Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Jun 18th 2006, 6:28 am
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,376
Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Well, here it is, as promised, the low-down on our 2 week validation trip to Perth. I apologise in advance for the spelling, bad grammar and general naffness, but hey, I never was a writer!!
We flew with Emirates, couldn’t fault them, Boeing 777 for the first leg to Dubai. Fantastic personal entertainment system, loads of movies, games and music to choose from – 7 hours flew by! 2nd leg was a crappy old Airbus – a LONG 11 hours!!
Landed in Perth at around midnight Aussie time. First impressions were of the cleanliness and space in the airport (compared to LHR). Stepped outside to find a cab to take us to the hostel and was met by a very friendly bloke in a minibus towing a trailer who offered to take us to the door for $20 ($10 cheaper than a cab)! Got chatting to a Jockanese couple on the journey who had been chased out of Thailand by gangsters ?!?!
Arrived at Coolibah Lodge backpacker’s hostel in Northbridge to be greeted by ‘Welsh Tom’ – a ‘horizontal’ Brit killing time in OZ. Room basic, but met the needs. As we arrived on a Sunday, the plan was to pick up our camper on the Monday, however, this turned out to be a Bank Holiday down under, so we booked another night in the hostel.
Awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday to glorious sunshine, beautiful blue sky and a Budgie chirping in the tree outside our window! Got out of bed, scratched my arse and stepped into the garden for a fag and a coffee beside a Banana tree and a lemon tree! Decided that we would spend the day on Shank’s Pony and check out what the city of Perth had to offer.
Walking down through Northbridge the first thing you notice is the abundance of Vietnamese and Chinese in this area – some fantastic looking restaurants! The word on the street has it that this area is classed as seedy – we thought it looked remarkably clean and un-seedy for a seedy area – oh, apart from the peep and strip shows, but I can live with them ;-)
A quick 15 minute walk saw is in a deserted city!! Where was everyone? It soon became clear that Aussies like to make the most of their bank holidays by doing something more exciting than shopping!! The only shops open were the souvenir shops and occasional coffee shop – first gripe of very few – ‘will someone please tell Australia about brown sugar’??
Had a mooch around the city, was impressed with its size – just right, and cleanliness. Lots of shops and a good variety. Plenty of cafes, places to sit and a general good feel to it. Then decided to have a mooch up to King’s Park to see what all the fuss was about.
What a stunning place!!! Lush green grass, beautiful ancient trees, native plants and wildlife everywhere. No drunks, annoying teenagers or weirdo’s AT ALL……compared to your average UK city park. Stunning views of the Swan River and the city’s gleaming towers blocks. We spent the rest of the arvo here just soaking it all in, very pleasant indeed, before heading to Murray Street in the city to grab what turned out to be, a wonderful bite to eat in a seafood restaurant.
Tuesday morning saw us checking out of the hostel and making the short walk round the corner to collect our van. We booked with Wicked Campers and were expecting to get a battered old pile of crap. However, it turned out that we had been ‘upgraded’; I use the word loosely, to a campette.com camper! Couldn’t complain, it was clean, reliable and only had 14000 Km’s on the clock.
First thing we did was head for Cottesloe as a starting point on our trip oop north. Found it easily enough with our maps and couldn’t believe how clear the roads were, how courteous the drivers were and how much different it felt to the UK.
Cottesloe was lush! Great beach, lovely houses and a real upmarket feel to it, quickly checked the house prices and passed this area into the ‘maybe in a few years time’ folder! Then spent the rest of the day slowly mooching up the coast and trying to get our gas bottle filled (no easy task I can assure you)! Camped up for the night at a place called ‘Burns Beach’ Nr to Hilary’s. Beautiful sunset (at 5.15pm – what’s that all about), bottle of local red – life was good! Couldn’t believe the amount of joggers, walkers and people generally enjoying the outdoor life.
Next day saw us heading further North and checking out the likes of Joondalup – nice, but wasn’t for us. Lancelin was the next destination. What a ghost town!! If anyone tells you there’s nothing there, believe them! Stunning white sand beaches mind you but just far too isolated for us!! Drove by our migration agent’s house to do some stalking, which was quite surreal!
As we were about 2 days ahead of schedule by this stage, we decided not to spend too much time up here as neither of us really enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a vast place – a weird feeling I had never experienced before. We headed back south again with the intention of staying in a camp site in the Avon Valley.
It had to happen – we got horribly lost!! Driving up and down these dirt tracks (that incidentally, our insurance didn’t cover us to drive on) that went for miles in a rear wheel drive camper van = approx speed 20kmh!!!! Stopped for a quick change of pants and carried on!! Eventually we came upon an Orange Grove/ farm…..Caroline went into to ask where the hell we were and spent an hour, literally, chatting to the woman that owned the place. She sent us on our way with a hand drawn map and a free bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! Gob smacked to say the least! What beautiful people!
Avon Valley, what a beautiful, wild, untouched place! Wine yards a plenty and a real back of beyond feel.
Eventually found a camp site but quickly discovered that the ablutions were not quite appropriate for a ‘city – fied’ couple both desperate for a sit down so headed off towards Perth again!!
Camped up for the night in Central Perth Camping Village, close to the airport. Made some grub and headed up the road to the local ‘tavern’ we had spotted on the way in.
Here came the first real shock, and some of you blokes already in OZ will know what’s coming! As we walked in, we were met by the sight of a young girl in nowt but a frilly little pair of keks, gyrating around a pole in the middle of the bar. The audience consisted of working men and drunks, who all made a point of making Caroline feel like she had several heads and the biggest tits on planet earth as she walked in! Needless to say, I was dragged out before I could even get my hand on my wallet to order a drink!!! We soon learned that these so called ‘skimpy bars’ exist in abundance and to look out for them in future, (I certainly will be)! We then proceeded to walk around a bit trying to find another bar……hard work in Oz I can tell ya! Found out that the next nearest one was a bus ride away so resigned and went to the bottlo for some beer and back to the camper. 2nd gripe of very few – OZ needs more bars where a couple can go for a quiet drink and the female is made to feel comfortable!!!
Next day saw us taking a very pleasant drive through Midland and Guildford before heading along the South bank of the Swan for Perth Zoo – a must do!! I figured this would be the nearest we would get to wild Kangaroos, how wrong I was! Anyway, I can highly recommend Perth Zoo, for young and old alike. A great attraction featuring some beautiful exotic and native animals in a very pleasant environment.
Left the zoo and headed out west bound for Freo. Bit of a surprise here, not what either of us expected! The hype would have you believe that it was a lovely quaint old harbour town. Not quite, however, that said, we both really liked it and found it a great place to chill with friends on the ‘cino strip or bars. A must do in Freo, is the Little Creatures brewery and bar. The Pale Ale is a fine tipple indeed!!
We visited the prison and were amazed that this ‘hole’ was still in use just over 10 years ago!! Another very worth while trip out!! That night saw us enjoying the best fish and chips I have EVER tasted, courtesy of Cicerellos in Freo. Camped up in Freo Village campsite and spent a restful night under the stars.
Next day we headed down South – the part of the trip I was looking forward to as this is where we had pinpointed as an area we might like to live.
Driving down from Freo, the first thing you notice is how industrial everything starts to become. What with the oil refineries, grain terminals and what not of Kwinana. Bizarrely, some of the beaches in between all of this are lovely, just a pants view!!
