Kunany-Mt Wellington Explorer Bus 2-Hr Return Tour (Hobart, Tas, Australia)

This is a must if you are staying a few days in Hobart. Just the road trip to the mountain top is scenic and picturesque on its own, with really breathtaking views and some wow moments as the bus ascends through the very narrow forestie meandrous road.

There are walking and biking tracks in the surroundings that you can follow. You'll be provided with a map and can hop on/off at any of the stops. Let the drivers now that you'll be walking/cycling and when approximately you're going to go back and where you'll be catching the down bus. The bus can carry your bikes up/down if you intend to do part of the trip cycling.

The views of Hobart from the top are spectacular if the day is clear or not too cloudy. It is quite cold, so take an extra jacket.  

I wish the time at the top was a bit longer and that the latest bus departed from/to Mt Wellington a bit later, especially in summer, when there is daylight till about 8:30pm if not longer.

All the staff are really friendly. Our driver was a lovely chap, and he was truly informative without being overwhelming with his talking.

Good value for money, especially if you hop on/off.

 

A very enjoyable trip.
  

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Appliances Online (Online Shop)

Website

I've bought two large appliances from Appliances Online, top brands, and at a better price than on any other online store I checked before buying them. I ended there just because of that, because of their free delivery policy, and because of their promise of next day delivery if the product is in stock, which was indeed fulfilled.

The guys who brought the appliances were lovely, They SMSed me early in the morning to give me a bracket time for their delivery, and then again half an hour before arrival. They installed one of the appliances, for free, as well.

Their website is very easy to navigate and shop from using your credit card or PayPal. There is plenty of info regarding measurements, materials, brands, pricing, in stock or not, and anything else. They have short videos with people showing most of the products, individually, mentioning their main features, something that I found really helpful. If the appliance needs of some work to be installed they quote pricing beside the price so that you can add it or not. Simple washing machines are installed and connected for free.
 
All the reviews are legit, as they email you the request for a review a few weeks after your item has been delivered, and you cannot review it without that invitation.


Appliances Online operates from Ebay as well, not just from their website. That's good news because they offer the same products, pricing and service, but if Ebay is running any promotion, you can save big. That was my case, I saved 80 bucks in one of my purchases just because of a promo on the site.  

Their refund and exchange policies are more than good. I never expected that to be possible, i.e. to be able to buy a washer and be able to exchange if it didn't suit my needs. They give you 14 days from the day you request the exchange.

DOWNSIDES
The main downside of Appliances Online is that they have limited models of each appliance, and that they favour some brands, while good ones are missing. An example: you won't find a Hoover vacuum there, but you will find Hoover washers and dryers, which was puzzling to me. The same happens with other appliances. 

Not all appliances have good quality shots of the electric panels, something I consider necessary.This is especially important for washers and dryers. The information on the site is collected from the appliances manuals, but some of the manuals are generic for the line not the exact model you've bought, so some of the information can be misleading.

IN SHORT
I wish they had more brands and more appliances. But they are really fantastic. I will buy from them in the future, for sure. Great products, great pricing and remarkable customer service both upon delivery and on the phone, if you have to call their Customer Service operators.

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Target Au Online (Online Shop)

Website
 
I've had a terrific experience with Target Australia online store, from where I've purchased many items, many times. 

Their website is very simple, easy to navigate, and to shop from. You can use Paypal or any major credit card, which is what you get everywhere. You can save your fav items on your wish list and go there, directly, without having to browse for them again. 

Dispatch takes a couple of days but, once is done, it takes barely two days for a metropolitan order to get home. They send you your shopping for free if you spend 80 bucks. Other similar cheap retailers don't offer free delivery at all. So that is great. 

I actually prefer using their online store than visiting my nearer store because they online store can provide me with items that might not be in my local store, and they send them to me from wherever they are stocked. The downside of that is that your items might arrive separately in different days. If you cannot be a home, they will take the parcel to your nearest post office. I have never had a parcel lost or mistaken. And the fact that they have teamed up with Australia Post is good news because you will receive SMS with info about your parcel being on the way or being out for delivery.

