10.12.14

What we needed for air and land fandango :D

It was a bit stressful trying to start our plannings.Never done this before because we were doing it without travel agent.We thought this would be the best kind of trip for us as we had a budget to stand by.And also,that adventurous streak in me that tickled me hard to just go and discover things yourself.Loved the experience and never regret it one bit.So,those who loved adventure,not afraid to be lost once a while and love driving on backroads in Western Australia,well,more or less,this tripstyle is for you! (waaa..like got background music from a tv gameshow baru win prize gitu hahahh!)

To Western Australia it was.Here is a list of what we had to do not necessarily in order and not necessarily you have to follow this in this order or any way it is.

  1. Save save save.Save that bonus,put it aside and forget about it for awhile till you need it for payments in this trip.Save by not eating out too often,call for pizza etc...and non of that glamorous shopping hehehe.
  2. Stick to the country we wanted to visit according to our means.We had NZ first in our mind but after much calculating stuff,it was way off our budget so agreed on Western Australia.
  3. Search for flight tickets on promotional price.Alhamdulillah,SQ was having its promotional price for Nov/Dec flight.$650 per head,Everything inclusive.We booked in August,yes early bookings can be cheaper than otherwise.After deliberating on budget airlines and SQ one,with a small difference,we chose SQ as the fare was all in.No headache.If not promotional price,we might have chosen jetstar and the likes.So,do your homework early if you have seriously decided on a trip.
  4. Then to hotel bookings.We had 3 different stays in different towns
      ALBANY-Albany Apartments via hotel.com.Probably you can get at cheaper price via other websites.Must do homeworklah.2 night stay.(honestly eh,we wished we had stayed longer like 5 days because this town was super warm friendly easytogethalalfood and mesmerising landscapes of places lots).A$149 per nite.There are hotels that are cheaper than this and equally conducive and clean and selfcontained.All the hotels we had booked must have kitchen because I wanted to have that cooking experience 'in other country'.And I loved it so very much!And...save money also.Eat out everyday was too expensive for us.

MARGARET RIVER- Margaret River Hotels & Holiday Suites via Booking.com.
A$185 per nite inclusive of 10% VAT (no idea but something like tax lah).We stayed here for one night.We were welcomed by a super happy on your feet staff who spoke so cheerfully and made us feel so comfortable and happy also.Dia happy macam member HI-5 like that,really!We wanted a cheaper hotel than this but it was either fully booked or rooms not available for us 4.So rest assured there are plenty nice hotel or bnb or cottages that are as clean n comfortable as this.

PERTH CITY-City Stay Apartment via Booking.com
A$172 per nite inclusive of VAT.We stayed for 6 nites and the apartment has full facilities of fridge,kitchen,microwave,pots and pans n cutlery n dining plates,washing machine,dryer.We stayed in a two bedroom unit.A king bed in a room and two singles in another.The beds were soo comfy.Yes I did a lot of cooking in this unit.Syiok!This apartment is said to be one of the cheapest apartments with full facilities and being in the city,stone's throw to shopping mall and catbus (free fare bus around the city) stop.Very very conducive and easy to go here and there.It has mini mart at the lobby as well and the staff were truly nice and helpful especially Mr Ridwan.A malay guy who was so warm and friendly and lent us a rice cooker voluntarily hehee!All ready helper this gentleman was.Tak kerek ok.I tell you,this place is worth your stay in syaa Allah.Look here http://www.citystay.com.au/

There might be cheaper apartments or hotels around the city.But we chose this due to rave reviews,facilities that we needed and amneties.Many malay tourists we chanced upon here which was a nice feeling to bump into them.So,yeah,this apartment is supercool for us.

5.Visa-We got our visas cheap and easy!EasyETA Australian Visas.$10 only per person and it is legit dont worry.Doing the visa with the Aust Govt costs more.So,this is safe ok.Go here to do it online www.easyeta.com/

 https://www.bayswatercarrental.com.au/locations/perth

7.Travel Insurance.You can do this online.

8.Money Changing.

9.Packeted and branded instant noodles/pastes we wanted to bring from Singapore to there.There were pretty good number of different types of instant noodles and fish in cans (halal),spices,pastes etc too.But not many asian vege to find.I am a rabbit at that so a bit lemau no vege that I could find to my liking and staple.Anyways alhamdulillah...cannot cerewet k.The supermarket do sell halal products quite a bit with the halal logo on them but do check out those without halal logos that are halal also.I will post a list of brands that you can buy and assured halal in syaa Allah.Please declare your packeted food from Singapore anyways ok.Don't bring homecooked food as this may be rejected and taken away but like what I read from other tourists blogs,some of them were lucky to get away with it.Rendang all semua lepas hahahhah!

The rest would be checking out the small towns we wanted to drive to and stay,halal eateries,pretty places to visit,mileage,weather page for the places we were going to stay and drive on (bushfire warnings and such),bus routes (when in perth city),halal grocery/meat shop,masjid for Fri prayers and just get excited to meet the local people and the marsupials and more.And made lots of prayers if this trip was good for us,let it be.

Alhamdulillah,we managed this trip well.Cooking helped a lot in maintaining our budget.Not being a fussy eater helped too..hahahhah!!I got to cook simple meals of rice and 2/3 types of dishes.Once a while we do eat out at kebab cafes.They were all so delicious and quite a big serving per plate.

Ok got to stop now.Will share pictures and each day trip experience soon in syaa Allah.Do be reminded that if you do your homework enough,you can get better deals in terms of accomodation and flight choice.This sharing of our trip info is our best low budget we can do,according to our needs and more.Different needs and desire may vary in costs overall.But most importantly....you find the trip worthwhile and enjoy every bit of your step there.

More posts to come.... :)

2 comments:

  1. Salaam...
    Wahh rumah baru no. 2 .. CANTIIIK!!!!! LOVE IT!!! :)
    Thanks Sri ... for sharing all these tips and info. Very good reads and looking forward to hear more wonderful stories from your trip.... *muaahhh* <3

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  2. W'salam Busu cantik! Ini rumah lama,kasi kosong 'tenant2' lama then bukak blog trebel trebel gini hahahha! Hope you find this blog helpful busu,had you in mind this one <3 Please do check out point number 6 which was missing in my latest post ok! Pasal car rental.

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