Some places of interest along this stretch of coast are ‘Woodman Point Nature Reserve, Coogee Beach and the views of Garden Island, the home of the RAN.
Driving further saw us enter the city of Rockingham. Stopping off just on the outskirts, we stepped onto a beach and were truly gob smacked to see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean not 10 yards from the shoreline!!!! Wow – a magical moment!!
First impressions of Rockingham were very good. A beautiful. Clean place with excellent outdoor facilities, shopping centre and its own mini cappuccino strip. Some great British style bars as well!! We were actually very impressed with the shopping centre. All air conditioned and under cover and enough to rival any British town! We stayed the night in Rockingham Holiday Village just out of town with a view to spending some more time here the next day.
That night saw our views of Rocky change. It quickly became apparent that this was the ‘Hoon’ capital of WA!!! All night long, all we heard were screeching tyres and V8 engines roaring up and down. A quick look at the donut circles on the roads everywhere confirmed that this was not isolated!! The next day we visited Peron point, a lovely little headland south of Rocky. As we stepped out of the van, some eejit (I’m being polite) in a souped up V8 Ute came tear assing towards us at approx 90mph doing rear wheel skids as he went!!! What planet do these idiots belong to? We decided to move on and look elsewhere for our new home!
Driving for a few minutes down the coast saw us going through the suburbs of Safety Bay and Warnbro. Instantly felt like home! Lovely houses, nice feel, good prices, excellent beaches (including a noodie one – ooh err missus) and close enough to Rockingham for shopping, nights out etc…….so, it was decided, this would be where we would base ourselves when we finally arrive for good!
Right, I’m starting to waffle now, so will post this and have a break before starting on part 2!!
We flew with Emirates, couldn’t fault them, Boeing 777 for the first leg to Dubai. Fantastic personal entertainment system, loads of movies, games and music to choose from – 7 hours flew by! 2nd leg was a crappy old Airbus – a LONG 11 hours!!
Landed in Perth at around midnight Aussie time. First impressions were of the cleanliness and space in the airport (compared to LHR). Stepped outside to find a cab to take us to the hostel and was met by a very friendly bloke in a minibus towing a trailer who offered to take us to the door for $20 ($10 cheaper than a cab)! Got chatting to a Jockanese couple on the journey who had been chased out of Thailand by gangsters ?!?!
Arrived at Coolibah Lodge backpacker’s hostel in Northbridge to be greeted by ‘Welsh Tom’ – a ‘horizontal’ Brit killing time in OZ. Room basic, but met the needs. As we arrived on a Sunday, the plan was to pick up our camper on the Monday, however, this turned out to be a Bank Holiday down under, so we booked another night in the hostel.
Awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday to glorious sunshine, beautiful blue sky and a Budgie chirping in the tree outside our window! Got out of bed, scratched my arse and stepped into the garden for a fag and a coffee beside a Banana tree and a lemon tree! Decided that we would spend the day on Shank’s Pony and check out what the city of Perth had to offer.
Walking down through Northbridge the first thing you notice is the abundance of Vietnamese and Chinese in this area – some fantastic looking restaurants! The word on the street has it that this area is classed as seedy – we thought it looked remarkably clean and un-seedy for a seedy area – oh, apart from the peep and strip shows, but I can live with them ;-)
A quick 15 minute walk saw is in a deserted city!! Where was everyone? It soon became clear that Aussies like to make the most of their bank holidays by doing something more exciting than shopping!! The only shops open were the souvenir shops and occasional coffee shop – first gripe of very few – ‘will someone please tell Australia about brown sugar’??
Had a mooch around the city, was impressed with its size – just right, and cleanliness. Lots of shops and a good variety. Plenty of cafes, places to sit and a general good feel to it. Then decided to have a mooch up to King’s Park to see what all the fuss was about.
What a stunning place!!! Lush green grass, beautiful ancient trees, native plants and wildlife everywhere. No drunks, annoying teenagers or weirdo’s AT ALL……compared to your average UK city park. Stunning views of the Swan River and the city’s gleaming towers blocks. We spent the rest of the arvo here just soaking it all in, very pleasant indeed, before heading to Murray Street in the city to grab what turned out to be, a wonderful bite to eat in a seafood restaurant.
Tuesday morning saw us checking out of the hostel and making the short walk round the corner to collect our van. We booked with Wicked Campers and were expecting to get a battered old pile of crap. However, it turned out that we had been ‘upgraded’; I use the word loosely, to a campette.com camper! Couldn’t complain, it was clean, reliable and only had 14000 Km’s on the clock.
First thing we did was head for Cottesloe as a starting point on our trip oop north. Found it easily enough with our maps and couldn’t believe how clear the roads were, how courteous the drivers were and how much different it felt to the UK.
Cottesloe was lush! Great beach, lovely houses and a real upmarket feel to it, quickly checked the house prices and passed this area into the ‘maybe in a few years time’ folder! Then spent the rest of the day slowly mooching up the coast and trying to get our gas bottle filled (no easy task I can assure you)! Camped up for the night at a place called ‘Burns Beach’ Nr to Hilary’s. Beautiful sunset (at 5.15pm – what’s that all about), bottle of local red – life was good! Couldn’t believe the amount of joggers, walkers and people generally enjoying the outdoor life.
Next day saw us heading further North and checking out the likes of Joondalup – nice, but wasn’t for us. Lancelin was the next destination. What a ghost town!! If anyone tells you there’s nothing there, believe them! Stunning white sand beaches mind you but just far too isolated for us!! Drove by our migration agent’s house to do some stalking, which was quite surreal!
As we were about 2 days ahead of schedule by this stage, we decided not to spend too much time up here as neither of us really enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a vast place – a weird feeling I had never experienced before. We headed back south again with the intention of staying in a camp site in the Avon Valley.
It had to happen – we got horribly lost!! Driving up and down these dirt tracks (that incidentally, our insurance didn’t cover us to drive on) that went for miles in a rear wheel drive camper van = approx speed 20kmh!!!! Stopped for a quick change of pants and carried on!! Eventually we came upon an Orange Grove/ farm…..Caroline went into to ask where the hell we were and spent an hour, literally, chatting to the woman that owned the place. She sent us on our way with a hand drawn map and a free bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! Gob smacked to say the least! What beautiful people!
Avon Valley, what a beautiful, wild, untouched place! Wine yards a plenty and a real back of beyond feel.
Eventually found a camp site but quickly discovered that the ablutions were not quite appropriate for a ‘city – fied’ couple both desperate for a sit down so headed off towards Perth again!!
Camped up for the night in Central Perth Camping Village, close to the airport. Made some grub and headed up the road to the local ‘tavern’ we had spotted on the way in.
Here came the first real shock, and some of you blokes already in OZ will know what’s coming! As we walked in, we were met by the sight of a young girl in nowt but a frilly little pair of keks, gyrating around a pole in the middle of the bar. The audience consisted of working men and drunks, who all made a point of making Caroline feel like she had several heads and the biggest tits on planet earth as she walked in! Needless to say, I was dragged out before I could even get my hand on my wallet to order a drink!!! We soon learned that these so called ‘skimpy bars’ exist in abundance and to look out for them in future, (I certainly will be)! We then proceeded to walk around a bit trying to find another bar……hard work in Oz I can tell ya! Found out that the next nearest one was a bus ride away so resigned and went to the bottlo for some beer and back to the camper. 2nd gripe of very few – OZ needs more bars where a couple can go for a quiet drink and the female is made to feel comfortable!!!
