This blog post is the second part of our Western Australia itinerary. After travelling to the south and spending two days in Margaret River region, we were back in Perth City. But, our stay in Perth was only temporary as we traveled to the northern regions for more exciting activities!
Once again, weekends are the paradise of markets that the tourists and locals should never miss. Fremantle Markets is only opened from Friday till Sunday. After parking our car at a nearby parking area (AUD2.20 per hour but the first hour is free), we went to check out The Yard since it opens at 8.00am while The Hall will only starts operating at 9.00am (Fremantle Markets consists of The Yard and The Hall).
After walking around a few times checking out the food stalls at The Yard, we decided to get some burgers for our breakfast. We also bought some strawberries (AUD5 per pack) and avocados (AUD5 for 4 pieces) while waiting for the The Hall to open. The strawberries and avocados are a lot cheaper if you get them from this kind of markets instead of from the supermarkets.
Oh ya! We almost forgot to share our breakfast photos. The Kroket Burger tasted just alright but it is a little pricey. Nevertheless, the meat with loaded fries was so filling (and worth its price) that we almost couldn’t finish it.
There are also some food stalls inside The Hall. However, majority of the stalls are selling goods such as souvenirs, handcrafts, decorative items, etc. Bear in mind that the products are not cheap and doesn’t seem worthy of its price. If you are looking for souvenirs, we would recommend the shop towards the end of the market called Megebes. This shop offers the cheapest souvenir that we could find in the market. It was fortunate that we bought our souvenirs there before checking out other stalls.
We were quite disappointed as we expected more interesting things in Fremantle Market; the only things worthy for us are probably the fruits and souvenir shops.
Next, we began our second long distance road trip which is towards the northern regions for the lobsters, sand dunes and The Pinnacles! The journey was slightly shorter than the southbound road trip but it was extremely boring driving to the north. Along the way, there are nothing to see except for sands and dessert plants.
Upon arrival at the Lobster Shack, we just couldn’t wait to join the factory tour (AUD5 per pax). From the tour, you will know how the wild lobsters are caught, how they are categorized (grades and sizes), and how they are packed and sent to different parts of the world. Since we are here, how can we miss out on fresh lobster meal (though our cholesterol levels are somewhere at the borderline to high level).
There are 3 sizes of lobster to choose from. We ordered the medium-sized lobsters and the “Today’s Special” which is a lobster roll for a total bill of AUD105.
Wow, just take a look at the lobsters! It is so fresh that you can see the juices oozing out from the meat. The moment we took our first bite, we can assure you that this is the best lobster that we have ever had! The lobster is cooked to perfection as the meat is a little “bouncy” and mixed with its sweetness (due to its freshness), we don’t mind having this for lunch every day for the rest of our lives!
After the fantastic meal, we took a short walk outside the restaurant to enjoy the sea breeze (the restaurant is just by the seaside). There are also options to be seated outside of the restaurant if you love the sun and sea breeze to accompany your lobster meal.
This unforgettable meal definitely boosted up our energy to take on The Pinnacles and sand dunes! The Pinnacles is a dessert filled with thousands of limestone pillars rising from the shifting yellow sands. After paying for the entrance fees of AUD13 per vehicle, we chose to drive around the dessert instead of walking around it.
We drove along the Pinnacles Loop which is a 4km unsealed road in our rental car (Toyota Corolla Hatch). Don’t worry if your car will get stuck in the sand as the road is quite hard as long as you stay within the loop. Driving will definitely save a lot of travelling time compared to walking as you can just stop anywhere you want when you spot some nice location for photo taking. Just make sure that your parked car is not blocking the incoming vehicles.
As we spent more time than we allocated at Lobster Shack, we had to catch up on our itinerary in order to have time for the sand dunes activities which Mr. J was really looking forward to.
We were so lucky that we arrived at Lancelin Sand Dunes about one hour before the operators close. Along the way to the sand dunes, all the sandboard rental shops were already closed (about 4.45pm). Hence, we drove straight to the sand dunes and were extremely grateful that the sandboard rental operators are still there. We parked our car near the operators (big truck, van, etc.) whereby the sand is still hard enough. It is highly not advisable to drive your car further into the sand dunes as the sand is really soft (your car might get stuck) unless if you are driving a 4WD.
We rented a sandboard for AUD10 an hour and Mr. J just turned into the happiest kid of the day. Climbing up the sand dunes (the sand is quite soft) was extremely tiring especially when you need to drag the sandboard (which isn’t light) together with you. The climbing will take minutes but the sandboarding is over in seconds. Hence, we decided to just sandboard at the lower sand dunes instead of the higher ones. In return, we get to sandboard many many times since we didn’t spend most of our energy climbing up the sand dunes.
Tips: Wax the bottom of the sandboard for a better sandboarding experience. The wax will be provided by the sandboard rental operator.
Well, we sandboarded for almost an hour and were among the last few groups to leave the place. Bear in mind that the rental operators will close around 5.00pm to 6.00pm depending on the crowd. So, make sure to arrive early to avoid any disappointment.
After cleaning off all the sands from our clothes, we travelled back to our apartment in Maylands which took us approximately 1.5 hours. It’s dinner preparation time while Mr. J returned the car to rental office which is just 15 minutes of walking distance away.
That summarized Day 3 of our Perth itinerary. Click the links below to check out the rest of our Perth trip.
Day 1 & 2 - Margaret River
Day 4 & 5 - Caversham Wildlife Park, Perth City, Rottnest Island
Day 6 - Swan Valley
Day 7 - Perth City
That summarized Day 3 of our Perth itinerary. Click the links below to check out the rest of our Perth trip.
Day 1 & 2 - Margaret River
Day 4 & 5 - Caversham Wildlife Park, Perth City, Rottnest Island
Day 6 - Swan Valley
Day 7 - Perth City
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