Perth is the largest city in Western Australia, situated on the Swan River near the southwest coast of Australia. The city is known for its stunning landscapes, modern skyline and abundant sunshine – its one of the sunniest major cities in the world with over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year ☀️ Maybe thats why everyone is so happy and outdoorsy! Sydney is 3,300 km away making Perth one of the most isolated major cities in the world. As I mentioned in my last post, 80% of the population of Western Australia lives in Perth, thats roughly 2.2 million people. The city itself is spread out but the CBD, central business district, is relatively small and very walkable with loads of walking/bike paths along the Swan River. The city provides 5 free bus routes around the CBD so its really easy to get around.
When we left Kalbarri it took 7 hours to reach our next destination of Fremantle where we spent two nights near the ocean sightseeing around the area before moving to downtown Perth. Fremantle, or Freo as the locals call it, is 30 min south of Perth at the mouth of the Swan River and the harbor here serves as the port for Perth. There is a bustling fishing harbor, yacht clubs, the popular Bathers Beach and numerous seafood restaurants lining the waterfront. It was a great spot to spend a couple of days!
Fremantle was first settled in 1829 by the British and struggled in it’s early years until 1850 when penal transportation to the colony began and Fremantle became one of Australia’s primary destination for convicts. The convict-built maximum security Fremantle Prison operated long after transporation of convicts ended in 1868, eventually closing in 1991, and its now a World Heritage Site. We joined a 1 hour tour of the grounds and our guide was very informative explaining what life would have been like for the inmates and even demonstrated a (pretend) flogging on one of the tour participants 😂 When I mentioned we had toured Port Arthur Penal Colony in Tasmania in 2020 our guide commented that Port Arthur was much, much harsher than the Fremantle Prison, that’s pretty much what we recalled as well. Tickets for the Fremantle prison tour cost $24 AUD (USD $15.70) each and can be bought online here.
Fremantle Markets has been around since 1897 and the building is one of only two surviving municipal market buildings in Western Australia. The market has over 150 stalls selling everything imaginable. It was interesting to wander through and admire all the fresh produce, baked goods, chocolates, takeaway foods, clothing, art and souvenirs. We also enjoyed walking along Fremantle main street admiring the historic buildings that have been preserved.
The Fremantle War Memorial, located at Monument Hill, offers almost 360 degree views of Fremantle and is an ideal vantage point to look out over the harbour and downtown. The memorial was built and unveiled in 1928 commemorating World War I and II, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. Did you know that there was a submarine base here in Fremantle during WWII, second only in size to Pearl Harbor? Because Fremantle was well out of reach of land-based Japanese aircraft, it became the main base for US submarines. During the war, US, British and Dutch submarines all operated from Fremantle and accounted for roughly 1/4 of all US submarine patrols in the Pacific. Knowledge of its existence was a carefully guarded secret until 1945 when a newspaper reported its activities.
Upon leaving Fremantle we returned our rental car and moved into an apartment in downtown Perth, walking distance to many of the places we planned to visit. Our first excursion was joining a free walking tour put on by the Perth Tourism Board. Unlike most of the free walking tours we take around the world, this one really was free because it is staffed by tourism board volunteers and we were not allowed to tip. The 2 hour tour walked us around a few of the highlights in the CBD, ending at Elizabeth Quay.
On the recommendation of an Aussie friend we took the bus from our apartment to Point Fraser and rented bikes from About Bike Hire to cycle the 10 km loop around the Swan River. It was a fabulous ride along both sides of the river with many places of interest to stop and admire the views of downtown Perth. Our 2 hour rental cost $20 AUD (USD $13) each. Electric bikes are available but the cycle path is pretty flat so a regular bike was fine.