Next day saw us taking a very pleasant drive through Midland and Guildford before heading along the South bank of the Swan for Perth Zoo – a must do!! I figured this would be the nearest we would get to wild Kangaroos, how wrong I was! Anyway, I can highly recommend Perth Zoo, for young and old alike. A great attraction featuring some beautiful exotic and native animals in a very pleasant environment.
Left the zoo and headed out west bound for Freo. Bit of a surprise here, not what either of us expected! The hype would have you believe that it was a lovely quaint old harbour town. Not quite, however, that said, we both really liked it and found it a great place to chill with friends on the ‘cino strip or bars. A must do in Freo, is the Little Creatures brewery and bar. The Pale Ale is a fine tipple indeed!!
We visited the prison and were amazed that this ‘hole’ was still in use just over 10 years ago!! Another very worth while trip out!! That night saw us enjoying the best fish and chips I have EVER tasted, courtesy of Cicerellos in Freo. Camped up in Freo Village campsite and spent a restful night under the stars.
Next day we headed down South – the part of the trip I was looking forward to as this is where we had pinpointed as an area we might like to live.
Driving down from Freo, the first thing you notice is how industrial everything starts to become. What with the oil refineries, grain terminals and what not of Kwinana. Bizarrely, some of the beaches in between all of this are lovely, just a pants view!!
Some places of interest along this stretch of coast are ‘Woodman Point Nature Reserve, Coogee Beach and the views of Garden Island, the home of the RAN.
Driving further saw us enter the city of Rockingham. Stopping off just on the outskirts, we stepped onto a beach and were truly gob smacked to see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean not 10 yards from the shoreline!!!! Wow – a magical moment!!
First impressions of Rockingham were very good. A beautiful. Clean place with excellent outdoor facilities, shopping centre and its own mini cappuccino strip. Some great British style bars as well!! We were actually very impressed with the shopping centre. All air conditioned and under cover and enough to rival any British town! We stayed the night in Rockingham Holiday Village just out of town with a view to spending some more time here the next day.
That night saw our views of Rocky change. It quickly became apparent that this was the ‘Hoon’ capital of WA!!! All night long, all we heard were screeching tyres and V8 engines roaring up and down. A quick look at the donut circles on the roads everywhere confirmed that this was not isolated!! The next day we visited Peron point, a lovely little headland south of Rocky. As we stepped out of the van, some eejit (I’m being polite) in a souped up V8 Ute came tear assing towards us at approx 90mph doing rear wheel skids as he went!!! What planet do these idiots belong to? We decided to move on and look elsewhere for our new home!
Driving for a few minutes down the coast saw us going through the suburbs of Safety Bay and Warnbro. Instantly felt like home! Lovely houses, nice feel, good prices, excellent beaches (including a noodie one – ooh err missus) and close enough to Rockingham for shopping, nights out etc…….so, it was decided, this would be where we would base ourselves when we finally arrive for good!
Right, I’m starting to waffle now, so will post this and have a break before starting on part 2!!
Jun 18th 2006, 6:58 am
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 484
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Great post. Can't wait for part 2, hurry back!
We're moving to Perth September without ever doing a reccie
. So posts like these are very interesting & informative. We like the sound of suburbs near Rockingham. Tell us more about Safety Bay, Warnbro, did you visit Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Baldivis?
Leigh
We're moving to Perth September without ever doing a reccie
. So posts like these are very interesting & informative. We like the sound of suburbs near Rockingham. Tell us more about Safety Bay, Warnbro, did you visit Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Baldivis?Leigh
Jun 18th 2006, 7:09 am
#3
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,376
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Originally Posted by leigh&ivan
Great post. Can't wait for part 2, hurry back!
We're moving to Perth September without ever doing a reccie . So posts like these are very interesting & informative. We like the sound of suburbs near Rockingham. Tell us more about Safety Bay, Warnbro, did you visit Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Baldivis?
Leigh
We're moving to Perth September without ever doing a reccie
. So posts like these are very interesting & informative. We like the sound of suburbs near Rockingham. Tell us more about Safety Bay, Warnbro, did you visit Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Baldivis?Leigh
Yeah we did visit those places, all as nice as Safety Bay and Warnbro, wasn't quite so keen on Baldivis though - no particular reason.
Rocky and surrounds really is a great place - all you could need. Good luck with the move!!
Jun 18th 2006, 7:09 am
#4
Im a woomaaan
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,978
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Really enjoyed reading your report - glad you had a good time 
Jun 18th 2006, 7:13 am
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Lower Chittering, Perth
Posts: 4,646
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Perth really is a fab place to live!!!
We are up at Kinross, (Near Joondalup) I know you said Joondalup wasnt for you, and I can see why you liked Freo!!!!!
There are lots of nice suburbs out there..........all different in one way or another!!!
We are up at Kinross, (Near Joondalup) I know you said Joondalup wasnt for you, and I can see why you liked Freo!!!!!
There are lots of nice suburbs out there..........all different in one way or another!!!
Jun 18th 2006, 7:20 am
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: caloundra,sunshine coast
Posts: 91
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Originally Posted by FluffyTheCampfireSlayer
Well, here it is, as promised, the low-down on our 2 week validation trip to Perth. I apologise in advance for the spelling, bad grammar and general naffness, but hey, I never was a writer!!
We flew with Emirates, couldn’t fault them, Boeing 777 for the first leg to Dubai. Fantastic personal entertainment system, loads of movies, games and music to choose from – 7 hours flew by! 2nd leg was a crappy old Airbus – a LONG 11 hours!!
Landed in Perth at around midnight Aussie time. First impressions were of the cleanliness and space in the airport (compared to LHR). Stepped outside to find a cab to take us to the hostel and was met by a very friendly bloke in a minibus towing a trailer who offered to take us to the door for $20 ($10 cheaper than a cab)! Got chatting to a Jockanese couple on the journey who had been chased out of Thailand by gangsters ?!?!
Arrived at Coolibah Lodge backpacker’s hostel in Northbridge to be greeted by ‘Welsh Tom’ – a ‘horizontal’ Brit killing time in OZ. Room basic, but met the needs. As we arrived on a Sunday, the plan was to pick up our camper on the Monday, however, this turned out to be a Bank Holiday down under, so we booked another night in the hostel.
Awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday to glorious sunshine, beautiful blue sky and a Budgie chirping in the tree outside our window! Got out of bed, scratched my arse and stepped into the garden for a fag and a coffee beside a Banana tree and a lemon tree! Decided that we would spend the day on Shank’s Pony and check out what the city of Perth had to offer.
Walking down through Northbridge the first thing you notice is the abundance of Vietnamese and Chinese in this area – some fantastic looking restaurants! The word on the street has it that this area is classed as seedy – we thought it looked remarkably clean and un-seedy for a seedy area – oh, apart from the peep and strip shows, but I can live with them ;-)
A quick 15 minute walk saw is in a deserted city!! Where was everyone? It soon became clear that Aussies like to make the most of their bank holidays by doing something more exciting than shopping!! The only shops open were the souvenir shops and occasional coffee shop – first gripe of very few – ‘will someone please tell Australia about brown sugar’??