Free click & collect (if you spend 20 bucks or more), a good refunds & exchange policy, and a variety of everyday non-fancy items available online, and terrific prices, make me go back to Target online quite often. 

The reviews on the site are all legit. Once some time has elapsed since your product/s were delivered, they send you an email asking for your honest review.

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Fraser Suits Apartahotel (East Perth)

Head photo courtesy of Booking.com

Here a wrap up of my experience with this hotel.

GOOD
> The hall is very contemporary and elegant, spacious and breezy in a mix of neutral contemporary elegant colours. I really loved it.
> Spotless clean premises.
> The room's toilet: great shower!, very good quality cotton towels, L'Occitane toiletries (those excited me greatly!), and a lot of storage room behind the mirror. If you are a giant basketballer, no problem, you can see yourself from head to toe, as the mirror reaches the ceiling.
> Nice basic kitchenette with microwave/induction oven, basic cutlery, crockery and glassware, and a mini-bar with a bit of room to put your stuff in.
> Huge mid-hard bed. Very comfortable.
> Humongous flat screen TV.
> Well-located power points and a decent number of them.
> Double wardrobe and plenty of storage for a couple.
> Complimentary robe and slippers. I always love finding those in any hotel.
> Complimentary Internet.
> Complimentary tea and coffee facilities.
> Awesome comfortable desk chair!
> The waitresses at the restaurant.
> The views of the Swan River from some of the rooms.
> Free WI-FI.

SO-SO

> Free Internet worked fine with the smartphone, but was a bit slow in the laptop, and the line dropped at times, requiring to sign in again. Good enough for my stay and for the work I had to do, though. 
> The hotel might please people looking for a quite comfortable spot near the CBD, but it might not please those looking for an vibrant surrounding area full of shops, cafes and restaurants or nice buildings.
> The restaurant Heirloom. See  review here.
> Lighting in the room. Once the daylight vanishes, the lighting in the studio was too dim for work and more conducive to do nothing. Great if you are on holidays and want to sleep.
> The mirror was located in the wrong space... behind the easy chair! Hello Hello! In the professional photos it is located where it should be.
> Overall ambience of the hotel and the room is meh to the square.
> The view from the room.

NO-NOS

I encountered a few issues that I consider unacceptable for a hotel that charges you 200 bucks the night and presents itself as a 4-star hotel:

> Noisy air-con and with no instructions on how to regulate it.
> The safety box didn't work. Not, it wasn't me being clumsy, it did not work.  
> My robe had all the downs stained; it looked like make-up foundation, but it must be burnt marks from ironing or any other occurrence that I don't want to envision.
> Table with the edges peeled/damaged. My eyes hurt.
> The tapware was also peeled, and the upper coat gone in some areas. That is because this is crap tapware. Four stars, who said that?
> One of the lights in the bathroom didn't work, so it was quite dark.
> The phone had a sort of three red flash lights saying new message received and also to recharge it. I consulted with the reception upon arrival. They said not to worry, to leave it like that as there was no message received. Well, being jet-lagged my eyes opened in the night and I felt my room was the new Amsterdam. Tried to order room service in the morning and realised that the phone did not work at all. Back again to reception, it will fixed today, don't worry, have a nice day. Liar liar. Nobody came...
> No booklet with info about the hotel about anything anywhere. One could easily ask by phone, for sure, if the phone worked.
> This is mostly a business hotel. So a deluxe studio should be ready for the client to work. There is no workstation as such in this study. The "desk" is really large but there are two main obstacles, a humongous flat screen TV occupying most of it, and the tray with nibbles and drinks. I had to remove the latter, quite heavy, to put my work material there. Business minded, really?
> The room had the usual old-fashioned beige+maroon mix that feels outdated and dirty. Something important about paintings, please, if you don't have nice ones don't hang those you have, which look like taken from Crazy Clarke's :O. The room, without the filters of the professional photo and the bunch of flowers looked way less appealing.  
> Awesome looking stylish armchair, but very uncomfortable to seat on.
> No sound-proof windows. One of the days was quite windy. The sound was like when I skydived in New Zealand minus the wow effect. Seriously! The wind was battering the window panes hard and very noisily. No, it wasn't a hurricane, the windows are not thick enough or sound-proof.
> No TV channel in another language. Multicultural, where?
> I was told in the restaurant that my first breakfast was included in the price, and they didn't make me sign the usual bill you sign after you finish your meal. Well, it was NOT included and I had to pay for it.
> When checking out, I mentioned this, the guy acted as I was making things up. He would go and check things with the lady at the restaurant, but he didn't, and charged me the price without even asking. I presented my debit card to pay. The signature has faded completely; this is the fault of the card makers. He asked me for an identification. Really, they had my passport on record since day one. Perhaps they didnt think I look like luxury customer. He was nice enough to bring my suitcases to the taxi rack outside and apologised quite a bit, but Reception had lost my respect by then, unfortunately.
> They charge you 1% if you pay with a credit card. Ridiculous for a supposedly luxury hotel. Perhaps luxury for Perth.

