple in size. And there were MANY! They wouldn't leave you alone and attack you whenever you're outside. It got worse when it's near the animals because that is where most of the flies are. Someone told us that those flies were carried in by the wind from the dessert. Well, just because of this reason, it was a wrong time to visit WA. Never ever go in the Summer! As I would no doubt mention again later on, hot weather, we can tolerate, pestering giant flies, we could not.

We learnt that flies like the sun. So in the shady areas, there were less. So we would try to find shade whenever possible. But it's not easy when we want to go to the beach, park, feed animals, playground etc. Ok, I've just devoted a long paragraph to the flies issue so you can see, it was a really big problem for us. Aidan was very irriated as well and he would let out yell now and then out of frustration with flies on his face that wouldn't go away.

Ok so you know, shady area. Haha...the best thing on this Country Life Farm was this NEW indoor playground/gym!!! It's really fantastic. Sg has got so many of these places, Pollywogs, Fidgets, Go Go Bambini and this one beats them all hands down. The place itself isn't as big as Pollywogs but the equipments are so much more exciting! It's compact and yet so many things to explore and play. They even segregated out the areas according to age group. This is one of the main gripe I have about local ones because I get very worried when the very big kids would play together with the small kiddos and big kids are rough so I never leave Aidan out of my sight.

Regretted didnt have many pictures here to show you what I meant. Partly because I was so happy to finally have the opportunity to rest outside the play area while Aidan played inside.

Ok, this has got to be Aidan's haven. He loves these cars and over here, there are sooo many!

It's funny how he decided to push all the car to one side and park them in a neat row.

Look at how neatly the cars are parked. Well done.

So it's off to lunch! Just look at the yummy lamb chops! One of the best I've ever had! Food is really expensive in WA and I couldn't bear to spend so much in one seating so we ordered just this and a pizza to share. What a big mistake. I could gobble this one down all by myself and have seconds. Instead, we shared this one and I really wanted more very badly. Sigh...If it was in Sg, I would have ordered another. But in WA, food takes really really long to get served. It's usually a 30min wait each time.

The pizza was ok. I ordered it more for Aidan but I ate some because I was still very hungry having my tastebuds tickled by the lamb chops.

After a great but unfulfilled lunch, we decided we ought to go for ice cream at Simmons. A famous ice-creamery in WA. Many variety of ice-cream and Aidan being in his purple phase had to choose a colour like this. He said purple but it's actually pink.

It didn't last long because Daddy tried to have a bite and Aidan wouldn't let go and the entire cone dropped onto the floor.

Vacation in WA- Day05

It's goodbye to Perth for abit while we go down South to the Margaret River region. Not looking forward to the long 4 hours drive but excited and looking forward to our farmstay.

Aidan just woke up and eating grapes (I think)

Very pleased with his grapes

No pictures in between cos we were cooped up in our car! We had several pitstops so it took almost 6 hours to reach at Busselton.

This is the Busselton Jetty. Too bad we could only walk part of it as it's under construction till March 10. There's supposed to be an underwater observatory at the end of the jetty, I think it would've been marvelous. What a pity.

We love the beach at Busselton. I feel quite upset that I didn't take any pictures of the beach. Very gentle lapping waves, crystal clear water and pristine sand. I wish we have beach like that here. I think it's the ideal beach chill and relax beach. We had a great time picking seashells there the next day.

After walking the jetty, we spotted a HUGE playgroud. It's really huge, like a park! I really liked it and of course so did Aidan.

Vacation in WA- Day04

On this day, we thought that we'd hit the beach again seeing that Aidan enjoyed it so much the last time. A friend had recommended breakfast at Blue Duck at cottlesloe beach, so it's breakfast then beach.

Aidan digging into his muffin, literally.

Eggs benedict for Him. This one isn't as nice as the last.

Big Breakfast for ME! The bacon is YUMZ!

Erm, no beach pictures because it was a disaster. It was very windy and current was quite strong at Cottlesloe. I think it's more of a surfer's beach. So Aidan was terrified and refused to go in. Doesn't help that Daddy was complaining it's too cold and refused to touch the water...hmm...

So went back to shower then headed to Yanchep National Park. It's very far North and the furthest North we'd go for this entire trip. Thought it would be a good idea to bring some food and set the mat for a picnic. But it was not easy looking for a nice spot. Everywhere was Kangaroo droppings. Eeewww.... Was difficult to find a big enough spot with no droppings to place the mat! In the end, I just closed my eye and laid the mat. LOL

Biting into my lamb kebab.

I like this profile. Looks like the boy in 'Precious Moment'.

Yanchep is said to house the largest colony of Koalas. Erm, we only saw 3 in this Koala enclosure.

Managed to catch this Koala climbing down the tree. Aidan lauged out loud when he saw it.