Had a mooch around the city, was impressed with its size – just right, and cleanliness. Lots of shops and a good variety. Plenty of cafes, places to sit and a general good feel to it. Then decided to have a mooch up to King’s Park to see what all the fuss was about.
What a stunning place!!! Lush green grass, beautiful ancient trees, native plants and wildlife everywhere. No drunks, annoying teenagers or weirdo’s AT ALL……compared to your average UK city park. Stunning views of the Swan River and the city’s gleaming towers blocks. We spent the rest of the arvo here just soaking it all in, very pleasant indeed, before heading to Murray Street in the city to grab what turned out to be, a wonderful bite to eat in a seafood restaurant.
Tuesday morning saw us checking out of the hostel and making the short walk round the corner to collect our van. We booked with Wicked Campers and were expecting to get a battered old pile of crap. However, it turned out that we had been ‘upgraded’; I use the word loosely, to a campette.com camper! Couldn’t complain, it was clean, reliable and only had 14000 Km’s on the clock.
First thing we did was head for Cottesloe as a starting point on our trip oop north. Found it easily enough with our maps and couldn’t believe how clear the roads were, how courteous the drivers were and how much different it felt to the UK.
Cottesloe was lush! Great beach, lovely houses and a real upmarket feel to it, quickly checked the house prices and passed this area into the ‘maybe in a few years time’ folder! Then spent the rest of the day slowly mooching up the coast and trying to get our gas bottle filled (no easy task I can assure you)! Camped up for the night at a place called ‘Burns Beach’ Nr to Hilary’s. Beautiful sunset (at 5.15pm – what’s that all about), bottle of local red – life was good! Couldn’t believe the amount of joggers, walkers and people generally enjoying the outdoor life.
Next day saw us heading further North and checking out the likes of Joondalup – nice, but wasn’t for us. Lancelin was the next destination. What a ghost town!! If anyone tells you there’s nothing there, believe them! Stunning white sand beaches mind you but just far too isolated for us!! Drove by our migration agent’s house to do some stalking, which was quite surreal!
As we were about 2 days ahead of schedule by this stage, we decided not to spend too much time up here as neither of us really enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a vast place – a weird feeling I had never experienced before. We headed back south again with the intention of staying in a camp site in the Avon Valley.
It had to happen – we got horribly lost!! Driving up and down these dirt tracks (that incidentally, our insurance didn’t cover us to drive on) that went for miles in a rear wheel drive camper van = approx speed 20kmh!!!! Stopped for a quick change of pants and carried on!! Eventually we came upon an Orange Grove/ farm…..Caroline went into to ask where the hell we were and spent an hour, literally, chatting to the woman that owned the place. She sent us on our way with a hand drawn map and a free bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! Gob smacked to say the least! What beautiful people!
Avon Valley, what a beautiful, wild, untouched place! Wine yards a plenty and a real back of beyond feel.
Eventually found a camp site but quickly discovered that the ablutions were not quite appropriate for a ‘city – fied’ couple both desperate for a sit down so headed off towards Perth again!!
Camped up for the night in Central Perth Camping Village, close to the airport. Made some grub and headed up the road to the local ‘tavern’ we had spotted on the way in.
Here came the first real shock, and some of you blokes already in OZ will know what’s coming! As we walked in, we were met by the sight of a young girl in nowt but a frilly little pair of keks, gyrating around a pole in the middle of the bar. The audience consisted of working men and drunks, who all made a point of making Caroline feel like she had several heads and the biggest tits on planet earth as she walked in! Needless to say, I was dragged out before I could even get my hand on my wallet to order a drink!!! We soon learned that these so called ‘skimpy bars’ exist in abundance and to look out for them in future, (I certainly will be)! We then proceeded to walk around a bit trying to find another bar……hard work in Oz I can tell ya! Found out that the next nearest one was a bus ride away so resigned and went to the bottlo for some beer and back to the camper. 2nd gripe of very few – OZ needs more bars where a couple can go for a quiet drink and the female is made to feel comfortable!!!
Next day saw us taking a very pleasant drive through Midland and Guildford before heading along the South bank of the Swan for Perth Zoo – a must do!! I figured this would be the nearest we would get to wild Kangaroos, how wrong I was! Anyway, I can highly recommend Perth Zoo, for young and old alike. A great attraction featuring some beautiful exotic and native animals in a very pleasant environment.
Left the zoo and headed out west bound for Freo. Bit of a surprise here, not what either of us expected! The hype would have you believe that it was a lovely quaint old harbour town. Not quite, however, that said, we both really liked it and found it a great place to chill with friends on the ‘cino strip or bars. A must do in Freo, is the Little Creatures brewery and bar. The Pale Ale is a fine tipple indeed!!
We visited the prison and were amazed that this ‘hole’ was still in use just over 10 years ago!! Another very worth while trip out!! That night saw us enjoying the best fish and chips I have EVER tasted, courtesy of Cicerellos in Freo. Camped up in Freo Village campsite and spent a restful night under the stars.
Next day we headed down South – the part of the trip I was looking forward to as this is where we had pinpointed as an area we might like to live.
Driving down from Freo, the first thing you notice is how industrial everything starts to become. What with the oil refineries, grain terminals and what not of Kwinana. Bizarrely, some of the beaches in between all of this are lovely, just a pants view!!
Some places of interest along this stretch of coast are ‘Woodman Point Nature Reserve, Coogee Beach and the views of Garden Island, the home of the RAN.
Driving further saw us enter the city of Rockingham. Stopping off just on the outskirts, we stepped onto a beach and were truly gob smacked to see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean not 10 yards from the shoreline!!!! Wow – a magical moment!!
First impressions of Rockingham were very good. A beautiful. Clean place with excellent outdoor facilities, shopping centre and its own mini cappuccino strip. Some great British style bars as well!! We were actually very impressed with the shopping centre. All air conditioned and under cover and enough to rival any British town! We stayed the night in Rockingham Holiday Village just out of town with a view to spending some more time here the next day.
That night saw our views of Rocky change. It quickly became apparent that this was the ‘Hoon’ capital of WA!!! All night long, all we heard were screeching tyres and V8 engines roaring up and down. A quick look at the donut circles on the roads everywhere confirmed that this was not isolated!! The next day we visited Peron point, a lovely little headland south of Rocky. As we stepped out of the van, some eejit (I’m being polite) in a souped up V8 Ute came tear assing towards us at approx 90mph doing rear wheel skids as he went!!! What planet do these idiots belong to? We decided to move on and look elsewhere for our new home!
Driving for a few minutes down the coast saw us going through the suburbs of Safety Bay and Warnbro. Instantly felt like home! Lovely houses, nice feel, good prices, excellent beaches (including a noodie one – ooh err missus) and close enough to Rockingham for shopping, nights out etc…….so, it was decided, this would be where we would base ourselves when we finally arrive for good!
Right, I’m starting to waffle now, so will post this and have a break before starting on part 2!!
We flew with Emirates, couldn’t fault them, Boeing 777 for the first leg to Dubai. Fantastic personal entertainment system, loads of movies, games and music to choose from – 7 hours flew by! 2nd leg was a crappy old Airbus – a LONG 11 hours!!
