ABBATravel: Perth Holiday - To Do (1stNov22 Holiday Volcano Playground, Pinnacles, Lake Thetis Stromatolites, Lancelin Sand Dunes, Cottesloe Beach, Sun flowers Animal Farm, Busselton Jetty Train, Kyilla Community Farmers' Market, Swan Settlers Market, Lesmuride Falls, Zig Zag Drive)

Friday, November 11, 2022

Perth Holiday - To Do (1stNov22 Holiday Volcano Playground, Pinnacles, Lake Thetis Stromatolites, Lancelin Sand Dunes, Cottesloe Beach, Sun flowers Animal Farm, Busselton Jetty Train, Kyilla Community Farmers' Market, Swan Settlers Market, Lesmuride Falls, Zig Zag Drive)

Perth - To Stay
Perth - To Do
Perth - To Eat

Perth Holiday - To Do
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Perth 2022 Holiday
Rented from Bayswaters Car Rental Recommended by others

Click here for previous Eight Day Perth Holiday 22Sept18 Itinerary

Arrival Day 1 Tue
SQ225 00:25-05:25

We still went for Bayswaters Car Rental but opted for a larger vehicle this time round to move all our stuff, comfort and on the go rest. Baywater provides an on call shuttle pick up on arrival and departure to the airport is every half hourly. Simple, easy and value. This time for 8days of rental and all the insurance in, goes for AUD650. (Includes additional driver and unlimited mileage for outside city driving)

Lunch at Belgian Beer Cafe for chili mussels
recommended by others (click here for full review)

Day 1 is pretty much getting supplies for our Airbnb and knowing our area of Belmont.

Volcano Playground

Located opposite the Belmont Forum (where pretty much has everything. K-Mart. Big W, Coles and Woolies) is one of the many iconic playgrounds in Perth which is an enclosed space, and caters for both the big and small kids. There's even the option of having an outdoor BBQ whilst the children run freely in this enclosed space.

Day 2 Wed
(FULL DAY)

Pinnacles
(Opens at 9am and last vehicle entry is 1630hrs)

There's a walking and driving loop. Just go for the driving loop as there are multiple pull over stops where you can get out of your vehicle and check out the amazing formations and get your photo fixes. A great 2hr or so explorative adventure.

The Pinnacles are super easy to get to at AUD15 for entry per vehicle. (Similar to 17Mile drive at USD10/vehicle in SFO) When we went, it was pretty warm and flies are plenty. You may want to consider getting a fly net prior as the tourist shops charge an arm and a leg at about AUD10 per netting.

Tour/ Lunch at Lobster Shack Cervantes

The tour of the factory floor is daily and occurs at 12pm and 2pm. No booking required. The place is in full swing during the summer. The entry price was a little steep at AUD15/adult and a fee for the kids.

The entry gets you a short video presentation, a lobster sharing and some show and tell with a souvenir at the end.

Is it worth it? Not really, but its a nice side attraction that gives a little more context to the meal you'd partake in after. The hands on and understanding was nice apart from the slightly steep entry price. If planning to include this in your itinerary, plan your arrival around those timings. 12 and 2pm.

Lunch at Lobster Shack Cervantes

*Amazing views of the Indian Ocean*

Food 3.5/5
Service na
Value 3/5
Ambience 4.5/5 (4 because of the flies)
Fed 4 at AUD114. Lobster whole with Chips at AUD50. Additional half lobster with any main meal order is AUD28.

Lake Thetis Stromatolites

Nice side pop-by whilst en-route to the Lancelin Sand Dunes. Marvel at the naturally formed Stromatolites, descendants of the earliest lifeforms on Earth. There are more picturesque and impressive locations in WA but this is located conveniently 5mins from the Lobster Shack.

Lancelin Sand Dunes
(10am-5pm)
Visited on the return from Lobster Shack Cervantes
*Free to enter.*
About 1hour 40mins drive from Perth City

Board rentals are available at the entrance of the Sand Dunes. Boards typically go for about AUD10 a day but honestly people get tired and were unable to board down the dunes as the sand were either too soft or incline too gentle.

*Its a guided ride, so you can't really go wild.*

ABBATip:
- Just enjoy the sand and the vast space.

- Go for the ATV experience over the barely moving Sand Boards. (Recommended as well for the ATV by fellow traveler who'd we met at the lobster shack who just came from there). The individual 4x4s require a minimum age but the accompanied ATV, younger kids could ride along. We strike up a deal of AUD80 for 15min/parent so that all would get the experience. There were only two operators at the dunes. The other from memory was AUD110 for 30mins.

- There is no clear road marking but you can still drive up to a certain point to the dunes itself with clearly demarcated signs for parking.
- Bring ski goggles if you have them. The strong winds do kick up the sand quite a bit.

A must visit high energy activity especially when taking a day trip up to the Pinnacles.

Day3 Thur
Cottesloe Beach

Picturesque stretch of beach. The water was a little too cold, but it really woke you up and enjoy the views and long sandy beaches. Parking is easy and plentiful as well as a stone throw away from tons of great eateries and up the road from Fremantle. Outdoor public showers are available!

Beach day Swim and Lunch

Lunch at Gage Roads Freo Brewery
11am-1130pm (Recommended by Ralf)
(Click here for full review)

The Gage Roads Freo Brewery is a relatively new addition to the area of Freo. A nice building which retains the original structure of the large space. Known for their beers and pizzas whilst watching the active port at work.

