Perth 2010: Gnarabup Beach

I reckon this is Gnarabup Beach, in Margaret River. Supposedly, 10 minutes away from where we stay. But... I returned with little bomber after 10 minutes of walk as I could not see the beach any close to where I stopped. Despite the terrain, it was too chill for a baby to join the stroll. It was chill for me. Anyway, it is a beautiful shoreline and some long stretches of white sand. Learnt that, this is an ideal playground for surfers.

We ain't surfers. But it doesn't bore them to appreciating the nature. It became a wonderful opportunity for Jiejie and papa to act and to snap with the nature... wonder what was she pretending.

Many of the pictures taken by SC kind of blur to show the beauty of the nature, but it can tell that she can simply turned a beautiful beachside a fun stage for her imaginative-play; that the daddy and daughter had a remarkable "connection" time together.

While I was glued with little bomber cozily in the house, the weather seemed getting cooler and turning dark. It nerved me when I was waiting the return of them, ha!

Blamed SC for causing hy returned with a runny nose, even though I see the beaming face of my girl.

Perth 2010: Busselton

I didn't snap or record much for the trip. Iphone was idle most of the time. The following pictures are all by SC. I thought that i should enjoying the trip less tense and just attend to my little ones fully. Honestly, this was a good trip for me to learn and survive from a grouchy baby and a curious pre-schooler.

This is our second visit to Perth. Mainly to get away from humid concrete jungle of Singapore as well as to reminisce Jiejie's memories of being far and cold. We have stop travel back to Malaysia by plane ever since SC bought the car. When she knew about our trip to Perth, she once asked, "can we take car to Australia?" Oppss, she has forgotten about aeroplane.

Our destination this time is to visit Margaret River. We stopped half way in Busselton mainly to see the famous Busselton Jetty, even though the Underwater Observatory is closed due to restoration, I just couldn't resist to stop by and have a close look of the picturesque jetty my self. I was intrigued by the simplicity of the blue formed by the sea, skyline and the wooden jetty that stretched nearly up to 2km towards the sea.

When we reached Busselton, it was almost 5pm. We were kind of panic as we know that most business in Australia closed at the dot of 5 (most days). But we were lucky that Sunday, we found Gale Street Motel and Villas which offered a Villa (of 2 bedrooms) at the cost of $170. Ya, I took the risk and did not book the accommodation in advance. It was the 2nd day of the trip, I was a little unconfident that we were able to depart from Perth as kids may need extra time to adjust themselve to the change.

Anyway, we were glad that we drove away from Perth city and reached Busselton, a bit late though. After checked-in, we immediately went to the one and only store which opened until 7pm that day (advised by the Motel receptionist).

While SC's aunt was preparing dinner and I was glued to little bomber, SC took Jiejie to the beach for a stroll and shooting... It was a cold windy evening.

Busselton Jetty is on the doorstep of Gale Street Motel and Villas. We went there after our breakfast and checked-out from the Motel the next morning.

It was breezy, but little Bomber was wearing 4 pieces of clothes, a pair of legging and booties. She was curious but she was tired too... She had a terrible sleepless night, wailed  almost every hour without a clear reason. Yeah, very pitiful. So was the mum!

On the other hand, Jiejie was thrilled when she knew that she had another opportunity to have sand play.

She was happily occupied with the white, infinite ground and her limited tools... plus daddy's tripod.

She was wearing a pair of long pants and 4 pieces of tops too... But I reckon she had a bit of work out, she took off piece by piece slowly.

It has been so long that I forgotten about the blueish part of the nature, the breezy and calm morning...

witnessing a simple joy of a child.

as well as admiring those lucky birds...

Telling my self that I am a blessed girl to have such relaxing morning hanging out by the beach with the family...

The first 50 meter of the jetty is still permitted, so we went to the Interpretive Centre for some souvenirs.

travel tips

If you are intend to bring your child(ren) for a trip, do read from Christie.
Childhood101 given a very thorough list of tips and tricks about traveling with kids, which helped very much on my initial planning. Especially the one reminded me to call SQ for requesting a set of baby food for little bomber. After all, my experience was 3 years ago, my memory is fading...

Christie also given a very comprehensive list on things to pack and go. Skipped the "Sleeping" part, the rest of my list were similar to hers:

Essential:
- passport, valid visa and Re-entry Permit for our case
- family travel insurance [I got ours from Tenet]
- brief trip itinerary, include booked accommodation and car rental detail
- baby stroller and car seat
- pacifier for baby!

Feeding:
- a nursing cover for breastfeeding
- a small bag of cereal plus baby biscuit for baby
- few package of HY's favourite Oreo cookies
Out and About:
- a small bag with: sunblock, body lotion & lip gloss
- sunglasses & hat
- water bottle(s)
- nappies and nappy change kit
- extra clothing & socks for kids
- baby blanket
- sling/baby carrier
- entertainment: soft toy for baby and notepad+colour pencil for HY
Basic First Aid Kit:
- paracetamol
- thermometer
- Johnson and Johnson anti mosquito lotion (just in case...)
- Mopiko, anti itching cream
Electrical and Devices:
covered by SC, mainly camera, phone charger, powerpoint adaptor, even included his laptop! He loaned the Garmin GPS from office to read the map that we downloaded from our friend who stay in Perth now.

We brought the bulky car seat for little Bomber. Mainly to save the money from renting it from the car rental agency. We went to Australia 2 times, and car seat has been in a box and on the plane 2 times. Talking about it, I can't believe that we did and we are going to do it again. I guess it is all SC's effort. His credit, absolutely. He usually weight all our luggage (and the car seat in a box as well) before leaving the house to airport. Just to make sure we are not exceeding the limit of luggage weight to check-in. 

On top of that, I also included a thermal flask and small slow cooker for the purpose to cook & keep baby's porridge. What I have missed was an immersion hand mixer. Instead, I brought my regular steel sieve to make puree.

Another personal advice for travelling with kiddos is that, travel with others. Friends or family who can help to share the burden on handle travel hiccups (if any) or help to divert kid's anxious or meltdown. Afterall, this is first trip for baby Bomber, I thought, with addition members to join us for travelling, firstly, HY will have companions. Secondly, SC and I would not be octopus parents who juggling among baby's whines, HY's curiosity, navigating and sightseeing or meal time. We were considering Perth because SC's aunt and uncle are staying there. SC's aunt is a very thoughtful elderly who cares for kids. She bought extra clothing to keep them warm and she has the right food and tidbits to keep HY munches most of the time; she also borrow snakes and ladders from her friends to keep HY entertained. By the way, she cooked while we were in Busselton/Margaret River and she brought us the nice Chinese restaurants for food (being old Chinese, they prefer rice) in Perth. I basically just need to attend to the anxious baby Bomber, sticky business though.

Seeing the world with the little ones was priceless. Honestly, HY enjoyed the trip tremendously! I enjoyed seeing her beaming from one place to another:). I will dig time to continue writing like i previously did.

getting set...

We will be leaving on a jet plane very soon^^. And I have piles of stuff to pack, a long list of things to strike off and tons of reading to do prior to the trip! On top of these, gotto "fix" hy's asthma which was triggered by the haze 3 weeks ago and xy's sudden fever yesterday.

too many things; too little time. I wonder how do other travel parents plan and execute their itinerary.

Anyway, I guess nothing is impossible if we are so exhilarate and determine. Come to think about the previous trip, it was remarkably fun; it is unforgettable bliss.

So, i continue my last part of preparation...

And getting set to see the world through the eyes of the little ones:).