Biking in Rain at Pulau Ubin

We went to Pulau Ubin biking again with Justin during Lunar New Year holiday, January 23, 2023.

The day stared dry, actually the Sun came out for a few minutes when we started our biking.

We went to Pekan Quarry first - and saw a large flock of herons and egrets in a habitat platform.  We then climbed Bukit Puaka for a view of Ubin Quarry and the Johor Strait. It was still early in the morning - there were few people at either place.

Herons and Egrets on a habitat platform

Pekan Quarry

Ubin Quarry and Bird Songs

After Bukit Puaka, we biked to the Ubin Quarry view point, and continued to Chek Jawa Wetlands. About half way, the sky opened, it started to pour! We stood under a large tree for a few minutes, and at the guide of a migrant worker, we went to a shelter 50 yards down the road after a turn, and waited for the rain to stop for 15 minutes.

When the rain turned into a drizzle, we biked on to Chek Jawa.

The trail was muddy. When we got to Chek Jawa biking lot, the back of our pants and shirts had streaks of mud stains. As we walked into the enclosed wetland, a troupe of long tail macaques greeted us in the middle of the trail, and a wild boar. As we approached them, the boar disappeared into the woods before I could take a picture of it. 

A wild boar

When we got to viewing jetty, a wild boar walked into my view and stayed around to look for food, and for us to take pictures of it. The Pulau Sekudu, i.e. Frog island, was half submerged in water due to high tide. Herons, egrets and a sea eagle were resting on the islet.

Heron and Egrets on Pulau Sekudu

The sea eagle was at the tip of the rock near the middle

As we walked onto the Chek Jawa boardwalk, we spotted a sea snake (did not got a picture) and a crocodile, and many pacific swallow.

A crocodile at Pulau Ubin 

 We also finally figured out the mud mounds in the wetland  - mud crabs' nests

The crab is not easy to see - near the hole

We climbed the Jejawi tower to look at the island and the Johor strait.

Mangroves at Eastern Pulau Ubin 

I had a good time at Chek Jawa: saw wild life we had not seen there before. When we returned to the bike park, a large group of long tail macaques and three wild boars were hanging around … waiting for food I believe. They did not see the usual white grocery plastic bags with us, they did not even approach us :)

We continued to our next stop at Pula Ubin, the butterfly hill, passing by sensory trail, and a small beach at the end of a branch of sensory trail - our favorite place, the beach was fully submerged in water due to high tide.

The visit to Butterfly Hill was not very good due to rain, few butterflies flew around, and the gazebo was fully occupied by a group. We could not take shelter there when the rain became heavy again.

The interlude between heavy rains got shorter, we returned our bikes and took ferry back to the main island.

Visiting Perth, Australia - Trip Itinerary

Perth is the capital of Australia state Western Australia. Western Australia is the largest state in Australia, and is more than 3 times larger than Texas! (2.5M square kilometers vs 0.7M square kilometers). Perth is located at southwest of Western Australia, and it sits on the bank of Swan River, and by the coastline of Indian Ocean. Perth and surrounding areas provide ample opportunities to experience many aspects of the mystic Australia.

Day 0  (Jan 1st)  Arrival at Perth

Don't forget to look out of the airplane's window when arriving.

We arrived at Perth ~ 8pm local time. The Afterglow of the Sunset was mesmerizing.

Note - Australia requires Visa to enter even if one has US passport. We assumed that visa was not required for us and were stopped at check-in counter. Fortunately US passport holders can apply visa through Australia ETA (electronic travel authority) app. We downloaded the app by the counter, and got visa approval in minutes. The travel moved forward.

Day 1 (Jan 2) Perth the City

Morning - Walking the art trail at Elizabeth Quay and hike around the Mounts Bay - many sculptures along the art trail, and along the Mounts Bay/Swan River shoreline. 

Pleasant hike with light breeze and downtown skyline in the background, black swans, Australian pelicans in the water under brilliant blue sky … beautiful views but strong UV since there's no shade.

Trail around the Mounts Bay

A black swan family - black swan is native to Australia

Spanda

Ascalon  - St George's Cloak 

Afternoon - Cape Peron - limestone coastline and hiking trails

This was a last minute decided destination since our planned kayaking activity* was cancelled due to high wind. The coast was uniquely beautiful, and quiet - not too many people here

Limestone Rocks along the coastline

Lonely Rock

*kayaking at Penguin island and Seal island, a 4km loop, is a must for kayakers. Since the kayaking is over the open sea, we were unlucky that the wind was very strong that afternoon, and there was no kayaking. 

Day 2 Rottnest Island - Perth

Rottnest Island is about 20 km offshore from Perth in the Indian Ocean. It has white-sand beaches, isolated turquoise bays, biking paths and vehicle-free environment. Need to book the ferry tickets ahead of time from tour providers. 

