Perth-Cervantes-Kalbarri-Denham-Monkey Mia Itinerary - 9 days 8 Nights

Planned itinerary from Perth to Monkey Mia. This trip is requires driving long distances with travelling time of 2 hrs to 4 hrs in between destinations. 

Here's a day by day for reference. Click on link for more details on the place of interest or the food. 

Day 1: 

• DO: Flight from Singapore to Perth. Arrival at 7 pm
• EAT: Dinner at Little creatures
• STAY: Perth: Pensione Hotel, Perth

Day 2: 

• DO: Perth en-route to Pinnacles - Hutt Lagoon - Kalbarri National Park
• EAT: Breakfast at Hylin (Perth), Lunch at Lobster Shack (Cervantes), Dinner at Kalbarri Edge Resort Restaurant.
• STAY: Kalbarri Edge Resort, Kalbarri

Day 3: 

• DO: Kalbarri National Park
• EAT: Breakfast at The Gorges Cafe (Kalbarri),  Dinner at Upstairs Restaurant (Kalbarri)

Day 4:

• DO: Kalbarri National Park, Hamelin Pool Stromatolites
• EAT:Breakfast at The Gorges Cafe (Kalbarri), Lunch at the Pelican cafe (Kalbarri), Dinner at Western Wood fired Pizza (Denham)
• STAY: Heritage Resort Shark Bay, Denham

Day 5:

• DO: Francois Peron Full Day Nature Safari
• EAT: Breakfast at Shark bay bakery (Denham), Lunch included in tour, Dinner at Shark Bay Hotel (Denham)

Day 6:  

• DO: Monkey Mia Resort for Dolphin, Monkey Mia Marine life cruises
• EAT: Breakfast and Lunch at The Boughshed (Monkey Mia), Dinner at The Waterfront Hotel (Denham)

Day 7: 

• DO: Monkey Mia Resort for Dolphin, Eagle Bluff Lookout, Shell Beach
• EAT: Breakfast at Shark bay bakery (Denham), Lunch takeaway from Breakfast, Dinner at L'Italiano Restaurant (Geraldton)
• STAY: Airbnb Beachlands studio apartment, Geraldton

Day 8:

• DO: Yanchep National Park
• EAT: Breakfast at Quiet Life Specialty Coffee (Geraldton), Lunch at Lobster shack (Cervantes), Dinner at NOBU (Perth)

Day 9:

• DO: Wine-tasting at Sittella Winery
• EAT: Breakfast at Tuckshop (Perth), Lunch at Sittella Winery (Perth)

Summary of hotel and first impressions: Denham, Geralton, Perth, Kalbarri

STAY: Perth: Pensione Hotel, Perth

70 Pier Street, Perth City Centre, Perth, Australia 6000 

I have blogged about this place before and because of the previous good impression. We decided to return to this place again. 

The rooms is adequate size and clean as i remembered. A few things have changed though. There is no parking space allocated to guests. And if you require parking space you need to reserve in your booking and additional charges apply. The space where you parked your car while you pick up/ drop off your luggages could be fine summons if you leave your car idle there for more than 15 minutes. 

Alternatives is free street parking on the roads which is 2 blocks away from the hotel. But you need to pick up your vehicle before 8 am. 

STAY: Kalbarri Edge Resort, Kalbarri

22 Porter Street, Kalbarri, WA, 6536 Australia

Clean rooms though a little dated in furnishings. The rooms are huge and can accomodate 3 person.  The hot water flow for the bath is small. 
As it is winter the heater is powerful and heats up the big room well. Pillow is a little flat but with many pillows it is still a good comfortable stay.


STAY: Heritage Resort Shark Bay, Denham

73 – 75 Knight Terrace, Denham, Denham, Australia 6537

The room is huge too! 
But the queen size bed is actually 2 twin made to look bigger and there is a wedge in the centre. While the room is clean but the bed feel like it has been sprinkled a little with sand. Not pleasant but not much of an issue. 

 The rooms also feel a little dated but at least it is clean. 

 Choice of accomodation here is limited unless you opt to stay in a caravan.

STAY: Airbnb Beachlands studio apartment, Geraldton

55 Crowther Street, Beachlands, WA 6530, Australia

Location of this place is residential area and the surrounds are very dark at night. Not much around the neighbourhood.

 The rooms are well furnished and highly modern. 

 Comfortable bed and sheets for sleeping. 

Spotted a few spiders the size of my fingers around the rooms. There is also a cockroach lingering at the couch. 😓 I get a little ansty when there are creepy crawlies. 