Landed in Perth at around midnight Aussie time. First impressions were of the cleanliness and space in the airport (compared to LHR). Stepped outside to find a cab to take us to the hostel and was met by a very friendly bloke in a minibus towing a trailer who offered to take us to the door for $20 ($10 cheaper than a cab)! Got chatting to a Jockanese couple on the journey who had been chased out of Thailand by gangsters ?!?!
Arrived at Coolibah Lodge backpacker’s hostel in Northbridge to be greeted by ‘Welsh Tom’ – a ‘horizontal’ Brit killing time in OZ. Room basic, but met the needs. As we arrived on a Sunday, the plan was to pick up our camper on the Monday, however, this turned out to be a Bank Holiday down under, so we booked another night in the hostel.
Awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday to glorious sunshine, beautiful blue sky and a Budgie chirping in the tree outside our window! Got out of bed, scratched my arse and stepped into the garden for a fag and a coffee beside a Banana tree and a lemon tree! Decided that we would spend the day on Shank’s Pony and check out what the city of Perth had to offer.
Walking down through Northbridge the first thing you notice is the abundance of Vietnamese and Chinese in this area – some fantastic looking restaurants! The word on the street has it that this area is classed as seedy – we thought it looked remarkably clean and un-seedy for a seedy area – oh, apart from the peep and strip shows, but I can live with them ;-)
A quick 15 minute walk saw is in a deserted city!! Where was everyone? It soon became clear that Aussies like to make the most of their bank holidays by doing something more exciting than shopping!! The only shops open were the souvenir shops and occasional coffee shop – first gripe of very few – ‘will someone please tell Australia about brown sugar’??
Had a mooch around the city, was impressed with its size – just right, and cleanliness. Lots of shops and a good variety. Plenty of cafes, places to sit and a general good feel to it. Then decided to have a mooch up to King’s Park to see what all the fuss was about.
What a stunning place!!! Lush green grass, beautiful ancient trees, native plants and wildlife everywhere. No drunks, annoying teenagers or weirdo’s AT ALL……compared to your average UK city park. Stunning views of the Swan River and the city’s gleaming towers blocks. We spent the rest of the arvo here just soaking it all in, very pleasant indeed, before heading to Murray Street in the city to grab what turned out to be, a wonderful bite to eat in a seafood restaurant.
Tuesday morning saw us checking out of the hostel and making the short walk round the corner to collect our van. We booked with Wicked Campers and were expecting to get a battered old pile of crap. However, it turned out that we had been ‘upgraded’; I use the word loosely, to a campette.com camper! Couldn’t complain, it was clean, reliable and only had 14000 Km’s on the clock.
First thing we did was head for Cottesloe as a starting point on our trip oop north. Found it easily enough with our maps and couldn’t believe how clear the roads were, how courteous the drivers were and how much different it felt to the UK.
Cottesloe was lush! Great beach, lovely houses and a real upmarket feel to it, quickly checked the house prices and passed this area into the ‘maybe in a few years time’ folder! Then spent the rest of the day slowly mooching up the coast and trying to get our gas bottle filled (no easy task I can assure you)! Camped up for the night at a place called ‘Burns Beach’ Nr to Hilary’s. Beautiful sunset (at 5.15pm – what’s that all about), bottle of local red – life was good! Couldn’t believe the amount of joggers, walkers and people generally enjoying the outdoor life.
Next day saw us heading further North and checking out the likes of Joondalup – nice, but wasn’t for us. Lancelin was the next destination. What a ghost town!! If anyone tells you there’s nothing there, believe them! Stunning white sand beaches mind you but just far too isolated for us!! Drove by our migration agent’s house to do some stalking, which was quite surreal!
As we were about 2 days ahead of schedule by this stage, we decided not to spend too much time up here as neither of us really enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a vast place – a weird feeling I had never experienced before. We headed back south again with the intention of staying in a camp site in the Avon Valley.
It had to happen – we got horribly lost!! Driving up and down these dirt tracks (that incidentally, our insurance didn’t cover us to drive on) that went for miles in a rear wheel drive camper van = approx speed 20kmh!!!! Stopped for a quick change of pants and carried on!! Eventually we came upon an Orange Grove/ farm…..Caroline went into to ask where the hell we were and spent an hour, literally, chatting to the woman that owned the place. She sent us on our way with a hand drawn map and a free bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! Gob smacked to say the least! What beautiful people!
Avon Valley, what a beautiful, wild, untouched place! Wine yards a plenty and a real back of beyond feel.
Eventually found a camp site but quickly discovered that the ablutions were not quite appropriate for a ‘city – fied’ couple both desperate for a sit down so headed off towards Perth again!!
Camped up for the night in Central Perth Camping Village, close to the airport. Made some grub and headed up the road to the local ‘tavern’ we had spotted on the way in.
Here came the first real shock, and some of you blokes already in OZ will know what’s coming! As we walked in, we were met by the sight of a young girl in nowt but a frilly little pair of keks, gyrating around a pole in the middle of the bar. The audience consisted of working men and drunks, who all made a point of making Caroline feel like she had several heads and the biggest tits on planet earth as she walked in! Needless to say, I was dragged out before I could even get my hand on my wallet to order a drink!!! We soon learned that these so called ‘skimpy bars’ exist in abundance and to look out for them in future, (I certainly will be)! We then proceeded to walk around a bit trying to find another bar……hard work in Oz I can tell ya! Found out that the next nearest one was a bus ride away so resigned and went to the bottlo for some beer and back to the camper. 2nd gripe of very few – OZ needs more bars where a couple can go for a quiet drink and the female is made to feel comfortable!!!
Next day saw us taking a very pleasant drive through Midland and Guildford before heading along the South bank of the Swan for Perth Zoo – a must do!! I figured this would be the nearest we would get to wild Kangaroos, how wrong I was! Anyway, I can highly recommend Perth Zoo, for young and old alike. A great attraction featuring some beautiful exotic and native animals in a very pleasant environment.
Left the zoo and headed out west bound for Freo. Bit of a surprise here, not what either of us expected! The hype would have you believe that it was a lovely quaint old harbour town. Not quite, however, that said, we both really liked it and found it a great place to chill with friends on the ‘cino strip or bars. A must do in Freo, is the Little Creatures brewery and bar. The Pale Ale is a fine tipple indeed!!
We visited the prison and were amazed that this ‘hole’ was still in use just over 10 years ago!! Another very worth while trip out!! That night saw us enjoying the best fish and chips I have EVER tasted, courtesy of Cicerellos in Freo. Camped up in Freo Village campsite and spent a restful night under the stars.
Next day we headed down South – the part of the trip I was looking forward to as this is where we had pinpointed as an area we might like to live.
Driving down from Freo, the first thing you notice is how industrial everything starts to become. What with the oil refineries, grain terminals and what not of Kwinana. Bizarrely, some of the beaches in between all of this are lovely, just a pants view!!
Some places of interest along this stretch of coast are ‘Woodman Point Nature Reserve, Coogee Beach and the views of Garden Island, the home of the RAN.
Driving further saw us enter the city of Rockingham. Stopping off just on the outskirts, we stepped onto a beach and were truly gob smacked to see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean not 10 yards from the shoreline!!!! Wow – a magical moment!!
First impressions of Rockingham were very good. A beautiful. Clean place with excellent outdoor facilities, shopping centre and its own mini cappuccino strip. Some great British style bars as well!! We were actually very impressed with the shopping centre. All air conditioned and under cover and enough to rival any British town! We stayed the night in Rockingham Holiday Village just out of town with a view to spending some more time here the next day.
