Wolfie's limited guide to Perth

Getting there
Qantas airway tickets cost us $690 each, and when we checked in they were looking for 5 'volunteers' to switch to an SQ flight going Perth too flying an hour later cos they were overbooked. We volunteered ourselves, only to have SQ telling us they don't have seats together for us, wtf! Eventually when we boarded thankfully we managed to make a switch. Great to be able to watch movies on both flights. Qantas have aunties and ordinary-looking blokes for stewards.


Weather
It was quite alien to a suaku Singapore, to have a big blue sky without a whiff of a cloud greeting us at the airport. The wind could bring a chill especially when temperature drops, at about the time when the shops closes. Then there were two days of morning rain, which made temperature unbearably low for Singaporeans. The cold wind blew very strongly when we were doing our tour to Monkey Mia, but weakenedas the days went by.

Shopping
Almost everything is more expensive there than in Singapore, surfing brands, biking stuff, books, CDs, you name it. Only groceries are cheaper by a little, and Havaianas sandals at this surf shop. So spend only on stuff that you can't get in Singapore, like souvenirs. 70% of the stuff we bought were groceries, very weird.

Sleeping
Underground Backpackers:
Neat, organised, large reception area with cheap net access, and a nice bar with free pool table to use. Double room a little small though (walking corridor inside is less than 1m wide and 3m long), and central-controlled air-conditioning blasts at you throughout the night.

Hotel Bambu:
Horrible. It's NOISY, dirty, unorganised and crowded mostly by wasted backpackers of the sort I don't want to meet. The owner interacts with you civilly at best. The staff are punks who can only do the basics. Despite what the website says,

1. Soundproofing doesn't exists. They have their own party at the front within the premises, and there's a pub playing loud music just besides the hotel that rattles the walls with its bass. They wrote on the reception that Northbridge is a popular clubbing place and that complains of loud noises will not earn a refund, but apparently did not bother to state that on the website.
2. There's only 1 double room, the rest are all dorms. It doesn't even have the 75 beds that it boasts of. When we went there, the system triple-booked the room and we were offered dorms to stay for the first night.
3. There's no fridge in the room as promised, the remote for the dvd player disappeared, the TV is in the smallest size that you can ever find, and DVDs rentals are not free - it costs $2 and a $10 deposit.
4. Cereals and mueslis for breakfast doesn't exist, same for jams. Bread is made of very crummy matter.

The people there are the type that leave their room at midnight to go out partying, and come back at ungodly hours to puke all over the toilet seat. They leave a ton of crockery at the sink unwashed after cooking, or choke up the sink if they do wash up. They obviously like loud noise, and most of them spew the contents of their luggage all over their dorm beds.

I suffered for four long nights.

Grand Central Backpackers:
Creaky place, looks kind of rundown inside and outside, but saved by efficient service.

Activities
Surfing
It was a blast! We booked a 2 day camp with everything in, and went off to the beach within the hour of arrival, packed off in nice ripcurl wetsuits and even free sunscreen. After receiving 15 mins of quality instructions, I was quite surprised we were hurried down to the ocean as wave fodder!


Well actually the basic surfing skills are pretty simple in concept, but practice is key, hence the short instructional time. I developed a new-found respect for surfers (otherwise known as beach bums) after the experience, what with the daily 5 hours of aqua-aerobics that we did everyday. That comes after every attempt (mostly flops at the start) when you get toppled and washed up the beach, and have to walk back into the deep (waist-level) water for the next try while being whacked by numerous waves big and small. You have to do pushups on the board in order to stand, and at the end of Day 1, I could suan Karen all I want cos she can't lift her arms to whack me.

The fun is definitely there for all, and the thrill too, for people like me who eventually got sick of surfing the soup. Going out to deeper waters and trying to surf the curlers brings the experience to a whole new level. I endo-ed a few times when the wave picked me up and drove the board tip into the water in front, and that meant a few underwater somersaults. Not for the faint-hearted.


And oh, the place and food was good too! There's tons of dvds to watch, playstation and pool to play, and you could rummage the fridge anytime you're hungry. Too bad my tired body could only allow me to watch 1 dvd for that night.

Sea Kayaking
Despite it being just a day paddling trip, I brought my paddles, pump, and PFD along just so I can get to use them again. The company wasn't exactly punctual, and were quite slow with letting us start the trip when we got to the put-in point, but at least their Necky kayaks were in good condition, and we got pumps and neoprene sprayskirts too. We received very scanty paddling and safety instructions, which was a negative for them (neoprene skirts for total beginners, and not a word on how to do wet exits??)

The islands that we visited were damn near to mainland, about the distance to cross from Singapore to Ubin only. Headwind was very strong and steering had to be done with rudders as the kayaks had zero rocker at the bow. Initially we needed tremendous effort to do stationary turns on the spot when the wind blew our bow off cos I forgot about the rudder behind. Somehow, we were paddling the slowest throughout the trip, and I still can't believe my paddling skills have deteriorated to the point that beginners could lead me through an entire trip.

Seal Island lived up to its reputation - seals were everywhere, and not shy at all to appear all around us, popping their heads out of the water for our delight. Most were lying on the beach taking in the sun though. We went by another small island before we reached Penguin Island, which had very nice waters and scenery, and a penguin sanctuary which helps to protect those little creatures living on the island and those which couldn't live outside in the wild. The paddling back to startpoint from Penguin Island was 20 minutes only. Recommended for all!


Monkey Mia Tour
This package provided a comprehensive tour of all the sights worth visiting along its route, and we had a very experienced and knowledgeable guide who entertained us pretty well too. People who drive to visit Monkey Mia themselves will no doubt miss quite a bit of the more obscure sights and trails in the parks, and the tour provides for everything, so it's really worth it. You only have to bear with the engine noise and the lethargy of sitting for long hours. The only way I can see to get around the latter point is to do a cycling tour haha.


We saw countless miles of undulating bush terrain under the big blue sky, and spotted the occasional kangaroo sometimes. It was an almost sublime experience to see the ocean merge with the sky at the horizon at some parts of the coastal trail and at Kalbarri National Park, with shades of blue sketched out as far as the eye can see. Kalbarri town was a dream place to stay, situated at a river mouth leading to the Indian Ocean with the houses all staring out to sea.

Pictures paint a thousand words.


Interesting Notes

• Traffic in the city of Perth is very light, and when we got off the cab from the airport onto the streets in Northbridge, we were the only pedestrians around. There was a moment when we saw a road junction at the very heart of the city emptied of cars at 7pm!
• Bike commuters are everywhere! On smaller streets they have a left lane all to themselves, and there are parking facilities even in the heart of the shopping mall area. Interestingly, almost everyone wore plain shells for helmets and had boring bikes; the most impressive bikes around actually belongs to the police bike patrol!
• The world's greatest pizza maker is apparently in Perth, operating Il Padrino's Caffe in Northbridge. Takeaway pizza there is only half price at $13! My tastebuds are not discerning enough to tell that the pizza I ate was the best in the world though.
• I grew to love Kangaroos a lot - They are cute, have very nice fur and leather which made for several beautiful souvenirs, and taste really good too!