The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
Accommodation Review of Dormy Inn Premium Otaru Double Room (Non-Smoking): hotespa.net/hotels/otaru; booked via booking.com* Price: ¥8,990 per night (~S$113), price before cashback* Duration: 1 night in March 2016 (Thursday night) Saving Tip: We saved quite a bit by using Shopback (booking.com) to book our accommodation. We …
With sky high accommodation prices in Tokyo, Airbnb was a great alternative for us. And… I won a $250 Airbnb voucher while looking for accommodation! Thank God for this blessing. :) We started searching for the accommodation only 5 to 6 weeks prior to our …
▲ Transport Information |▲ Rental Car | ▲ Melbourne
Travels in 2013, updated 17 November 2015
Our Journey: Road trip to Great Ocean Road and Halls Gap.
We used: Spendless Car Rentals, spendlesscarrentals.com.au
Verdict: We chose Spendless because of its relatively affordable rates. Renting a car in Melbourne doesn’t come cheap! Anyway, this car rental is about 5-10minutes drive away from the airport. The employee will pick us up at the airport to the car rental shop. Not a fancy shop, but a small car garage.
We made our car reservation online and chose the GPS option. However, when we were there, they did not have any unit. There was another couple in the same predicament. It was a Sunday and the employee in the office is not a full time staff, but comes in only on Sunday. So they only know how to do simple procedures. They took a long while to contact the boss, and we still have to wait for the boss to travel to the supermarket to get GPS units for us. We were on a tight timeline for the great ocean road trip, so we were very behind time. In the end, we had to skip a few stops. :( But I will still give them a second chance because of their pricing and not too bad car condition.
Others: Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Thrifty, Redspot, Alpha Car Hire (we nearly went for this, but they ran out of our desired car size).
Car Sharing Options: Go Get, Flexi Car
*When we rented, it was free for Spendless Car Rentals!
www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au is a good tool to compare the rates among (big) car rental companies in Melbourne. You can usually book a car at a low rate. However, the website doesn’t include the ‘Other fees’ mentioned above.
As we didn’t want to shock ourselves with the many extras to top up when we collect our car, we reckoned it’s better to book straight from the car companies. At least the online quote (price + adds on) given to us is nearer to the actual price we are going to pay. And since we are on a budget, we went looking for smaller car companies. :)
www.alphacarhire.com.au/travel-guide/australia/top-10-car-hire-tips
www.spendlesscarrentals.com.au/rates-and-reservations.aspx
Citylink and Eastlink are the only toll roads in Melbourne. There are prominent signs, advising motorists that they are approaching, entering or leaving a toll road. Toll roads in Melbourne have blue signage with gold coloured lettering. This is in contrast to the green signage with white lettering used on roads that do not require the payment of tolls.
Pictures of toll road signs (Victorian roads): travelvictoria.com.au/victoria/tollroads
More information on Victoria’s Roads: travelvictoria.com.au/victoria/roads
Citylink Map: www.citylink.com.au/using-citylink/entries-and-exits
Eastlink: www.eastlink.com.au/interchanges/interchanges.asp
All toll roads in Melbourne are cashless – only electronic payments. You can
Your choice depends on where you are going and how often you will use the tolls. If you are going from Melbourne city to the Great Ocean Road, then you can get by without paying any tolls.
Updated 10 October 2013
Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Travel.joogo.sg and/or the author shall not be held responsible for any injury, loss, expense or damage of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person who accesses or uses the information and external websites stated above. Full disclaimer here.
▲ Transport Information |▲ Rental Car | ▲ Perth Travels in 2013, updated 17 November 2015 Rental Car Companies in Perth Our Journey: To travel up North to Pinnacles, and down South to Margaret River region & around. We used: Bayswater, www.bayswatercarrental.com.au Verdict: We chose Bayswater because …
Australia (Perth & Melbourne) Itinerary Overview (2013). ▲ Useful Tourist Information | ▲ Fremantle Fremantle, Perth’s seaport, is a highly recommended place to visit if you drop by Perth. It is also known for its good food and drink. It has also built a strong reputation for its …
Australia (Perth & Melbourne) Itinerary Overview (2013).
▲ Useful Tourist Information | ▲ Fremantle
Fremantle, Perth’s sea port, is a highly recommended place to visit if you drop by Perth. It is known for its good food and drink. It has also built a strong reputation for its microbreweries over the years.
Image: thewandering2s.blogspot.sg
We wanted to have seafood at Fremantle. So when we saw this restaurant listed on Groupon Australia, we bought the deal! :) We went ahead though the online reviews were mixed.
Reservation: It was hard to make a reservation with the restaurant from Singapore. I did not want to make a long distance call just to reserve. But they did not have a website nor email. So I Facebook messaged them, which took them a super long time to reply.
Location: I would have preferred to eat seafood by the Fremantle sea, for ambience’s sake. So I was fairly disappointed when I realised that this shop was inconspicuously located in a quiet stretch of inland shops.
First impression: A shop with very simple furnishings and limited décor. From the Groupon listing, I somehow expected it to be better. The restaurant felt more like a budget café than a seafood restaurant in Australia.
Our Groupon Deal: A shared seafood entrée, 2 mains and 2 cups of wine/beer.
The food: Thank God, the food did not disappoint! Fresh seafood.
Pricing: We paid A$59 / approx S$70 in 2013, which was what we paid for the Groupon deal. Though I think their original food menu prices is over-priced. So unless you manage to get a good deal here, I probably suggest you look elsewhere. Otherwise, their food was really not too bad!
Fremantle Markets (fremantlemarkets.com.au) seems to be one of the must go places in Fremantle. It’s a heritage architecture with rich history, where you can buy fresh local produce, organic goods, indigenous & independent products. Soak in the great music & atmosphere too!
Love the outdoor dining with great weather – sunny cold wind!
Missed the good weather. :'(
According to Mr S, the coffee from this Kiosk was good too. Worth a try!
Opening Hours
Days: The Yard / The Hall
Fridays: 8am-8pm / 9am-8pm
Sat & Sun: 8am-6pm / 9am-6pm
Open on Public Holidays, visit website for special trading hours.
Travels October 2013 | Updated 16 October 2015
All Rights Reserved: All photos (unless credited) on travel.joogo.sg. Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Travel.joogo.sg and/or the author shall not be held responsible for any injury, loss, expense or damage of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person who accesses or uses the information and external websites stated above. Full disclaimer here.
Australia (Perth & Melbourne) Itinerary Overview (2013). ▲ Useful Tourist Information | ▲ Fremantle Fremantle, Perth’s sea port, is a highly recommended place to visit if you are visiting Perth. It has also built a strong reputation for its microbreweries over the years. So have a seafood meal or …
Updated 23 Sep 2015 Australia (Perth & Melbourne) Itinerary Overview (2013). p.s. Read about our trip to Perth City! ▲ Transport Information | ▲ Fremantle + Perth CBD As I was planning for the Australia trip, I felt the pinch in my wallet. The food is expensive …