That night saw our views of Rocky change. It quickly became apparent that this was the ‘Hoon’ capital of WA!!! All night long, all we heard were screeching tyres and V8 engines roaring up and down. A quick look at the donut circles on the roads everywhere confirmed that this was not isolated!! The next day we visited Peron point, a lovely little headland south of Rocky. As we stepped out of the van, some eejit (I’m being polite) in a souped up V8 Ute came tear assing towards us at approx 90mph doing rear wheel skids as he went!!! What planet do these idiots belong to? We decided to move on and look elsewhere for our new home!
Driving for a few minutes down the coast saw us going through the suburbs of Safety Bay and Warnbro. Instantly felt like home! Lovely houses, nice feel, good prices, excellent beaches (including a noodie one – ooh err missus) and close enough to Rockingham for shopping, nights out etc…….so, it was decided, this would be where we would base ourselves when we finally arrive for good!
Right, I’m starting to waffle now, so will post this and have a break before starting on part 2!!
very good, keep it comin, we are also due in perth this year without a reccie
so all help appreciated
steve
Jun 18th 2006, 8:25 am
#7
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Excellent post Rob, I thought you said you were no writer, looking froward to part two and I'm not even going to perth!
Jun 18th 2006, 9:02 am
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 413
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Glad you liked it,that view over the city from Kings park is spectacular.Whiteman park is also worth a visit.A bbq on the lawns in south perth is also a useful thing,looking over the swan river to Perth.Coming from a small village in geordieland with 13 bars on the main street (150 mtrs long),the lack of bars was a big shock,most of them are empty barns after the barmaids go home.Women tend not to go out here,the first thing i noticed all those years ago when landing here,so when they do go out it is as you say,must be very uncomfortable for them.Did you not go to the casino,all those people sitting in front of one armed bandits just feeding money in,strange place.Good luck.
Jun 18th 2006, 9:03 am
#9
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
Location: Liverpool UK
Posts: 992
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Great post mate .. thanks for sharing,please hurry with part 2 
Jun 18th 2006, 9:13 am
#10
Melbourne Australia
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,169
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Originally Posted by leigh&ivan
Great post. Can't wait for part 2, hurry back!
We're moving to Perth September without ever doing a reccie . So posts like these are very interesting & informative. We like the sound of suburbs near Rockingham. Tell us more about Safety Bay, Warnbro, did you visit Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Baldivis?
Leigh
We're moving to Perth September without ever doing a reccie
. So posts like these are very interesting & informative. We like the sound of suburbs near Rockingham. Tell us more about Safety Bay, Warnbro, did you visit Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Baldivis?Leigh
So did he wait till the missus was asleep and then returned to the bar???
Jun 18th 2006, 9:51 am
#11
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Originally Posted by thebears
So did he wait till the missus was asleep and then returned to the bar???
Jun 18th 2006, 9:59 am
#12
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 190
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
[Fantastic post, we are also checking out Perth in July and are hoping to live in Port Kennedy or surrounding area. Hubby has a job in Rockingham.
Carol
Carol
Jun 18th 2006, 10:32 am
#13
Melbourne Australia
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,169
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Originally Posted by WendyC
I bet he did
Ohh Cas is gona slap me soon
Jun 18th 2006, 10:51 am
#14
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Berkshire, UK
Posts: 4,260
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
sounds lovely and brings back some memories from last year though we weren't lucky enough to see dolphins.
giving me a great reminder of why we want to go
giving me a great reminder of why we want to go
Jun 18th 2006, 11:43 am
#15
Short Term Holiday Rental
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 307
Re: Our validation trip to Perth - a personal account.
Sorry to say, but you probably chose the most isolated caravan park to stay in around Rockingham. There are a few in town, that is why hoons were out there. Sorry about that experience, but you are right, all the surrounding suburbs of Rockingham are very nice. WE are in Shoalwater, we have two short term holiday homes in the area, look us up if you are looking for a fully self contained base in Rockingham.. www.cedarcottagewa.com Suzette.
Originally Posted by FluffyTheCampfireSlayer
Well, here it is, as promised, the low-down on our 2 week validation trip to Perth. I apologise in advance for the spelling, bad grammar and general naffness, but hey, I never was a writer!!
We flew with Emirates, couldn’t fault them, Boeing 777 for the first leg to Dubai. Fantastic personal entertainment system, loads of movies, games and music to choose from – 7 hours flew by! 2nd leg was a crappy old Airbus – a LONG 11 hours!!
Landed in Perth at around midnight Aussie time. First impressions were of the cleanliness and space in the airport (compared to LHR). Stepped outside to find a cab to take us to the hostel and was met by a very friendly bloke in a minibus towing a trailer who offered to take us to the door for $20 ($10 cheaper than a cab)! Got chatting to a Jockanese couple on the journey who had been chased out of Thailand by gangsters ?!?!
Arrived at Coolibah Lodge backpacker’s hostel in Northbridge to be greeted by ‘Welsh Tom’ – a ‘horizontal’ Brit killing time in OZ. Room basic, but met the needs. As we arrived on a Sunday, the plan was to pick up our camper on the Monday, however, this turned out to be a Bank Holiday down under, so we booked another night in the hostel.
Awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday to glorious sunshine, beautiful blue sky and a Budgie chirping in the tree outside our window! Got out of bed, scratched my arse and stepped into the garden for a fag and a coffee beside a Banana tree and a lemon tree! Decided that we would spend the day on Shank’s Pony and check out what the city of Perth had to offer.
Walking down through Northbridge the first thing you notice is the abundance of Vietnamese and Chinese in this area – some fantastic looking restaurants! The word on the street has it that this area is classed as seedy – we thought it looked remarkably clean and un-seedy for a seedy area – oh, apart from the peep and strip shows, but I can live with them ;-)
A quick 15 minute walk saw is in a deserted city!! Where was everyone? It soon became clear that Aussies like to make the most of their bank holidays by doing something more exciting than shopping!! The only shops open were the souvenir shops and occasional coffee shop – first gripe of very few – ‘will someone please tell Australia about brown sugar’??
Had a mooch around the city, was impressed with its size – just right, and cleanliness. Lots of shops and a good variety. Plenty of cafes, places to sit and a general good feel to it. Then decided to have a mooch up to King’s Park to see what all the fuss was about.
What a stunning place!!! Lush green grass, beautiful ancient trees, native plants and wildlife everywhere. No drunks, annoying teenagers or weirdo’s AT ALL……compared to your average UK city park. Stunning views of the Swan River and the city’s gleaming towers blocks. We spent the rest of the arvo here just soaking it all in, very pleasant indeed, before heading to Murray Street in the city to grab what turned out to be, a wonderful bite to eat in a seafood restaurant.
Tuesday morning saw us checking out of the hostel and making the short walk round the corner to collect our van. We booked with Wicked Campers and were expecting to get a battered old pile of crap. However, it turned out that we had been ‘upgraded’; I use the word loosely, to a campette.com camper! Couldn’t complain, it was clean, reliable and only had 14000 Km’s on the clock.
First thing we did was head for Cottesloe as a starting point on our trip oop north. Found it easily enough with our maps and couldn’t believe how clear the roads were, how courteous the drivers were and how much different it felt to the UK.