Dinner at Frank's Barbecue Texas Smokehouse
(Click here for full review)

You might also be interested in these other two favored smoked houses in Perth

Side Door BBQ

Old Faithful

Day4 Fri
(FULL DAY)
Sun flowers Animal Farm
Open everyday except Christmas (9am-5pm)
Entry 14.40AUD/Pax
Bucket of animal food AUD3.50/pax

Simple fun times feeding a wide variety of rescue animals. Only the first few enclosures were for meet and greets but the rest, feel free to feed them the variety of foods. You'll soon discover each animal have their favorites.

I was appreciative of the fencing between the chickens and ducks which allowed for the kids to feed the animals freely and safely.

There are still many free roaming animals looking for a snack such as these Guineafowls pictured.

The entry to the animal farm is a little steep. All things considered but the variety of animals and up close meet and greets does make up for it. Take a read of the animals stories as many of them are rescues. A good side attraction just outside of Busselton before reaching the township.(15mins away)

Lunch at The Good Egg

Food 4/5
Service 4/5
Value 4/5
Ambience 3.5/5 (4 because of the flies)

Recommended eat in Busselton, the menu centered around Eggs, similar to Eggslut in Singapore.

Busselton Jetty Train
(9am-5pm) AUD51 round trip family pass 2A2C)
Under water observatory
(didn't get to go as it was booked out by corporate event)
Click here to book your tour slot

To access the Jetty, is either on foot with a small charge or the train ride to reach the end of the 1.84km long jetty, the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere.

*Get your photo taken at the front of the train!*

ABBATip:
- The trains leave hourly on the hour. If you didn't have access to the observatory, you could catch the next train an hour later.
- There's only a short 8min transit time before the train starts to make the 20min or so journey back to the start.

*Painted to scale Whales*

Its a nice, now fully electric train ride to the end with a great view of the coastline. You maybe lucky to spot some free swimming dolphins (we saw one) or even whales along the way. Its more worth it if you could get access to the underwater observatory as well, but as far as train rides go, Puffing Billy in Melbourne still holds top spot.

Check out the mini pier for a different view of the iconic pier.

Busselton Foreshore Adventure Playspace

Another amazing play space. Sand, water and what a view. This place was preferred by the kids over the volcano playgrounds. Checkout Singapore's equivillant at Sembawng Park Battleship playground.

Day5 Sat
(SHOPPING DAY PART1)
(Kyilla Community Farmers' Market)
Open Every Saturday, 8am - 11am

Kyilla is for the community by the community fund raiser for the school. A nice quaint local market which has artisanal vendors bringing in their produce from all over. Samples are available with great eats and family friendly vibes.

*Gin sampling*

*Award winning chocolates in Perth*

*Kids activity corner. It changes weekly and managed by local volunteers*

The produce here may not be cheaper but it is fresher, direct from the growers. What’s really nice is that they had dedicated family activity areas for both free and structured play. A great Sat only market event near the city.

DFO Perth walkabout and shop
Open Daily 10am-6pm

More premium brands are found at DFO as compared to Water Town shopping. They have most of the anchor stalls around and has dining options at their food court. The price point here would be slightly higher than at Water Town. For more affordable brands, Water Town maybe the better option pending on what you’re looking for.

Day6 Sun
Swanvalley Day Out
Swan Settlers Market
(Sat Sun 8am-5pm) Shops open only at 9am

A must visit especially they open only on the weekends. Good eats at loads of oddities and local crafts to be browsed and purchased.

Whistler's Chocolate Company

9am-5pm

A family business For over fifty years Whistler's Chocolate Company has been making traditional chocolates and confectionery from recipes passed down from generation to generation.A different chocolate factory to visit over the more famous Magaret River Chocolate Factory.

*Chocolate were excellent. Am no Chocolatier but unfortunately not all the flavors were available for sampling. The coffee shots were particularly enjoyable and not overtly heavy with caffeine.*

The House of Honey & The Sticky Spoon Cafe
(Opens daily 10am-5pm)
To see the Bee's and have a lunch there.

A simple lunch spot. It wasn’t an active bee farm where one could visit freely to see the homes and collection of honey. Those occur only periodically. There was however a transparent bee hive observation frame but its largely a retail store with Bee-centric products with a wide range of honey and even delectable liquor.(Got myself some after diiner liquor from there.)

Sunset at Freo

Catching the view from Bather's Bath House (another great meal option. Click here for full writeup.)

Dinner at Fremantle's famous Cicerallo's
(Click here for full review)

Day7 Mon
Lesmuride Falls
National Park open 24hrs

Free parking is available at various start points. The info board gives you a clear idea of how much time to cater and what to expect from the various routes which are fairly well demarcated. Enjoy the tranquility of the outback and look out for the indigenous wildlife. There was only a toilet at the start with no water point in between so come prepped with your fluids.

A great light trail adventure to explore the surroundings and be rewarded with a view. For a slightly more challenging course with a view, one may consider Hong Kong's famous Dragon's Back route. (Click here for more.)

Scenic Zig Zag Drive

Opens from 11am-8.30pm.

The view is almost similar. You catch approaches into Perth international and is a stone’s throw away from Lesmuride Falls (12min drive). An alternative, more scenic path to take home. Like the Pinnacles, there are various stop over points to get out and soak in the view.

Day8 Tue

Last min shopping at Water Town