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Day 14 & 15 - X'mas with friends!

I want to take this opportunity to thank Antonia again for all her help on our trip!!!  Thank you for lending us your brand new GPS so we didn't get lost in Western Australia.  Thank you for picking us up at the airport on a weekday when we return from Hyden.  Thank you for taking us shopping and introducing us to all the fabulous deals!  Thank you for welcoming us into your home and letting us join you in your Xmas celebrations with your family and friends.  Thank you for taking us to the beach again so I finally get to try short-boarding.  Thank you for the Xmas presents!!  Thank you for taking us back to the airport on boxing day!!  Thank you and thank you again :)

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I was hoping to finish writing the entire trip before Chinese New Year... Oh well... better late than never!  :)

Day 13 - Cottlesloe Beach

We decided to go back to the souvenir shop for more shopping and then head to Cottlesloe Beach.  We stopped at a vietnamese restaurant in between but was slightly disappointed at the pho...  It was quite expensive and not very authentic... (but then again, we were comparing to the pho we had in the US... haha!)

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Yay - my MacBook Pro (MBP) is finally here... it's been forever before I could make the decision between buying in HK or the US... and then also between the MacBook Air (MBA) and MBP.  As usual, the practical me won the argument...  I am still getting use to the Mac interface but the transition wasn't bad at all... Anyways, back to subject...

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Day 11 - Caversham Wildlife Park / Pinnacles / Lancelin 

We joined a day tour with Adventure Tours, which is really operated by Pinnacle Tours, just AUD40 cheaper. (Don't ask me why) It's a fantastic tour and I would highly recommend them.  See detailed itinerary here.  If you have the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) card, you also get an AUD10 discount!

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Day 10 - King's Park / Garden City Mall

Yet another R&R day!  I felt my ankle singing "hallelujah"".  Today, we decided to take it easy so we went to Kings' Park for a picnic.  We stopped at the Woolworth between the train station and the bus stop and picked up some more snacks.  This really turned out to be just more mangoes for me - I can't say no to 2 for $3.50... haha~

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Day 9 - Rottnest Island

Based on our research, Tuesday is the best day to visit Rotto!  See here.  However, be prepared for a 2-hour boat right (one-way) from Perth CBD.  This is one of my favorite places... if given a chance to return, I would probably stay a day or two here  (an afternoon is really not enough).  Also, I would also take the bike rental option offered by Rottnest Express (the ferry) - it's about the same price and seriously, time is money on the island!

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Day 8 - Perth

Today is another planned R&R (rest & relaxation) or in my friend's word "explore" day.  The only goal for the day is to understand where are the bus and train stations and where is Barrack Street Jetty (and how long it takes to get there).

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Computer is fixed!  Yeah!!  Back to my regular update schedule (I hope) :)

Day 7 - Hyden / Perth

We left Albany early morning and started driving to Hyden, the home of the Wave Rock.  (Originally we wanted to go to Ayers Rock but due to a series of impulsive decisions, we didn't go.  It's alright, we will go there some day!)  Since we felt rock-less this trip, we decided to come out to Wave Rock before heading back to Perth.

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I just came back from a 15-day trip to Perth and a loop in southwestern Australia.  I definitely fell in love with Western Australia and can't wait to go back and see more!

Since there are not many travel guides for Western Australia, I am going to post a recap of my trip hoping it might be helpful to some of you (and I can re-live my trip too!)  My friend and I did spent over a month planning this trip and researching for the best deal along the way... I have to say, it was definitely a big success!  Planning is power!