Perth - City Familiarization

So we are back! Not really exhausted but yeah, a bit ‘jet-lag’ from all the holiday excitement.

Hubby had warned me about the cold weather in Perth since it is only the beginning of Spring and Winter cold still lingers. But I really could not figure how cold is cold as well as what attire I should really be wearing is. I thought of getting a trench coat but I hesitated feeling it would be too ‘winter’ dressing. So I got myself a jacket instead and thought layering the clothes would do just good to warm me up. I also thought of getting a pair of knee-high boots but backed off because I thought it would be too stylo for a backpacker tourist like us. So, I ended up packing two jeans, a pair of sweat pants and a pair of legging with lots of blouses. I travelled with my pair of Crocs flat and even packed flip flops thinking I might wear it on alternate days. Boy my choice of clothing was so boring and inadequate.


We arrived at Perth International Airport around 6 a.m. and even inside the airport, I could already feel the wind chill. As soon as we stepped out of the airport and swept by early morning breeze, I felt like going back inside. It was freakin’ cold! For a girl like me who have never experienced winter or early spring weather and thought 21°C in an air-conditioning room is cold enough, I was already crying for my choice of clothing – the first day and throughout the next 9 days of the holiday.


We hopped on Connect, which is a very comfortable bus service to get to our backpacker stay. The detail of this bus service is at the bottom of this entry. It took about 20-30 minutes to reach Perth City from the airport. Our staying place while in Perth is Witch’s Hat Backpacker. It is a very nice and clean backpacker situated at Palmerstone Street housing area in Northbridge. Since it is located among personal properties, social communication around and outside the backpacker is limited up to 10.30pm only. So you can be assured of peaceful sleep at night time.
Notice the roof? Hence the name.

Perth as a whole, true to what most travelers have said, is a very laid-back city. Even if you are a first timer, I assure you can never get lost while here. The city layout is nicely structured and positioned that you can walk to just about any tourist attraction or using the CAT (short for Central Area Transit) bus that is absolutely free.



After settling down at our room and figured our way to the city, we walked to the nearest CAT stop which is just 5-8 minutes’ walk from our stay heading to Perth city. It was Friday, shops in Perth close at 9pm, the longest operation hours of the week as opposed to the usual 5pm closing hour from Mon-Thu, Saturday and 12noon on Sunday. However, eateries usually close up to 11pm.


We went to Murray Street which is a pedestrian mall. This street along with Hay Street are two famous pedestrian malls in Perth's CBD. No vehicles are allowed on that particular streets and people can freely walk along the street that stretch to about 1km long with lots of shops along the way. I enjoyed myself watching people, shops, buildings and buskers along that street. Very refreshing from what we have back home.


Breakfast at one of the small cafe inside Hay Street Mall. Scrambled egg and bacon toast.


Hubby and I had both agreed not to think so much about shopping while here. But I couldn't resist buying a pair of boots cos my current footwear was not enough to save me from the cold wind.



I can pretty much understand why the Western countries people love sun basking so much. With weather like this, I'm sure glad to be under the sun rather shady area. This is at Forrest Place, a pedestrianized square located within the CBD of Perth.


Pretty blooms welcoming Spring season in Western Australia. This is at Forrest Place.


I'm a fan of architecture design like this.


Some arcades have beautiful design in a midst of modern architecture.


Buskers are regular along Murray St and Hay St. These people aren't just performing for the sake of money. They are indeed VERY talented. You can actually see many people stop by and enjoying themselves being serenaded by these local talents. Some even sport enough to come forward and dance to the tunes.


View along Murray Street.


In front of London Court. It is another shopping arcade built in 1937 and has been listed in State Heritage Register in W.A. The fascinating thing about this place is the two clocks at both end of this arcade. Read HERE to know more.


Besides shops, there are side road cafe along this arcade too which is a normal sight in Australia.


This, I just have to show it off. Something that's always ring true to most women, no?


At times, I couldn't stop feeling amused with all this new things I saw around. Even this small garden in front of the W.A. Art Gallery looks too interesting to be ignored. Urban Orchard? Like real vegetables and herbs in the city instead of flowers? That's Perth for you.


These are some of the plants they grow here. Spinach, herbs such Rosemary and Mint are easily found here.


We ended our first day in Perth at Western Australia Art Gallery. For those who loves art, this the place to go. They have quite a number of mesmerizing paintings dated from centuries ago as well as art work from over the years until recent ones. And they have kiddie section where you can get your children to explore their inner artistic talent. The end results are display on the wall on that particular section and people would be able these young talents' work. Brilliant! By the way, no photography is allowed inside the gallery but it is free entry.

To wrap up the day, we went in search for Chinese food. If you are thinking why in heaven did we want Chinese food when we have better ones back home. Well, I wasn't convinced when hubby told me that the food portion here is twice the size of our food portion back in Malaysia. And I also wanted to eat something that has to do with rice. Yep, the portion was HUGE(for me) that we just ordered one meal and shared it. It wasn't great though and that was the last Chinese meal we had while in Perth cos hubby warned not to ever wanting food that relates back home. LOL!

So that's it for our Perth day 1.
Stay tune for the next entry.


PS: Most of our tour pictures are on FB already, in case you haven't know.

Summaries of Day One

• Airport to hostel via Connect ( www.perthairportconnect.com.au) - AUD16/pax one way.
• Hostel; Witch's Hat Back Packer (http://www.witchshat.com/index.asp) - AUD35/pax
• Breakfast Special (within mall vicinity)  AUD12/pax
• Perth CAT bus - free within city area. For more details on other transportation, click http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
• Dinner (food court) - AUD10 for 'Nasi Campur'.
• Internet Cafe service - AUD3/hour