Sunday, October 11, 2015

ⒽⒿ 8 Days In Western Australia - Day 5: Whale Sighting, Aqua and Caversham Wildlife Park

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Hair all blown backwards, no brows because no makeup on my big face and squinty eyes, but still looking good. ;)
This is what a good vacation does to you even if you go about the days without sufficient sleep!

Hm... Haniza had sufficient sleep during our trip though.. I believe she had a minimum of 7 hours each night. She took these supplements that would boost your energy during the day and give you good sleep at night. It's quite amazing because she was never tired during the day (despite all the long solo drives) and then she sleeps pretty on time and soundly till the next morning. I got tempted for a bit then. But nahhh I never really liked taking pills of any kind.

Anyway, sleeping on time is good.. But one area of Western Australia we didn't manage to explore was their night life - Such as checking out their bars, pubs and clubs! We never went out late at night to explore places. Most of the time, we get back late from a day of exploration, wash up and just... rest. We wanted to head out on our last day, but end up resting in too. Lol. Is this the sign of aging?

Oh my.... I miss Perth, while blogging this 5th day entry now.
It's 9th October 2016, ALREADY one year late to completing this update about my Australia trip. Gaaah.

Time flies!



 8 Days In Western Australia - Day 5:
Whale Sighting, Aqua and Caversham Wildlife Park

Arrival + Day 1: Magaret River, Winery and Chocolate
Day 2: Jewel Cave, Lighthouses and Sugarloaf
Day 3: Movie, Animals and Almost Homeless
Day 4: Busselton Jetty, Voyager Estate Winery and Hamelin Bay

Our 5th day was a day well spent with animals! Both on land and sea. It was quite an experience sighting whales, going out in the sea and chasing them, but I'm sure I won't do it again in the near future....... More on that later. Caversham Wildlife Park X was nice, but I would say visiting the zoo is best planned for at least half a day! We had a few hours to spare, but it was very near their closing time so there weren't really much activities or people around. Less crowd is good, but no crowd makes it a little.. lonely?



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First gorgeous sight that morning.

I like to watch nature.
The sky. The sea. The grass.
It calms my soul.

The day started early. I cannot remember how early, but I know it was early. LOL.

Okay. So I just checked the time this shot was taken and it was at exactly 8:31am. It would take about 30 minutes to drive from our apartment (we stayed here, nice place, great hosts!) to arrive here so I assume we left at around 7:30am because I remember we arrived quite early and actually had time to have our breakfast in the car before checking in for our whale watching!!!!!

EXCITING MUCH!

I was very excited then.

We got the whale watching packages way before our trip - During our planning phase. Because like a true-blue Singaporean, we were both very kiasu and wanted to make sure that we'll definitely get the tickets! Lol. Also because it was recommended to book seats online before our trip to avoid any disappointments. The boat we were on was full!

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There are a few areas where whales can be spotted in Australia... But they are not easily sighted throughout the year.. They have migration seasons (June to December) and this is the best period you'll get to sight them while they swim from one area to another.

The probability of sighting these amazing creatures also depends on where you are. If you're at Western Australia between June to August, there's a higher chance of spotting them down at Augusta. And if you're traveling between August to December, the whales have already moved upwards around Hillarys Boat Harbour (X).

And so, we decided on Mills Charters (X).

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Lucky us, the sky was very clear that day... Weather was good.

The packages have a guarantee that you'll sight whales while they migrate or they'll give you a free trip out again to claim another day. It's a fantastic deal. But it won't be good for tourists like us. Lol. I was very glad we saw bits of the whales. Can't imagine being out for that few hours, not sight any whales and have to shuffle our itinerary to head back there again.

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Right before we board our boat!

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Excited faces!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this experience at first, and was slightly worried about being seasick. I am definitely not foreign to a boat ride, considering my experience with chartering boats while cruising (read here!) and a one time ride releasing fish (this goes way back to 2009 omg), but I couldn't be sure. Especially since the last cruise trip had me feeling uncomfortable for few days - the sea around Taiwan is very rough. :(

Also, a friend who was studying in Perth went whale watching down at Augusta before we planned this trip. She told me the sea was really choppy and the ride made her boyfriend sick. I was half hoping that I'll survive the ride without buffing. I'm glad I really didn't!

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Our travelmates!

It's nice to see families gathering together for an activity. I wish my family did more together other than eat. We used to go bowling... :( But now we just eat. Lol.

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The boat ride was really fast to bring us in the middle of nowhere!

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Looks calm? Looks are deceiving!
Very.




Not sure if it's obvious how choppy the sea was.

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But the boat ride was very calming. Made me feel like sleeping.




See what we spotted! You'll see them spray water before you can spot their tails flipping out of the water.

It's amazing. Though they were far and looked pretty small...

The whales we spotted were humpback whales! We were educated about whales while we were sailing. It was very interesting. But don't ask me what I've learnt, I'd return it back to the sea after alighting from the boat. Lol.

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Everyone's standing and looking out trying to spot the whales!

After whale watching, we continued our sea creature exploration at the nearby aquarium!

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Complimentary with our whale watching package.
80AUD well spent!

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See the colors! Gorgeous.