Cottesloe was lush! Great beach, lovely houses and a real upmarket feel to it, quickly checked the house prices and passed this area into the ‘maybe in a few years time’ folder! Then spent the rest of the day slowly mooching up the coast and trying to get our gas bottle filled (no easy task I can assure you)! Camped up for the night at a place called ‘Burns Beach’ Nr to Hilary’s. Beautiful sunset (at 5.15pm – what’s that all about), bottle of local red – life was good! Couldn’t believe the amount of joggers, walkers and people generally enjoying the outdoor life.
Next day saw us heading further North and checking out the likes of Joondalup – nice, but wasn’t for us. Lancelin was the next destination. What a ghost town!! If anyone tells you there’s nothing there, believe them! Stunning white sand beaches mind you but just far too isolated for us!! Drove by our migration agent’s house to do some stalking, which was quite surreal!
As we were about 2 days ahead of schedule by this stage, we decided not to spend too much time up here as neither of us really enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a vast place – a weird feeling I had never experienced before. We headed back south again with the intention of staying in a camp site in the Avon Valley.
It had to happen – we got horribly lost!! Driving up and down these dirt tracks (that incidentally, our insurance didn’t cover us to drive on) that went for miles in a rear wheel drive camper van = approx speed 20kmh!!!! Stopped for a quick change of pants and carried on!! Eventually we came upon an Orange Grove/ farm…..Caroline went into to ask where the hell we were and spent an hour, literally, chatting to the woman that owned the place. She sent us on our way with a hand drawn map and a free bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! Gob smacked to say the least! What beautiful people!
Avon Valley, what a beautiful, wild, untouched place! Wine yards a plenty and a real back of beyond feel.
Eventually found a camp site but quickly discovered that the ablutions were not quite appropriate for a ‘city – fied’ couple both desperate for a sit down so headed off towards Perth again!!
Camped up for the night in Central Perth Camping Village, close to the airport. Made some grub and headed up the road to the local ‘tavern’ we had spotted on the way in.
Here came the first real shock, and some of you blokes already in OZ will know what’s coming! As we walked in, we were met by the sight of a young girl in nowt but a frilly little pair of keks, gyrating around a pole in the middle of the bar. The audience consisted of working men and drunks, who all made a point of making Caroline feel like she had several heads and the biggest tits on planet earth as she walked in! Needless to say, I was dragged out before I could even get my hand on my wallet to order a drink!!! We soon learned that these so called ‘skimpy bars’ exist in abundance and to look out for them in future, (I certainly will be)! We then proceeded to walk around a bit trying to find another bar……hard work in Oz I can tell ya! Found out that the next nearest one was a bus ride away so resigned and went to the bottlo for some beer and back to the camper. 2nd gripe of very few – OZ needs more bars where a couple can go for a quiet drink and the female is made to feel comfortable!!!
Next day saw us taking a very pleasant drive through Midland and Guildford before heading along the South bank of the Swan for Perth Zoo – a must do!! I figured this would be the nearest we would get to wild Kangaroos, how wrong I was! Anyway, I can highly recommend Perth Zoo, for young and old alike. A great attraction featuring some beautiful exotic and native animals in a very pleasant environment.
Left the zoo and headed out west bound for Freo. Bit of a surprise here, not what either of us expected! The hype would have you believe that it was a lovely quaint old harbour town. Not quite, however, that said, we both really liked it and found it a great place to chill with friends on the ‘cino strip or bars. A must do in Freo, is the Little Creatures brewery and bar. The Pale Ale is a fine tipple indeed!!
We visited the prison and were amazed that this ‘hole’ was still in use just over 10 years ago!! Another very worth while trip out!! That night saw us enjoying the best fish and chips I have EVER tasted, courtesy of Cicerellos in Freo. Camped up in Freo Village campsite and spent a restful night under the stars.
Next day we headed down South – the part of the trip I was looking forward to as this is where we had pinpointed as an area we might like to live.
Driving down from Freo, the first thing you notice is how industrial everything starts to become. What with the oil refineries, grain terminals and what not of Kwinana. Bizarrely, some of the beaches in between all of this are lovely, just a pants view!!
Some places of interest along this stretch of coast are ‘Woodman Point Nature Reserve, Coogee Beach and the views of Garden Island, the home of the RAN.
Driving further saw us enter the city of Rockingham. Stopping off just on the outskirts, we stepped onto a beach and were truly gob smacked to see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean not 10 yards from the shoreline!!!! Wow – a magical moment!!
First impressions of Rockingham were very good. A beautiful. Clean place with excellent outdoor facilities, shopping centre and its own mini cappuccino strip. Some great British style bars as well!! We were actually very impressed with the shopping centre. All air conditioned and under cover and enough to rival any British town! We stayed the night in Rockingham Holiday Village just out of town with a view to spending some more time here the next day.
That night saw our views of Rocky change. It quickly became apparent that this was the ‘Hoon’ capital of WA!!! All night long, all we heard were screeching tyres and V8 engines roaring up and down. A quick look at the donut circles on the roads everywhere confirmed that this was not isolated!! The next day we visited Peron point, a lovely little headland south of Rocky. As we stepped out of the van, some eejit (I’m being polite) in a souped up V8 Ute came tear assing towards us at approx 90mph doing rear wheel skids as he went!!! What planet do these idiots belong to? We decided to move on and look elsewhere for our new home!
Driving for a few minutes down the coast saw us going through the suburbs of Safety Bay and Warnbro. Instantly felt like home! Lovely houses, nice feel, good prices, excellent beaches (including a noodie one – ooh err missus) and close enough to Rockingham for shopping, nights out etc…….so, it was decided, this would be where we would base ourselves when we finally arrive for good!
Right, I’m starting to waffle now, so will post this and have a break before starting on part 2!!
We flew with Emirates, couldn’t fault them, Boeing 777 for the first leg to Dubai. Fantastic personal entertainment system, loads of movies, games and music to choose from – 7 hours flew by! 2nd leg was a crappy old Airbus – a LONG 11 hours!!
Landed in Perth at around midnight Aussie time. First impressions were of the cleanliness and space in the airport (compared to LHR). Stepped outside to find a cab to take us to the hostel and was met by a very friendly bloke in a minibus towing a trailer who offered to take us to the door for $20 ($10 cheaper than a cab)! Got chatting to a Jockanese couple on the journey who had been chased out of Thailand by gangsters ?!?!
Arrived at Coolibah Lodge backpacker’s hostel in Northbridge to be greeted by ‘Welsh Tom’ – a ‘horizontal’ Brit killing time in OZ. Room basic, but met the needs. As we arrived on a Sunday, the plan was to pick up our camper on the Monday, however, this turned out to be a Bank Holiday down under, so we booked another night in the hostel.
Awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday to glorious sunshine, beautiful blue sky and a Budgie chirping in the tree outside our window! Got out of bed, scratched my arse and stepped into the garden for a fag and a coffee beside a Banana tree and a lemon tree! Decided that we would spend the day on Shank’s Pony and check out what the city of Perth had to offer.
