Australia Travel Report 2022

Sometimes it's the spontaneous actions that are the coolest in retrospect. My Australia travelogue originated from exactly such a spontaneous idea. With relatively little preparation time, we headed to Perth, on the west coast of Australia.

Travel from Zurich via Oman and Malaysia

Since we booked on relatively short notice, as mentioned, we had to accept a longer journey to Australia. However, for us as a family, the journey is never a necessary evil. It's practically part of it, like the stay in the destination country itself. For example, we usually drive to the airport several hours in advance and approach the entire trip very relaxed.

Arriving in Oman, we first book a room at the hotel. Even though it was an overnight flight and we all slept, we are still tired. We sleep the full six hours we booked the room for and fill up at the lavish buffet. A welcome refreshment.

Lounges

The lounges in the Orient are great, but the ones in Asia are also usually good. We chill for several more hours in Muscat in a really nice lounge, with a playroom for the kids and massage chairs for us „stressed-out“ parents. 🙂

In Kuala Lumpur, too, we first stay in a hotel and then later in a lounge. As our onward flight is delayed by two hours, we pay a Revolut* the stay there. That's great and I can therefore Revolut* can only highly recommend. We've been traveling only with it for years and pay worldwide without exchange fees. And as mentioned, if there's a delay, lounges and food are free. That pays off quite a bit in the long run.

Tonight we're finally flying to Australia. The flight from Malaysia The flight to Perth takes just six hours. That's enough time to relax a bit more.

Perth – The World's Most Isolated City

We're arriving in Perth in the middle of the night, around 3 AM, and will take a taxi to our hotel. It's 8 degrees Celsius, and we only have a couple of light jackets with us. The kids get all of them, and the parents have to freeze. That's just how it is. =)

For my Australia travel report, Perth and Western Australia are top-notch, as you can really do an incredible amount here. You'll find more Australia travel reports on my page here soon.

The first few days we are in the city, exploring downtown and the zoo. I like the size of the city. Perth has just 2.1 million inhabitants in 2022. But the city area is really huge and you can get everything here. Especially since we spent the two years before that in Barbados we've spent, that we really notice it here.

The Swan River divides the city and invites you to linger in the evening, with mild temperatures. We were here in October, so in spring, and had pleasant temperatures for it.

Waikiki 1974

South of Honolulu...no wait...somewhere south of Perth, lies Waikiki. A residential area, quiet, inconspicuous, and impersonal. These residential areas stretch for hundreds of kilometers down the coast here. All the houses look the same, are suitable for a family, and are single-story. In return, for every 2000 houses, you have a huge shopping mall, a gas station, several fast-food temples, and countless playgrounds.

Then another 2000 houses will come, with the same shopping mall and the same fast food restaurants. For every 6000 houses, you'll find a clinic in addition to the shopping mall 🙂

We have here a Airbnb rented, right in the middle of the „un-happening“ so to speak. But it's actually super quiet and completely different than expected.

Surfing in Waikiki

Waikiki was only developed in 1974 and is located about 40 minutes south of Perth. We are planning our excursions from here. The place is cool if you also want to get some work done. You won't be distracted, but the internet at home, at least in our apartment, is unusually slow. On the other hand, we get unlimited mobile data from Optus for 50 EUR. Top-notch! That's enough for surfing in Waikiki for about 4 weeks 😉

For all other surfers, I recommend the Waikiki Foreshore Reserve. Right in front of our doorstep, the Indian Ocean invites you to surf and its beaches beckon for sunbathing and simply being. We don't spend much time on the beach as we want to explore the island of „Australia“ and find the nature here so exciting. We are therefore more drawn to the national parks and the interior.

Mandura

A small harbor town, further south from Waikiki Australia, about a 30-minute drive. Here I found a nice coworking space to work while the family gets to explore all the indoor playgrounds in the region for a few days.

In Mandura, we can find some great fish restaurants right on the harbor, which is easily accessible from the city via a pedestrian bridge.

The prices are also affordable here. For fresh fish with sides, you'll pay around 12-15 EUR including a drink. (As of October 2022).

It's definitely worth planning one or two nights here if you happen to be passing through.

Jurassic World Perth – Lego Exhibition

Wow, that was really a great trip. Dinosaurs, some even life-sized, were built here from more than 6 million Lego bricks in their natural „Lego“ environment. We were able to see a total of 50 dinosaurs here. In between, there were always stations where we could build or recreate things ourselves.

Even the Jurassic Park Jeep was set up, and the kids were allowed to go in and drive through the jungle as an adventure =).

According to their own statements, it is the largest „LEGO exhibition in Australian history.“ Well, that might not be *that* difficult. But still, hats off!

Dinosaurs of Patagonia Perth 2022

About Dinosaurs. Just a week later, we headed back to the Convention Center for the next dinosaur exhibition. Our kids currently love dinosaurs and are crazy about them. (Which kids aren't!)

This impressive exhibition primarily featured life-sized skeleton casts. A giant Patagotitan in particular sent shivers down our spines as we walked beneath it. Unimaginable if we had lived at the same time.

Both dinosaur exhibitions are, of course, already over. But definitely check out the events at the Convention Center in Perth and also at the museums. Such events are also always suitable as a bad-weather program, although we always had great weather. But you never know! Therefore, I don't want to leave these two events unmentioned in this Australia travelogue.

And onward to Dubai

After a few weeks in Perth, we're on our way again. We're leaving Australia and flying via Doha to Dubai. That's another good 12 hours of flying and enough time to write travel reports 🙂

In Dubai, we will spend two weeks and truly warm ourselves up again in the desert before heading on to Zurich via Istanbul, into the cold.

Australia Trip 2022 Conclusion

Perth on the west coast of Australia is a really beautiful city. We liked it immensely, even if this lifestyle wouldn't be for us. I missed something distinctive and individual. But the people are extremely friendly and helpful, and the standard of living in Australia is relatively high.

The excursions were top-notch. There was everything from National Parks to islands to classic museums. We also visited numerous places in the surroundings of Perth.

Crossing Australia by camper van is definitely on the bucket list now, but we won't be tackling that until a few years from now. So, you can look forward to the next Australia travel report.

Until then, I wish you lots of fun with the following pictures and write to me in the comments if you have any tips for us on what we should definitely see then.

Australia Travel Report – Gallery