Aquariums are aquariums.
They have special lights to bring out the beauty of nature. But nature is still beautiful and amazing.

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Singapore's aquarium is definitely bigger though.

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Tell me what you see......... Because I don't remember what I snapped here.

Hahahahaha.

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And here you'll have stingray homes.
The place look very resort-like.

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After sighting whales and exploring the aquarium in the morning, we finally had some time to have lunch! The friend who's studying at Perth gave us some recommendations.

Hillarys Boat Harbour has a variety of shops and restaurants.

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Churros for desserts!

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Got the chocolate and white chocolate dip!
But I had my share without any dips. LOL.

Haniza was like "You're done with the churros without any dip?! Why!"

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AND THEN WE HAD THE BEST PIZZAS!!!
Very good recommendation by our friend.

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Birds of Tokyo!
Chicken, mayonnaise, pickles and sesame seeds!

I think it's the pickles that gave this pizza the kick. It was so good that we went back and tried other flavours the next day.

SO YUM! I can remember how good it was!!






Or maybe not. Lol.

We didn't have leisure time to enjoy the pizza properly - had it on the go and stinked our car. Hahaha.

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Next up, Caversham Wildlife Park!

It's like the go-to park in Perth. So many good reviews!

So...... Welcome to Caversham Wildlife Park (http://www.cavershamwildlife.com.au/)!!!

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Birds.

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Bird.

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Bird.

Lol. The second green bird was in a very vibrant color.

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I'm not good with the names of each animals, but I thought this was cute.

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It's like a rat, but larger, less gross and cuter.
Try spotting the tail. IT'S REALLY LONG.

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KOALA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So excited to see them! But they don't feel the same seeing me leh. {C}I don't really see the appeal of these tree hugging animals. They look... blur and sleepy.

Fine, these are expressions that could be cute. Koalas are cute. A bit.

But.... their cute expressions, don't match their bodies.

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Just look at the Koala on the left. The body...
SO HUGE. Can you imagine it with a cute face?!

Maybe it's just me. But... their cuteness is overrated.

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Kangaroos too.

I don't think they are cute at all. Have I mentioned it in my previous entries?
It's been so long that I don't remember what I've blogged anymore. :X LOL.

But yes, Kangaroos are not cute.

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But it's quite scary to see that they pratically have 3 legs, all powerful enough to make you fly when they kick you.

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Look at this mama and her joey.

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An albino kangaroo having an itch.

The kangaroos at the wildlife park is very used to humans. They don't care about us going gugu-gaga about them (not that I was), but it's pretty fascinating to be looking at them so up close!! There were poop everywhere too. Woohoo. But it doesn't smell as bad as I'd thought it'll be.








See them scratching scratching!
The first one is a Wallaby by the way. I think they are way cuter than Kangaroos.

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IT'S A JOEY

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Random sunray selfie shot lol

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Taking selfies with flowers instead of the animals?!

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LOOK WHAT WE FOUND WHILE WALKING AROUND!!!

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A WHITE PEACOCK!!!!!!

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THIS IS SO RARE SO BEAUTIFL!!!!

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Anyway, I was Googling to find out if they call these white peacocks albino as well, but instead, I learnt that 'peafowl' is actually the correct name of these bird species!! I've always thought they are just peakcocks, both male and female! But nope, peacocks are reserved for males and for females, they are called..................... peaHENS!!!! Lol. Whuuuuut...

Googled to check out how peahens look like..... And man.. They look just like normal birds. WHY!!! The term 'peahens' also don't sound nice compared to peacocks. -.-

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More kangaroos!!!! Because they are everywhere, like we can't have enough of them.....








Run run run!!! So fast.

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THIS IS DAMN SCARY PLEASE!!!
I wish they never standup. IT LOOKS LIKE A HUMAN WITH RAT EARS OMG.

Cannot unsee. Omg.

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Joeys feeding on mummies.

Still can't unsee that manly kangaroo. Omg.

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Looks so wrong, but don't think wrong!
It's just an albino mama kangaroo with her joey inside!

I wonder how big is that pouch! The joey just literally stuffed herself inside. Must be warm. Lol.

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White peacocks are rare, but these are still the most beautiful birds EVER!!!

The colors are not static, but literally holographic!!!! How can nature be created so beautiful! They look like different shades of blue and purple when it moves. Really gorgeous!

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And here's a random butt of a peacock. I've never really noticed the butt of a peacock before.. LOL.

Now watch this beauty in motion! Hahaha.

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I think these are called 'Pademelons'? Kangaroo lookalikes. I believe it's the same kind I mentioned are rat lookalikes earlier in this entry. Lol.

I am not good with the names of animals. Googled them but they look so similar!

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Their insect side. Nothing much.

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BUT THESE GREEN FROGS!

And this is the last of it. 2 days ago, Facebook notified me that this trip happened a year ago. Geez. Time flies, and I really need to complete this trip..... 2016 has been good so far, and there has been a proposal and marriage I should be blogging about!!!

Leaving this entry with a sunray in my hair shot again. Lol.
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Day 6: Cycling & Snorkeling @ Rottnest Island and A Ballet Show
Day 7: Dolphins, Penguin Island and Ciao Italian
Last Day : Kings' Park and Fremantle

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