GOOD TO KNOW

> Check-in is at 3pm but, if they have room available they will usher in at no extra cost. > You have a convenience store (a really nice guy there) and a Balinese beauty salon next door. The Grand Hyatt is at 5 minutes walking distance, and you might want to visit one of their restaurants or go to the café and another convenience store very close to it as well.
> As East Perth is part of the free ride area in Perth you don't need to pay for anything if you just go to the CBD or within the free ride area in general. The bus stops across the road.

IN SHORT

The hotel is not up to standards in luxury, attention to customer, design, style, service, quality of the service, and courtesy of the staff. To me, this is a nice 3.5 stars at the price of a luxury hotel. The only thing I considered luxurious were the toiletries. Mostly they fail at running the place properly, things don't work and aren't fixed because they don't bother, there is a constant lack of communication between the staff, they treat customers as they were a nuisance, lie at their faces (in this case mine) and the people at Reception are truly unhelpful and act as we had to please them not the other way around. That is typical of Perth hospitality, and unnerves me every time. My advice is to spend your bucks elsewhere if you want to get what you pay for. Otherwise, pay for the most expensive room. I guess you will find luxury there... or not. 

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Heirloom (East Perth)

Heirloom is the in-house restaurant in the Fraser's Suits Hotel. I was dying to try this restaurant, even though I don't particularly like Pete Evans. One has to grant him that he has put together a menu that is both healthy and yummy. The food reminds me a lot of the food that was served at the new-closed Solomon's Cafe in Mount Lawley. 

Their buffet breakfast is not worth the price unless you eat like a bear in the morning. I didn't see anything exciting or out of the ordinary, and way below other buffet breakfasts I have experienced in hotels overseas. I think most people would be better off ordering a la carte.
  
The chia pudding was absolutely yummy. Very fresh and creamy, crunchy flavoursome nuts, sago pudding sort of texture, and the berry compote at the bottom was delicious, and not too sweet. I ordered a soft boiled egg as side. Two were served to me, and when I said I had asked just for one, the explanation was that they serve the eggs in pairs. Nevertheless, the eggs were perfectly cooked. 

The muesli breakfast should be called something else because there wasn't any muesli in my muesli. It was carrot "muesli". To be honest, the breakfast was yummy and it didn't taste of carrot, it has great colour, textures and flavours, so I loved it, but I was expecting a proper muesli. Carrot is not a muesli, pardon me.  I ordered a soft boiled egg on the side. There were only three tables with people, but it took the kitchen an eternity for my breakfast to be served, and the two things came apart despite being ordered at the same time. This time they got the number of eggs right but it wasn't a soft boiled egg, it was a slow-cooked egg that had gotten cold by the time I ate it. 

