Western Australia

If you refer to the map of Australia, you will notice that most settlements are along the coast. Alice Aprings is in the heart of the desert. The reason for the dense settlement near the coast is that 67% of Australia is desert.

Map Source

Now I'm taking you to Perth and Fremantle in Western Australia. The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Perth is about 5 hours.

The following two pictures were taken on the Captain Cook Cruise along the Swan River to enjoy views of the port of Fremantle and scenic city of Perth. We joked, sang and fellowship among the 110-112 of us. I think we were noisy. I liked the deck.



Let's go to the Underwater World. If you are a qualified diver, you will have a chance to dive in the aquarium where visitors can see you through the acrylic tunnel.
The dolphins here are lovely and little. But I like the one in Hong Kong better.
If you have patience to watch the whales, you may try your luck. We had a big group of approximately 110-112 of us so it was not a good idea.


The tour operators took us to the Perth Mint and shopping. They recommended the famous Australian almond hard candy nuggets. I bought some nuggets. I also purchased a pair of gold earrings from the Mint.

We went to Fremantle Market to shop for souvenirs and some had our portraits sketched by the local artists. The market was founded in 1897. It is known as a famous shopping attraction for tourists. If you are interested in the rich history and cultural heritage of the market, click here. I was bored looking as the souvenirs for I had been to Australia before. So I went around to shop for something to eat. As always, I love the ice-cream. The line was long and I thought it must be pretty good and worth the wait. When I got my ice cream, the two tour buses were gone and I was left behind. I called the tour company and they requested me to go back to the apartment to rest and wait for the rest of them to get back.

I told myself, I'm not going to get back and feel sad or waste my time. I would make the best out of my solo experience. I walked to the nearest police station, requested for a map and advice on places to visit and off I went, taking a train and buses as I visited places on my own.
When I was on the overhead walkway of the railway station, I saw a band performance. I could not find the picture to show you. Sorry.

Then I went to see the black swans, a different place from my group. Here are the closed-up pictures of the swan; swimming normally and then decided to show off its acrobatic skills.


I strolled along the coast and saw many big trunked palm trees. I asked some local guys whether there was any specific reasons other than the shade and beauty. He explained that the coast is very proned to the Westerlies (wind) and the palm trees help to break the wind.
I did little things alone and talked to the local folks. I arrived at the secured apartment complex ahead of the rest of my co-workers and they caught me eating ice-cream again. They shared they had lunch and watched some black swans which did not perform any acrobatic. I was glad I didn't miss much. I shared what I did and some of them thought it wasn't a bad idea to be left behind by the pick-up bus.

If you have a small group or travel as a family, you may want to explore the desert in Western Australia on a jeep and see the limestone structures called the Pinnacles It is about 250 km (approx, 156 miles) from Perth.

Check out the season for bush flies in Western Australia. According to a local guy, you have to cover your mouth, fan your mouth or open it as small as possible when you talk so that the flies would not enter. I don't think you want to have a vacation dealing with the bush flies.

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