We spotted a few wild kangaroos quite some distance away. They hopped off when they saw us approaching. Anyway, felt that it wasn't worth the long drive there. I expected to pet some kangaroos but most of them were wild and avoided people. There're plently of other nicer parks near Perth itself if we'd just wanted a picnic.

Vacation in WA- Day03

It's Perth Zoo day! I was very excited because it's the first time we'd be seeing animals since we arrived. I mean that's one of the reason we went to Australia in the first place.

However, Perth zoo was erm... not worth your time at all. As you'll see in the pictures, it was so boring I almost feel asleep walking about. Now I know why the Singapore Zoo is one of the best in the world.

We thought it'd be a good idea to let Aidan ride in this so he won't be too tired walking about. Alas, seemed like we didn't know our son at all! He only sat in it for about 3 mins.

The rest of the time, he was pulling it. No kidding, I don't know where this kid get his strength. It is a very heavy cart. See the size of that thing compared to Aidan?

And so he continued pulling it. He didn't want any help at all. If we were to help, he'd pushed us away or yell or stopped at his tracks.

And he pulled for the rest of the way. I think for more than 1hr. Might as well because there was no interesting animals to see at all. Most of them were out of sight and even the kangaroos in the Singapore zoo looked happier.

The final stretch before returing the cart. I don't think Aidan looked at any animals at all.

This huge GIANT tortoise (not turtle) was perhaps the most exciting thing in the zoo.

And this midget of a monkey. Really there's nothing else worth looking at.

So don't go to Perth Zoo if you're there. Really a waste of time. Go to the Caversham Wildlife Park instead. It's a million times better. Will blog about that later.

I wanted to eat fish and chips again so it's back to Fremantle. Here's a first family pic of us against the setting sun. Funny enough, the only time Aidan would stay still and smile at the camera is when we're all taking the picture together. I would say: "Aidan, Daddy and Mummy and Aidan take a picture" and he would co-operate. After which, he would say: "more, more". So cute :)

Vacation in WA- Day02

Day 2 in WA and we're going to Fremantle!

This is the house we stayed for the first 4 nights in Hilarys. How much does a house this big cost in Sg? During vacation is probably the only time we get to live in a landed bungalow. It feels very shiok!

Our first stop! Brekkie at a very nice cafe.

Ok, we didn't know at that time that the portions are so huge and being the very greedy family that we are, we ordered 3 brekkie mains! When they came, I was thinking oh no...how to have fish and chips for lunch later? This is Aidan's pancake! Looks yummy?

DH's usual brekkie...his favourite toast, eggs and sausages.

Look at my eggs benedict! I am not even a fan of eggs but this is the yummiest egg benny ever!

Aidan forgoing the cutleries and just biting into his pancake. Smart kid.

After breakfast, we went to the Fremantle market. This is quite disappointing. It's really small. I love the Victoria market in Melbourne and this in comparison is a peanut.

While packing for our trip, I found this never used before hat and thought it's a good idea to bring it. But alas, it's too small for Aidan! I think it's meant to be for babies.

This is a cute picture of Aidan, however, I think it doesn't look like him at all. haha...

Oooh...this is my favourite beer ever! It tastes like honeyed caramel! Does anyone know where to get this in Sg?

The famous Kallis fish and chips? Not very nice. Oysters weren't nice either. Sydney's fisherman's wharf still has the better oysters. I realised after that there are a few fish and chips restaurants there and all claimed to be the award winning one. hmm...

Aidan's first time eating a squid. He likes it.

He ate alot in WA. More than he does in Sg...I think he prefers western food. hmm...

Or maybe he just like the chips...hmm...

Playground time. One of my favourite thing about WA is that there are playgrounds like this everywhere! You don't have to go too far or look hard to find one. It's so kids friendly over there.

After doing so many things, it's still early. So off we go to the Aquarium that we didn't have time to go the day before.

Aidan loves playing on the travelator more than looking at the sea creatures.

And that's it! We finished touring the Acquarium in just 1 hour! We could've gone the day before l.a.h! Then I realised it's called the Aquarium of WA, which means they have mostly only sea creatures found in WA. Chey..... I've been to the one in Melbourne and compared to that one, this is peanut ;P

And so.....it's STILL early! It's fantastic how one can do so many things and yet time seemed to past so slowly there.... is that why they say the pace of life is much slower in Oz?

So we decided to go to the Whitford beach very near to the house. We like to go to the beach during the late evening when the sun is setting and so it's not too hot. I love this beach. Quiet with nice beach and there are no rip in the current.

Look at what Aidan is doing. Clinging on tightly to me like a Koala.

We stayed in this position for some time much to the amusement of the family next to us.

After some time, I decided to just place him on the sand and walk away....he stood there not daring to move. haha...

still at the same spot...does he look distressed?

At last! We had to entice him by putting sea water into the can, pouring water on the sand and going back for more till he's no longer afraid hehe...

He enjoyed it so much, he didnt want to leave. But it was too cold, he was shivering as the sun was setting.

That's about all for day 2 :)