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