Monday, December 28, 2009

Backpacking Holidays in Perth, Western Australia - Part 1

I just came back from Perth, Western Australia about 3 weeks ago from a backpacking holiday.

We decided to go for a free & easy backpacking holiday due to 2 reasons:

1) Cover places of attraction that we really are keen to see, rather then being lead to places by tour guides (many are to commercial places/shops that the tourist guide has a commission) that we dislike

2) We can control the pace. Normally if you follow tour groups, the time spend at each location is very short - with just a few photo shots and you need to move on. With backpacking, we can control our own pace

3) Most tours agency in Singapore will only cover Perth City Central and maybe the Pinnacles. We would love to visit others Western Australia's awesome National Parks - oh by the way, if you go to places like Australia and New Zealand - it seemed like you have never been there if you have not visited their National Parks.

4) We love to interact with the people on the ground. Nothing beats chatting and knowing more about the lifestyle of the aussies living in Perth.

As usual for a backpacking holidays, you would need to check out 4 things:

1) Air-tickets - we went for budget airline Jetstar Asia as the deal was good when we bought the tickets 6 months earlier

2) Lodgings - we chose backpackers hostel (Globe Backpackers in Wellington Street - we will talk more about it later) rather than posh hotel in Perth as we would love to mingle more with the people, rather than enjoying the comfort but soloist lifestyle in the hotel

3) Travel Insurance - this is a must especially if you doing Backpacking

4) Search for Information on Places of Interest + How to travel around + Recommended food

1 and 3 was pretty easy during the planning stage.

No. 4 (Backpackers Hostel) search was relatively easy as you will find many listings on the web which consolidates the list of backpacking hostels. Just check out the ratings and testimonials by others and you will be able to distill down to a few choices to make a final decision. Once again, risk are involved since the testimonials may not be 100% accurate. One trick is to consider testimonials that are nearer to you. Overall, we would like to give a Thumbs Up for Globe Backpackers Hostel (4.5 / 5 ratings), based on the following:

My room in Globebackpackers
  1. Staff: Super friendly & Helpful (Sarah and Tracey - you are brilliant in Customer Service!)
  2. Accessibility: Very accessible. Train & Bus stations just opposite. Free Shuttle (CATs service) also 2-3 mins away. 3 mins walk to the major shopping area of Perth City.
  3. Safety: Located along the main road. Felt safe when we went back to hostel late in night
  4. Room: Clean, Comfortable, Private, Nice Linen. (Pillow maybe change to thicker ones?)
  5. Toilet: Clean, Well Maintained. Private. Can't complain!
  6. Price: Excellent from what i got! Felt comfortable in my 8 days stay there!
Posing with Sarah

Sean posing with Sarah

It is No. 4 (Information on Places of Interest + How to travel around + Recommended food) that we face challenges. There isn't much travel guidebooks about Perth (and outlying National Parks) in the library or bookstores. We did many nights of internet surfing for information but there was just very little information on the web. The one that always comes up is Tourism Perth Australia which, as we know shows you the "so-call" attractions. These information are usually suited for those going for standard tour activities - we were looking for more information on heartland activities and food.

It seemed like not many blog about Perth - there wasn't much travelogue or blogs to help backpackers like me. Alot was based on asking around when we were physically there in Perth. Are you one of them facing this problem like us???

As such, i promise myself to blog about Perth and Western Australia when i am back into Singapore, in order to assist other backpackers that are looking out for information on Perth. I hope google and yahoo! search engines would be able to display this blogpost for people to pick up and plan their backpacking holidays.

Let's get started with the Introduction of Perth!

Perth is the capital & largest city of Western Australia. The pace of living over there is so much slower and relaxing as compared to other Australia Cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. Most of the shops & eateries in Perth City Central are closed after 6pm and the streets will be quiet at about 8pm.

Perth International Airport

If you are a tourist looking for food in the streets, you can either go for fast-food chains such as McDonalds and Hungry Jacks (equivalent of Burger Kings). You can also find shops selling Pizza and Kebabs until late in the night - this are usually operated by asians. Alternatively, you can walk to Northbridge area where Chinese restaurants are waiting for you for late night / supper meals.

Cup of hot coffee in the early morning in Perth City

In the next few blogposts, i will share with you on the day tours that we took to outlying areas surrounding Perth City Central - many are the amazing National Parks in Western Australia. I will also give an overview of the economical food you can find in Perth City. Stay tuned for the next post!

PS: Drop me a comment. I would love to hear from you.

PPS: This blogpost is part of a series know as "Backpacking Holidays in Perth, Western Australia". Click on "Holiday Tips" for whole series.

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