Thee zucchini lasagne tasted great thanks to a olive-and-tomato pesto that enhanced the flavours of the raw zucchini. However, despite this being a late lunch and the restaurant having three tables with people, and only one to serve (mine), the food took a while to come, and when it came the lasagne was mostly cold, a bit tepid on some parts. I get that the raw zucchini is going to be cold if it is raw but, if the rest of the ingredients were hot, one would not get the whole dish cold. This was a bit of put of, really, because it was not summer when I visited and one expects any lasagne to be hot.

The Moroccan carrots were wonderful in their simplicity with a very soft dressing, mint, crunchy almonds, some sultanas and quandons.

The pork belly was really lovely, regarding textures, quality of the meat, and flavours, however, the puree there was less than a spoonful of pure on my dish, the sauce was like a few drops and the pork belly was quite solid, not juicy or grassy, so once the sauce and puree ended, that is, in a second, the dish turned into a very dry thing to eat.

The kale side was really good. Kale is a fussy vegetable to cook, not easy to get right regarding coction and texture. This was perfect and the sauce added really complemented the Kale.

Heirloom is a hotel restaurant. Although pleasant and comfortable, it lacks character and doesn't feel like a proper restaurant. At night the ambience improves considerably, yet, nothing that would bring me there unless I wasn't staying in the hotel. They use paper napkins in the morning but fabric ones at lunch and dinner, something I really appreciate.  

The waitresses are lovely, but the service at the kitchen is slow, something I found inexcusable because they charge you top buck and there were very few people on any of my visits. Moreover, in one of my visits, a lady who arrived way after I did was served before I did and given the royal treatment, something I always consider unprofessional. The service was mostly slow, the food seemed to take quite forever to come out despite the very few people in the restaurant, they were getting the orders wrong and there was a clear lack of communication between the kitchen and the rest of the staff or vice versa. The same lack of communication existed between the reception desk and the restaurant reception as they didn't communicate much either; I was told that the first breakfast was included in my booking and I didn't sign any receipt, but then I was told at reception that no way and was treated as I was trying to cheat a meal. 

The food is overpriced in most cases because, except for the meat and fish mains courses, the ingredients used are very cheap and the portions quite small. 

OVERALL
Worth a visit! Good healthy food, great if you love Paleo, but also expensive. Lovely stuff but chaotic service. That is always the manager's fault. 

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Amaysim

Amaysim is a budget phone and mobile Internet carrier that uses the Optus network at a fraction of the price, and has a fabulous coverage within Australia (second best after Telstra) some remotes areas of Australia included. Amasym offers good-priced call+data plans and data-only packages. You can use your phone for just calls, just data, or in a combo, for 3G and 4G. Suit yourself.

I used Amasym for my tablet's data for almost 3 years and had an extra SIM card for emergencies in my phone until last year. I was most impressed with the national coverage, quality of the data transfer, pricing of prepaid data packages and online service. They are especially good, the best I would say, for packages of 2.5 and 4 GB (in the 3G network). 

Any Amaysim SIM can be used for data in mobiles, tablets and in your laptop if you have an unlocked dongle. I loved this, as gave me the possibility of using the SIM in different devices if necessary. Also, I always want to have an extra phone/Internet provider on the side just in case my main phone and data carriers had a massive outage. In fact, before leaving the company, there was a major Dodo's outage and Amasym kept me online until Dodo fixed the problem.

Everything you need to know about the configuration settings is online. DIY. I barely had the need to contact Customer Service. I contacted them once by email, as they advice you to do that, and it took them ages to reply, so I'd  rather grab the phone and call them or use their online chat.

The main downside of the data packages is that, once expired, they can't be renewed immediately unless you are upgrading, and you have to wait until your renewal date is due (they follow natural months). This is utterly stupid, hello hello, because they lose money from customers who would be renewing right on the spot, and also, that sort of customer wouldn't be interesting in upgrading or joining a post-paid plan. 

