Crystallck

Hi,

My family of 6 (4 adults + 2 children - 1 YO and 3 YO ) are coming-to Perth at the beginning of August. What area is best for a family with small children? I am looking for activities for the children as well as adults.

The following are the stays for 11 nights

Day 1 - Arrive early in the morning (7.30a.m.), stay overnight at Fremantle

Day 2 - Overnight at Fremantle

Day 3 - Overnight at Fremantle

Day 4 - Overnight at "Margaret River Hideaway & Farmstay"

Day 5 - Overnight at "Margaret River Hideaway & Farmstay"

Day 6 - Overnight at "Margaret River Hideaway & Farmstay"

Day 7 - Overnight at "Margaret River Hideaway & Farmstay"

Day 8 - Overnight at Albany

Day 9 - Overnight at Albany

Day 10 - Overnight at "Novotel Swan Valley Vines Resort"

Day 11 - Overnight at "Novotel Swan Valley Vines Resort"

Day 12 - Leaving 8a.m. flight

1. I'm considering to rent a MPV, 7 seaters.

- Most of the Car Rental companies are offering Kia Carnival, is this car good enough to accommodate? (with 2 mandatory child seats)

- There are other options like Toyota Kluger / Toyota Tarago, which will be a better options?

- Is car necessary for the whole trip? Maybe I can skip during my stay in Fremantle and Novotel? Will it be difficult to roam around w/o a car? Especially when we have 2 toddlers?

- We need to catch our flight very early in the morning, should I return the car a day before and get a taxi to the airport?

- Is picking up the car at Fremantle a better option? I have seen comments that picking up at the airport will cost more it appear to be the same amount.

2. Any recommendations for the places to visit and things to do? What area is best for a family with small children? I'm looking for activities for children as well as adults.

So far, the following places are in the mind, could anyone help to arrange based on the locations? Please suggest any other nice places to be included.

- Hillarys Boat Harbour

- Penguin Island ( Is one day required on this island?)

- Caversham Wildlife Park

- King's Park / Whitman Park (should I go both)

- Fremantle Market (Only one day is required?)

- Busselton Jetty

- Giant Tree Top

- AQWA

- Recommendations for wild flower viewing?

- Scitech

- Pinnacle Desert (Worth going with young children? since the journey is quite far)

- Kohunu Koala Park

Thanks in advance for the help!

Melnq8

Hi Crystal -

Where are you visiting from? Are you familiar with the size of WA? Albany is about 375 km from Margaret River, a long way to go for only one full day. Then the drive from Albany back to the Swan will take you about five hours.

This is definitely not the kind of itinerary I'd want to undertake with littlies in tow. Way too much driving.

<Is car necessary for the whole trip?>

Public transport in the Perth CBD is pretty good and both Perth and Freo have free CAT buses, so if you plan to stay in either city, you can do so without a car, but once you venture from the city centers, all bets are off.

You can reach Hillary's and AQWA by train and bus from the Perth CBD in ~45 minutes (I've done it myself), but it'd be a serious trek from Freo, involving two trains and a bus.

Penguin Island is closed for the nesting season until Sept 15, 2015.

Caversham Wildlife Park (and the Swan Valley) will require a car. Same for Whiteman Park.

Kings Park is easily reached by public transport, or you can walk if you're staying in a CBD hotel. Excellent place to see wildflowers.

The Tree Top Walk is in Walpole.

The Pinnacles are about a two hour drive north of Perth and will require a car. They are ~20 km from the nearest town, Cervantes.

Kohuna Koala Park is in the Perth Hills - you will need a car. You can see koalas at Caversham though, so I wouldn't try to do both.

You're really trying to fit way too much in to such a short amount of time. WA is HUGE, distances are vast. Trust me on this.

Crystallck

Hi Melnq8,

Thank you for the reply.

I'm from Singapore. This is my first time visiting to WA.

Do you have any other suggestion for the itinerary after MR?

The initial plan is to have a stopover in the middle of the journey so that we could take a break. (for lunch maybe)

Also, Albany seems like a nice place to visit thus its included in the itinerary.

Melnq8

They're all nice places Crystal, you just don't have time to see all of them in such a short time. Driving distances in WA are vast.

Singapore is about 714 sq km, WA is 2,529,875 sq km!

After Margaret River...how about driving to Pemberton for a few nights (two hours from MR) and then drive back to Perth?

Some details on Pemberton here:

http://www.pembertonvisitor.com.au/

stormbird

In re,action to the vehicles Crystallck I think your better options would be the Tarago and Kia Carnival. The Kruger is only a 7 seater and I don't think you'll have anywhere near enough room for your luggage in the Kruger.