We rented bikes, snorkeling equipment.

quiet beach away from the popular ones

the mystic pattern in the water: dark patches are where under water plants are, white patches are bare rocks

Cape Valamigh

Note - snorkeling was not great at all!

Day 3  Pinnacle Desert at Nambung National Park with stop at Yanchek National Park

Pinnacle Desert is ~ 200km north to Perth. Thousands of tall limestone spires (i.e. pinnacles) rise out of the yellow desert sands. It is one of Australia's most unique and fascinating natural landscapes, formed over millions of years.

On the way to Pinnacle Desert we stopped at Yanchep National Park - an oasis for wildlife - birds, koalas, and Kangaroos. This is a relatively small park, needs ~ 3 hours or so. We saw many birds unique to Australia and sleeping Koalas. Unfortunately we did not kangaroos in the wild - it was late in the morning when we arrived, and kangaroos were hide in bushes/trees from the hot Sun.

Laughing kookaburras

Galah

Sleeping Koala - we spotted 3 koalas at Koala Boardwalk 

After making a few more stops on the way to Pinnacle Desert, e.g. Lancelin Sand Dunes, Nilgen Lookout, Hangover Bay, we checked in to our hotel, bought food at a local restaurant for later picnic at Pinnacle desert at Sunset. 

We arrived at Pinnacle desert ~ 5pm. We drove into the pinnacle desert on a auto-trail, and then had a picnic before sunset (~ 7pm), and then walked into the desert under golden glow of setting Sun. 

Pinnacle Desert during day time

Pinnacle under Golden Glow of Setting Sun

Despite the full moon… not ideal for star gazing, we stayed until 9:30pm. Most people left 8:30pm. We enjoyed the cool night at the dessert, and the stars in the sky. 

Day 4 Outback of Western Australia

Three long days of hiking, biking under the Sun, the  450 km drive to the small town Kulin was actually a much needed break from UV. On the way we were looking for traces of Kangaroos in futile, but we were in awe of the vast landscape of the outback of Western Australia, which easily dwarfed Texas in size.  

Our next destination was Wave Rock, which is ~ 90km, 1 hour drive away from Kulin. We stayed a cute small rental house - our first ever experience with Air BnB.

 

vast grass land

the small rental home we stayed at

A unique feature of Kulin is its quirky Tin Can Horse High Way

Tin Can Horses

Day 5 Wave Rock and surrounding area

Wave rock is large boulder in the form of a wave! "Rising 15 metres from the ground and more than 100 metres long, the rock looks like a giant surf wave of multicoloured granite about to crash onto the bush below. It’s believed this amazing formation was more than 2,700 million years in the making"

There are also many other rock formations.

wave rock

hipo's yawn

Day 6 Return Home

We left Kulin for Perth in the morning, a three hour drive, just in time for a 1:40pm flight home.

On the way to airport we stopped at Heirisson island* in hope of seeing Kangaroos in the wild - again near noon time, Kangaroos hide in the bushes/low trees, we saw none despite sighting by others in the early morning that day :(.

*Heirisson island has several grey kangaroos 

The Outback of Western Australia - by Lily

 Australia has always been an exotic destination in my mind. Perhaps it’s because the reputation of the enigmatic Sydney, or simply because it’s on the South hemisphere. The colors of the Indian Ocean surrounding Rottness Island – emerald green and tortoise blue intercalating each other, the white sand dunes along the Indian Ocean drive, and the limestone formation at Pinnacle desert certainly fit the bill. However, it was when we started to drive east toward Wave Rock did we witness the true colors of the heartland of Western Australia. Summer is in full swing, the sun is scorching bright, the air is dry. We drove hundreds of kilometers and all we saw was the vastness of hay fields, golden or white. Eucalyptus trees decorated the field in lines or dots every few kilometers or so.

The grass land stretches to the horizon

Eucalyptus trees

We arrived at a small town called Kulin, with a population just over 300. The house we rented was a 3-bed room cozy place, and our host June left some food supplies for us as well. After dinner, we strode into town. The sun was setting, the air had cooled significantly to a comfort level with the wind blowing gently. On the western horizon the color of the sky changed from golden to orange then from red to purple, the magnificent horizon was breathtaking.

On our way in, we noticed some sculptures made out of tin cans along the road. It turned out there’s history of the tin-can art in this area. It all started in the mid-1990s to help promote the local horse race. The residents used farm junks and made artistic designs all in a horsey theme. So, the next evening we drove along the Tin Horse highway to see the sculptures made out of tin cans. We drove slowly trying to catch all of them, luckily there were only a couple of cars on the road, and we managed to photographed many of them. The sculptures were cute and creative, some were weird and quirky.