Managing everything from My Amaysim gives customers lots of freedom. One can switch on and off the auto-renewal payments, roaming and recharge options to their liking. The company usually sends an email or SMS reminding how much data one has used, first when it is 50% used, and then 80%. If the auto-renewal button is ticked on, you will receive an email with a receipt when the package is renewed and another informing of the renewal having taken place. Mind that the auto-renewal is set by default both in phone and data packages; you better tick it off if you don't want that.

Before I quit the company, they were already offering 4G data plans, which are way less generous in data and more expensive. Yet, they wanted to push customers into them. If you join, be careful which things you tick on/off so you don't end with a 4G plan when you will perfectly do with a 3G. Truly, unless you use your phone Internet for business purposes 3G works wonders in most parts of Australia.

Amaysim has one of the cheapest prepaid rates for phone calls in Australia. However, their rates exclude calls to 1300 and 1800 numbers, which is a way of ripping-off customers with a smile; most utilities companies in Australia have 1300 numbers and you might expend 30 minutes on the phone dealing with PO Australia, your bank, power co., or Internet co. and get a humongous bill from Amaysim. Amazing, really. Also, their International rates are very expensive for calls overseas and extremely expensive for roaming.

Generally speaking, I was a very happy prepaid customer for data-only packages. It was convenient having an extra SIM for emergency calls and/or PC Internet usage. but I always had a cheaper phone calls and mobile Internet with other companies.

If you are traveller visiting Australia, Amaysim is really convenient for everyday use, especially if you don't need to call utilities or corporate companies. 

COOL
> At least when I joined, they offered the possibility of choosing a phone number that was good for you. They offered an option of few for you to select. If you didn't liked them, you could change again. That is great if you are looking for a "catchy" number. 
> Purporting my previous phone number was done and carried out easily. 
> They have online chat help, something I always appreciate because calling Amaysim on the phone, even if free, can be a waste of time.

MIND
> Although you can use your Internet packages on their own, your SIM needs to have a minimum amount of money for calls. You can recharge 10 bucks and leave them for ages, as the expire date is very long. You can also use that money to pay your next data pack. When the date of renewal of your phone balance is due, you will receive an email or SMS advising you to recharge. 
> If you don't use your SIM for a few months, you will receive emails and SMS from the company informing you that your number will be cancelled if you don't renew. 
 

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Sullivans Hotel (Perth WA)

Sullivans Hotel
166 Mounts Bay Road, Perth CBD, 6000 Perth, Australia 
+61 8 9321 8022
F: +61 8 9481 6762

The Sullivans seemed the perfect budget hotel in Perth, raving reviews and such a nice photos, medium range prices, and a rating of 8+. 

However, the Sullivans is an average overrated overpriced hotel, that will do if you are going to spend a night and need a clean, decent hotel in a quiet location, especially if you are visiting with your partner. If you are visiting alone, for business or just want to spend some days visiting Perth, personally, I would go elsewhere. This hotel is a rip-off for solo visitors because the hotel and the normal rooms aren't worth the money, and I think I would be willing to pay about 80 bucks for this room and hotel maximum if I were on my own. The pricing for couples is actually quite cheap as it would be about 60 bucks each, which is a price that reflects the sort of room you get. 

The reception  and the café-bar area is very pleasant overall, and the nicest area  in the hotel. It is quite small, but cosy and comfortable, very luminous with bunches of fresh flowers, nice classy furniture and lovely coloured glass feature panels. Herewith a wrap-up of the rest. 

GOOD
+ Some of the staff.
+ Mostly very clean common areas and rooms.
+ The hard bed and very soft linen. The way I like it.  I never take this for granted, so thank you.
+ The large flat TV with a selection of local and internationals channels.
+ Quiet surroundings. There is lots of traffic at rush hour, but nothing else will disturb you during the night as there are no bars or restaurants nearby. No ambulance sirens could be heard either. 
+ WI-FI worked  greatly in the room and cafeteria, not the fastest Internet but good enough to email, chat and send a bunch of photos to any cloud storage place comfortably and without disruptions.
+ Complimentary coffee/tea in the room with milk capsules and a kettle. I always love this sort of kit. 
+ Complimentary tap water bottle in the mini-fridge.
+ Air-con in the room. 

