Australia is a huge country, and many people take three months just to explore the land Down Under from end to end, whether by campervan or caravan.
We only had two weeks available for this trip over the Christmas period, so deciding where to go was easy: Perth, just a five hour flight from Singapore.
In this series of posts about our stay in Australia, I’ll tell you how we spent a few days in Perth, then went to Fremantle, and finally headed about 200 km south to stay in the famous Margaret River wine region, although we were actually based a little further north, in Geographe Bay, Busselton.
The biggest surprise about this part of Australia was the climate, I found out that it has a Mediterranean climate, just like Portugal. I thought I was heading for a scorching 40°C Australian summer, and while we did experience that heat when we arrived in Perth, the highest temperature we felt in Margaret River was only 28°C, which didn’t feel like much with the strong winds. You can read more about the climate in the region in the post Before Travelling to Australia.
Some interesting facts I discovered about Australia:
– Australians love abbreviations: Aussies, Freo, Rotto… and the list goes on.
– They also love a good freebie: we enjoyed free hotel breakfasts, free bus rides, and free entry to museums.
– Playgrounds are amazing everywhere, and there’s almost always one near the beach.
– In many ways it felt like being in the UK… but with good weather.
– There are many restaurants with Asian cuisine or influences, and the ones we tried were fantastic.
– Grocery shopping in Australia is a delight. The fruit and vegetables are delicious, the meat is excellent, I felt like I wanted to buy everything.
– Everywhere you go (including websites), there is an acknowledgment of the Aboriginal people as the traditional custodians of the land and the importance of their traditions and culture in connection with nature. It’s a shame we don’t see more of this in the world. It’s not about apologising for past mistakes, it’s about accepting and acknowledging history so that such atrocities are never repeated.
Don’t miss my recommendations on things to do in Perth, Fremantle, and the Margaret River – Busselton/Dunsborough region.
I hope you’ll find plenty of inspiration here for your holiday in this part of Western Australia, also referred to as WA.