One of the most popular things to do while in Perth is take a ferry over to Rottnest Island, a stunning and protected nature reserve just off the coast. It’s famous for pristine beaches and unique wildlife, especially the adorable quokka. What the heck is a quokka? They are a small wallaby-like marsupial native to Western Australia. We thought they looked like a cross between a wallaby and a rat looking at their tail. In fact, that is how Rottnest Island got its name when Dutch explorers mistook the quokkas for large rats and named the island Rottnest, meaning Rats Nest, Island. Quokkas are friendly and curious and they were abundant around the restaurants near the pier. We booked our ferry trip with SeaLink leaving from the Barrack Street Jetty in Perth. The journey took 90 minutes, 60 of which were cruising down the Swan River until we reached Fremantle and then 30 minutes across the ocean to Rottnest Island. Return tickets cost $136.50 AUD (USD $88.95) each. This includes the AUD $21 (USD $13.70) island admission fee.
Rottnest Island is bigger than most people think, us included, so we were happy that we had arranged a 3 hour ebike tour of the island. The island is also hillier than most people are aware so we were grateful that we were on ebikes and not regular rental bikes. There is a bus that circumnavigates the island and our guide mentioned that many people abandon their bikes at the bus stops and get a ride back to the ferry pier when they realize they will miss their ferry. Having ebikes we easily toured the island with lots of photo opportunities along the way. Our tour cost AUD $116.60 (USD $76) each. After the bike tour we had time for a couple of drinks at one of the beach bars before catching our 4:30pm ferry back to Perth.
The Doubletree Hotel overlooking Elizabeth Quay has a fabulous bar on the 18th floor of the building, called the 360 Bar, go figure! We heard the views from up there were fabulous, so off we went. Its a really popular spot with the young folks and worth coming up here for a drink or two.
The Perth Mint was established in 1899, created to refine gold from the Western Australian gold rushes and mint gold sovereigns for the British Empire. Between 1899 and 1931 the mint struck over 106 million gold sovereigns until Britian abandoned the gold standard in 1931. Ownership of the mint was transferred to the Government of Western Australia in 1970. Today the Perth Mint produces a wide range of products for investors and collectors with very high standards of purity. They still refine a significant portion of Australia’s gold and silver, as well as metals from across the Asia-Pacific region. The Perth Mint is also home to the world’s largest, heaviest and most valuable gold coin. The one metric tonne gold coin was created in 2011, weighs 1,012 kilograms and has a nominal face value of $1 million AUD, although the bullion value on the day we visited was just over $202 million AUD. There are also a few very large gold nuggets on display and a $2 million AUD gold bar which we could get our hand on. It was also very interesting to watch a live gold pour, creating a solid gold bar. All in all, its a pretty interesting place to visit. Tickets for a one hour tour cost $25 AUD (USD $16.35) each.
And that’s a wrap on our 10 days in Perth and Fremantle. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here and there is much more to see in this vibrant city but we kept a relaxed pace to our sightseeing and enjoyed a regular gym routine. We are really happy we made it to this part of Australia however as I mentioned at the start, Perth is one of the most remote major cities in the world, so its not an easy place to add to any travel itinerary, and its expensive here.
As we leave the big city our next stop is the small town of Dunsborough, 3 hours south of Perth, surrounded by vineyards and beaches. I think we will like it there…..
TRIP TIPS
We joined Snap Fitness at 853 Hay Street (really close to our apartment) and it was one of the nicest gyms we have been in. They are really flexible with their membership options, so we were able to join for one week. It was kept spotless and had a great variety of equipment. A one week membership cost $50 AUD ( USD $32.80) each. Because its a 24 hour gym we needed a fob to get in which cost $30 AUD and was refunded when we turned it in at the end of the week.
We booked our Rottnest Island ebike tour with Pauls Eco Bike Tours. Paul is retired and no longer doing the tours but his son Mick has taken over the business.
The SeaLink ferries to Rottnest from Perth are much less frequent than from Fremantle, but leaving from Perth you get a 1 hour cruise each way up and down the Swan River which is worth the time. We were very impressed with SeaLink, their ship and the staff were excellent.