Walking down through Northbridge the first thing you notice is the abundance of Vietnamese and Chinese in this area – some fantastic looking restaurants! The word on the street has it that this area is classed as seedy – we thought it looked remarkably clean and un-seedy for a seedy area – oh, apart from the peep and strip shows, but I can live with them ;-)
A quick 15 minute walk saw is in a deserted city!! Where was everyone? It soon became clear that Aussies like to make the most of their bank holidays by doing something more exciting than shopping!! The only shops open were the souvenir shops and occasional coffee shop – first gripe of very few – ‘will someone please tell Australia about brown sugar’??
Had a mooch around the city, was impressed with its size – just right, and cleanliness. Lots of shops and a good variety. Plenty of cafes, places to sit and a general good feel to it. Then decided to have a mooch up to King’s Park to see what all the fuss was about.
What a stunning place!!! Lush green grass, beautiful ancient trees, native plants and wildlife everywhere. No drunks, annoying teenagers or weirdo’s AT ALL……compared to your average UK city park. Stunning views of the Swan River and the city’s gleaming towers blocks. We spent the rest of the arvo here just soaking it all in, very pleasant indeed, before heading to Murray Street in the city to grab what turned out to be, a wonderful bite to eat in a seafood restaurant.
Tuesday morning saw us checking out of the hostel and making the short walk round the corner to collect our van. We booked with Wicked Campers and were expecting to get a battered old pile of crap. However, it turned out that we had been ‘upgraded’; I use the word loosely, to a campette.com camper! Couldn’t complain, it was clean, reliable and only had 14000 Km’s on the clock.
First thing we did was head for Cottesloe as a starting point on our trip oop north. Found it easily enough with our maps and couldn’t believe how clear the roads were, how courteous the drivers were and how much different it felt to the UK.
Cottesloe was lush! Great beach, lovely houses and a real upmarket feel to it, quickly checked the house prices and passed this area into the ‘maybe in a few years time’ folder! Then spent the rest of the day slowly mooching up the coast and trying to get our gas bottle filled (no easy task I can assure you)! Camped up for the night at a place called ‘Burns Beach’ Nr to Hilary’s. Beautiful sunset (at 5.15pm – what’s that all about), bottle of local red – life was good! Couldn’t believe the amount of joggers, walkers and people generally enjoying the outdoor life.
Next day saw us heading further North and checking out the likes of Joondalup – nice, but wasn’t for us. Lancelin was the next destination. What a ghost town!! If anyone tells you there’s nothing there, believe them! Stunning white sand beaches mind you but just far too isolated for us!! Drove by our migration agent’s house to do some stalking, which was quite surreal!
As we were about 2 days ahead of schedule by this stage, we decided not to spend too much time up here as neither of us really enjoyed the feeling of being alone in a vast place – a weird feeling I had never experienced before. We headed back south again with the intention of staying in a camp site in the Avon Valley.
It had to happen – we got horribly lost!! Driving up and down these dirt tracks (that incidentally, our insurance didn’t cover us to drive on) that went for miles in a rear wheel drive camper van = approx speed 20kmh!!!! Stopped for a quick change of pants and carried on!! Eventually we came upon an Orange Grove/ farm…..Caroline went into to ask where the hell we were and spent an hour, literally, chatting to the woman that owned the place. She sent us on our way with a hand drawn map and a free bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! Gob smacked to say the least! What beautiful people!
Avon Valley, what a beautiful, wild, untouched place! Wine yards a plenty and a real back of beyond feel.
Eventually found a camp site but quickly discovered that the ablutions were not quite appropriate for a ‘city – fied’ couple both desperate for a sit down so headed off towards Perth again!!
Camped up for the night in Central Perth Camping Village, close to the airport. Made some grub and headed up the road to the local ‘tavern’ we had spotted on the way in.
Here came the first real shock, and some of you blokes already in OZ will know what’s coming! As we walked in, we were met by the sight of a young girl in nowt but a frilly little pair of keks, gyrating around a pole in the middle of the bar. The audience consisted of working men and drunks, who all made a point of making Caroline feel like she had several heads and the biggest tits on planet earth as she walked in! Needless to say, I was dragged out before I could even get my hand on my wallet to order a drink!!! We soon learned that these so called ‘skimpy bars’ exist in abundance and to look out for them in future, (I certainly will be)! We then proceeded to walk around a bit trying to find another bar……hard work in Oz I can tell ya! Found out that the next nearest one was a bus ride away so resigned and went to the bottlo for some beer and back to the camper. 2nd gripe of very few – OZ needs more bars where a couple can go for a quiet drink and the female is made to feel comfortable!!!
Next day saw us taking a very pleasant drive through Midland and Guildford before heading along the South bank of the Swan for Perth Zoo – a must do!! I figured this would be the nearest we would get to wild Kangaroos, how wrong I was! Anyway, I can highly recommend Perth Zoo, for young and old alike. A great attraction featuring some beautiful exotic and native animals in a very pleasant environment.
Left the zoo and headed out west bound for Freo. Bit of a surprise here, not what either of us expected! The hype would have you believe that it was a lovely quaint old harbour town. Not quite, however, that said, we both really liked it and found it a great place to chill with friends on the ‘cino strip or bars. A must do in Freo, is the Little Creatures brewery and bar. The Pale Ale is a fine tipple indeed!!
We visited the prison and were amazed that this ‘hole’ was still in use just over 10 years ago!! Another very worth while trip out!! That night saw us enjoying the best fish and chips I have EVER tasted, courtesy of Cicerellos in Freo. Camped up in Freo Village campsite and spent a restful night under the stars.
Next day we headed down South – the part of the trip I was looking forward to as this is where we had pinpointed as an area we might like to live.
Driving down from Freo, the first thing you notice is how industrial everything starts to become. What with the oil refineries, grain terminals and what not of Kwinana. Bizarrely, some of the beaches in between all of this are lovely, just a pants view!!
Some places of interest along this stretch of coast are ‘Woodman Point Nature Reserve, Coogee Beach and the views of Garden Island, the home of the RAN.
Driving further saw us enter the city of Rockingham. Stopping off just on the outskirts, we stepped onto a beach and were truly gob smacked to see a dolphin frolicking in the ocean not 10 yards from the shoreline!!!! Wow – a magical moment!!
First impressions of Rockingham were very good. A beautiful. Clean place with excellent outdoor facilities, shopping centre and its own mini cappuccino strip. Some great British style bars as well!! We were actually very impressed with the shopping centre. All air conditioned and under cover and enough to rival any British town! We stayed the night in Rockingham Holiday Village just out of town with a view to spending some more time here the next day.
That night saw our views of Rocky change. It quickly became apparent that this was the ‘Hoon’ capital of WA!!! All night long, all we heard were screeching tyres and V8 engines roaring up and down. A quick look at the donut circles on the roads everywhere confirmed that this was not isolated!! The next day we visited Peron point, a lovely little headland south of Rocky. As we stepped out of the van, some eejit (I’m being polite) in a souped up V8 Ute came tear assing towards us at approx 90mph doing rear wheel skids as he went!!! What planet do these idiots belong to? We decided to move on and look elsewhere for our new home!
Driving for a few minutes down the coast saw us going through the suburbs of Safety Bay and Warnbro. Instantly felt like home! Lovely houses, nice feel, good prices, excellent beaches (including a noodie one – ooh err missus) and close enough to Rockingham for shopping, nights out etc…….so, it was decided, this would be where we would base ourselves when we finally arrive for good!
Right, I’m starting to waffle now, so will post this and have a break before starting on part 2!!