What food to eat at Geraldton?

L'Italiano 

204 Marine Terrace, Geraldton WA 6530, Australia

The place is packed when we arrived at 8 pm for dinner. We are told we may need to wait another hour or 2. So we decide to takeaway our dinner and that also requisite a wait of 20 minutes for our order. 

I was full of expectations for this but sadly the food does not deliver. 

Pizza is so-so only.

Gnocchi is very creamy but it gets to you after a few mouthful.

Quiet Life Specialty Coffee 

287 Marine Terrace, Geraldton WA 6530, Australia

This place is highly popular. It was soon packed soon after we arrived. 

The allure will be no other than the coffee. 

Bae's order for breakfast is Brekky - a mashed up of eggs, bacon, cheddar and house made onion jam. And he is munching this in bliss while i am tackling my greens.

I tried out a little detox meal. The green life make of seasonal greens, avocado and quinoa, tumeric hummus with soft boiled egg and salsa verde. Totally not my cup of tea. This dish is bland and a bit too raw for my liking. 

What food to eat at Denham and Monkey Mia?

There isn't that much of selections for food. 

These food places that we tried are generally tasty and i will recommend to try these places. 

The Western Woodfired Pizza

6/89 Knight Terrace, Denham WA 6537, Australia

Very crispy and yummy pizza. Hubs wanted to try it again but he never got the chance to have it again as it was only open on thursday to sundays.

This is mainly a takeaway stall only. No seating at all.

The crust is very crispy and filling is nice.

Shark Bay Bakery

89 Knight Terrace, Denham WA 6537, Australia

This cafe is just next door to our hotel so yes, i will deem it very conveniently located.

Always good to have a good and hot breakfast.

Coffee is smooth and nice.

The food here is simple and straight forward. While it is appetizing, it is not impressive at all.

Shark Bay Hotel

43 Knight Tce, Denham, Western Australia 6537, Australia

Simple dinner we had here. Food is passable and place is clean.

The Waterfront Hotel

73-75 Knight Terrace, Denham WA 6537, Australia

The Boughshed

1 Monkey Mia Rd, Monkey Mia WA 6537, Australia

This is a culmination of 2 meals at the boughshed. And it is the only restaurant on site for experience with the dolphins. 

Dissappointed with this dish as the oyster is really small and don't taste fresh at all.

The waffle is a surprise and very delicious.

You can never go wrong with an egg benedict.

The potato soup is simple and yet comforting for a cold morning. 

Nice and spacious. You will see all the food left unattended and abandoned when the dolphin feeding begins. 

What food to eat at Perth: Hylin, Tuck shop, Sittella Winery

Hylin

178 Railway Parade, West Leederville WA 6007, Australia

This new place we tried out in Perth. Nice ambience and quiet surroundings.
Disclaimer: we went on a weekday and it wasn't packed.

The caucasians are always interacting while the chinese is always busy taking pictures or playing on their phone. Myself included.

But still a very  homely place to chill. 

Cappuccino and latte is a must. These are spot on and smooth.

A lighter meal will be eggs on toast. Very simple but yet fulfilling.

Croquettes and eggs. The roasted califlower is nice so is the pan fried potato and feta cheese topped with saldain on balsamic dressing. Thumbs up. 

Tuckshop

1/180 Newcastle St, Perth WA 6000, Australia

The last time i was here the food is so yummylicious so i must make it back here again. But it might be hunger that is making me hungry then. We waited half hour for our table then but today on a weekday the place is quiet.

Lattes to go.

The free ranged eggs with organic sourdough toast taste good and hearty.

Mixed berry pancakes with maple syrup and vanilla mascarpone. Pancakes while still nice isn't as good as i remembered.

Still not a bad place to go for brunch or breakfast. 

Sittella Winery

100 Barrett St, Herne Hill WA 6056, Australia

Here for some wine tasting as well. The sweet wine is very sweet and fruity. Here's me contemplating to bring them home.

I did eventually but on hindsight if you wish to import buy more. Because i paid like SGD 50 plus for freight and on top of that another SGD 50 plus for taxes.😨

This is an ideal place for a wedding don't you think? Its right next to picturesque pond and pavilion.

Free starters. Daily made fresh bread.

We can't get enough of oysters.

The wine that can't be tasted at the cellar. And we ordered them to try. Free chocolates to eat with the drinks.

Duck confit

Pan fried fish

A picture before the tables gets messy. The food is great and we are lucky to get one of the last available tables. The food though takes a long while to be served. The restaurant is running on full house then. We will most definitely drop by this place again.