+ Wake up call service worked sharply.
+ Good if you are couple and are on a budget.
+ Good if you have a family member in the hospital and you don't live in Perth.  
+ You can book some tours from the desk.
+  Free bike loan on request.

OK
> Most of the staff.
> The styling of the rooms and corridors.
> The views from the room (facing a hospital ward, beds of the same visible.)
> Domestic-house sized pool, still nice.
> Complimentary mint chocolates, not to everybody's liking. I think normal chocolates would make most humans happy, mint you :P.
> Officially in the heart of the city, in reality is not in the heart of anything, it is very close to the CBD. About 12 minutes walking distance, and you get to the end of Barrack St and a few more minutes more to the city centre.
> The continental breakfast (18 bucks) consisted of fresh fruit, cereals, muesli and nuts. If this is what you have for breakfast it will do. It was certainly better than my cooked breakfast.
> Coffee is American style, which I like if it has some flavour in it, but it didn't. However, there is a good selection of teas, scones and  jams on offer that made up for it.
> Very basic minimal toiletries. Enough for a night and if you aren't fussy or bringing your own. 
> Plenty of 65+ age group. 

"NOT HAPPY JAN" 
  > The common area of the floor was a forked corridor with three different staircases without a sign on view about which direction the rooms are or where the stairs lead to. I consider that sort of think basic in any hotel with a forked corridor. The only sign on view was the emergency exit in one of them. 
> No inner lock in the room. The only security was an Australian knob-lock instead. I love those, but not in a hotel, please.
> No Safe Box in the room. 
> Not enough room in the wardrobe for a couple to put their stuff if they stay for a few days. I tend to fill one of those myself! 
> Bathroom backpacker style.
> The shower's tapware needs of replacement, as is dated and one of the taps seemed to be "retarded", and the shower and the toilet floors are at the same level so water might puddle the adjoining area. 
> Some patchy dirty spots in the room's power switches (see photo), which I don't expect to see in a decent hotel. Perhaps in a backpacker hotel.

> The air-con is really noisy and next door's could also also be heard.
> They charge you 2% for anything you pay with a card, PayWave included, and also another 2% if you booked with a Visa. 
> There are no cafés or restaurants in the immediate surroundings, the closest one is in the hospital building. You better go to the city centre if you have the time or a  car. 

> Mediocre rip off cooked breakfast for 23$. You can order the eggs your way, but the poached eggs on my plate were as hard as hard-boiled eggs! (see photo). The cook doesn't know how to cook, doesn't care, or might be busy with other things and didn't have the time to mind the food. Besides, I asked the waiter to remove the sausage from my breaky and replace it with a veggie of any sort, anything; the waiter repeated a-la-robot that the ingredients of the dish were those in the menu description, and that they would remove the sausage. I guess they added something, but unless it was one slice of bacon, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in my plate, just the sausage out. Of course, they will charge you full price. At least in Maccas or Hungry Jacks you get what you pay for, you have to respect that. 

> The closest convenience store is also close to the hospital.  
> No taxi line nearby.  

> Very small parking area

> The attitude of the morning staff. The guy seemed nice and courteous. However, he bothered to ask every person checking before and after me if they had enjoyed their stay; that is certainly a way to let customers know that you don't like them for no reason. He was requested to call a cab to  go to a transport hub in the city; he did but just mention the suburb, not the transport hub, so it took the taxi 10+ minutes to come. If you know Perth, you are aware of how difficult can be to get a cab at rush hour, which matter if you have to catch a coach, train or plane. The taxi driver commented that he was surprised that Reception hadn't mentioned destination and that he hoped we would have time enough because there was already a jam in the area as it was rush hour. Really, how much does it cost to do things properly and treat all customers well? 
> Not good for solo visitors, as they will pay a lot of money for an average hotel.   

Next! 

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