First impressions of Perth | Western Australia

I have been in Perth for 3 weeks & am in love 

Accommodation:

I am staying at Billabong Backpackers Resort and so far love it! I have been staying in a female 8-bed dorm and am to-date probably room 41's longest inhabitant & I've still got another 2.5 weeks to go.
The hostel has got a pool outside which you can use between 6am -11pm either voluntarily or forcefully depending whether you get thrown in fully dressed at night. There;s a line of sunloungers to soak up the sun but be warned the sun goes behind the trees by 2pm so you need to get out there early!
Billabong offers a free simple breakfast between 6-10am, useful if you're on a budget, not so useful if you can't get up before 10am. You've got a choice of 3 cereals, toast, jams, butter, peanut butter, tea & coffee. If you aren't up in time there is a big kitchen so you can rustle up you're own food & keep any extra ingredients in either one of the many fridges or shelves provided. 
Its a very social hostel with large seating areas outside by the pool is where pretty much everyone spends their evenings playing cards, having some drinks & singing along to Justin Bieber (& as mentioned the occasional throwing-of-someone in the pool .... its happened to me on a few occasions)
 Billabong is in a great location in Northbridge just outside of the CBD & takes me about 20 minutes to walk into the city centre, or even less in the opposite direction to the nearest bottle shop ;)

City Centre:
I already love Perth. Everything is close together and so modern. 
There are a lot of pretty outdoor spaces to enjoy and catch some sun. 
My favourite I've found this week is to sit watching the water fountains by the Murray St Mall and people-watch. It is an extremely modern city with free wifi coverage over the entire CBD & Quay area which is handy when I want to post pretty pictures to Instagram to make people jealous ;)
 Perth is bursting with shops & so many coffee shops & cafes I have to force myself not to go into because I'm a fatty at heart and could easily spend all my money on food. 
The entire area from The Bell Tower along to Elizabeth Quay is great! One of my highlights of the my time here was watching the beautiful sunset from there, I've never seen so many colours light up the sky!
Kings Park is just a (not-so-short) walk outside the CBD but is well worth the visit. The views of the Perth skyline and swan river are just beautiful. The park has so many different walks & gardens to view with a canopy-walkway over the trees. 

Transport:
Another really handy thing about Perth is that is offer free, yes FREE public buses throughout the city; I think 4 or 5 different routes in total. There are so many normal bus services running with the main bus depot at Elizabeth Quay. If you want to go further afield or get there quicker the Transperth railway is great, you pick a location, see which zone its in and pay the flat rate fair. I've been to Cottesloe beach twice by train which is about 20 minutes journey outside of Perth & paid $9 return. Bargain.
Or if you're like me & want to see everything and explore different roads you can just walk. Ive never walked so much in the last 3 weeks ... im exceeding my 10,000 steps everyday. I think to date my personal best is 22,000 in one day. Its great exercise and a great way to see the city, just make sure you carry plenty of water with you (which you can refill from the hundreds of free water fountains within the city)

So what exactly have I done since I got here...

- Got burnt very badly 
- Walked ALOT of steps
- Tried goon* for the first time & vowed never to have it again
- Had goon again & swore on my life no more
- Had it again
- Had my first goon hangover ( including sick ) 
- Made big plans for the day after drinking; didn't see any of them through .... never make plans after a night out. 
- "I'm going to go for a run before breakfast tomorrow" Hahaha so naive 
- First night out in Perth with hostel friends (& almost refused entry because I was smashed on goon) 
- More nights out and ended up in a Strip Club because it was the only place left open!
- New love for lunch from Sumo Salads 
- Joined a gym 
- Ate too much at the Twilight Hawkers Market both times ive been
- Watch sunset over Elizabeth Quay
- Explored the city centre multiple times 
- Fell into the trap that is the Topshop 70% off sale 
- My fair share of sunbathing days by the pool 
- Resisted buying a boomerang, koala shaped pasta & a $500 didgeridoo 
- Day trip across to Rottnest Island; spent the day cycling, snorkling & chasing Quokkas
- Got my Quokka selfie
- Visited Cottesloe beach & tried stand-up paddleboarding & stayed to watch the sunset
- Explored every nook & cranny of Kings Park
- Zoo Trip 

3 weeks well spent. 
There are alot more daytrips & sights I want to do in my remaining 3 weeks, ive just been spreading them all out so I had plenty to keep me busy the whole length of my stay. 

*Goon you ask? ... It's a box of nasty wine destined to ruin your life. It comes in 2L, 4L, 5Ls, probably more. Alcohol is quite expensive in Australia so it's a favourite in the backpacking community as it's the cheapest thing you can buy. But be warned it tastes rank & gives you the worst hangover! 
For example I can buy a 5L box of goon for $9 if you know where to go! 

Thanks for reading & happy travels :) 

♡ G

Joinme on Instagram @gemwills 

&Twitter @G_GoesGlobal

Or just look out for the hashtag #ggoesglobal

& follow my Australia Adventure

SHARE:

Labels: Australia , Perth , travel