A visit to Fremantle Prison comes high on the list of things to do for many visitors to Perth and rightly so. Built originally as a gaol for convicts it was used for general prisoners from 1886 and continued to be so until as recently as 1991. Now a major tourist attraction it has been declared a World heritage site, the only one in Perth.
The quickest and easiest way to get to Fremantle from Perth is by train. Trains depart from Perth’s main railway station every fifteen minutes, more frequently at rush hour, and the journey time is thirty minutes. The cost is 4.90AD. From the railway station ii is a short 15 minute walk to the prison. You can collect a map with directions from the tour guides at the station when you arrive.
A number of tours are available for visitors and you mist book a tour to be allowed inside, all tours are guided and the numbers on each tour is lim tied. Of the four tours available Convict Prison is a good introduction to the prison itself and a general look at what everyday life was like for inmates. If you can only do one tour this should be the one.
The Behind Bars tour is a more detailed examination of the daily life of inmates and True Crimes focuses on some of the prisons more notorious inmates. These tours are all of 75 minute duration. The basic admission price includes one of the there tours and costs 26AD. If you add another tour it becomes 32AD and if you opt for all three tours it becomes 42AD. Concessions are available. It is well worth checking the departure times of tours to avoid unnecessary waiting and maybe even to prebook, especially for busy times such as weekends.
One further tour is available and that is of the tunnels built by prisoners 20m below the prison itself. This is a very popular tour and numbers are limited, its books up very quickly so prebooking is essential. The price is 65AD per adult and includes the loan of overalls and hard hat. Participants need to meet certain fitness criteria so it is well worth checking prison website before booking.
We only had time for one tour so took the Convict Prison option. Our guide was excellent, well informed as you might imagine and interesting to listen to. The tour was conducted at a gentle pace with sufficient time for having a comprehensive look around the basic prison buildings. It is worth bearing in mind that the prison itself has no air conditioning so if you visit on a hot day it is going to be hot inside. One can only imagine what conditions must have been like for inmates.
There is a cafe on site if you require refreshments before or after your tour and gallery displaying the artwork of inmates of prisons in Western Australia is well worth visiting if you have the time
If you take only one day trip/tour while visiting Perth or Fremantle in Western Australia make sure its this one as it has a little bit of everything. Rottnest is a small island in the Indian Ocean just 18Km west of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River. Measuring only nineteen square kilometres it is small enough to explore in a day, add the fact that it has 63 beaches you will be spoilt for choice and may well have many of them to yourself.
The best way to get to Rottnest is by ferry. We chose Rottnest Express’s sailing from the Barrack Street jetty at Elizabeth Quay in Perth. The cost is dependent on which particular package you go for, we included bike hire and this is by far the most popular option. The first part of the journey is a very pleasant and relaxing cruise along the Swan River to Fremantle. A very informative commentary plays as you sail past the local landmarks and refreshments are available if you need them. A brief stop in Fremantle to pick up the remaining passengers and then its off to Rottnest. In all the journey time from Perth is ninety minutes.
Collect your bike as you disembark at the terminal on Rottnest and with the map of the island provided choose your route. There are three rides shown on the map. The blue tour is the shortest at 1.5Km and stays close to the terminal, the green route is 10km is takes you past the beaches closest to the ferry terminal. This is very popular and as a consequence the beaches get very busy. The longest ride follows the orange route and is 22km. making a circuit of the island. Once you have completed the first section which is common with the green route it becomes much quieter and you may find yourselves riding on empty roads for some sections. The roads are very well surfaced and the riding is relatively easy with no real hills but gently rolling in places. The only vehicles on the island are service vehicles and the occasional bus so you won’t have to deal with very much traffic. If cycling is not your thing there is a hop on hop off bus that operates, stopping at 18 key locations it is an alternative, air condidtioned way to see the best of the island.
It is best to ride both the green and orange routes in a clockwise direction around the island so ensuring that you have the prevailing wind at your back most of the way.Dont worry about how busy it is around the ferry terminal and for the first few kilometres The crowds will rapidly thin out after you pass the first few beach stops. You need to carry food and a t least two litres of water with you, especially in the hot summer months. When we did the trip in late February there was a small refreshment van at the west end of the island overlooking Fish Hook Bay but I don’t know opening times and it may well be closed at certain times of the year.
The West End of the island is particularly dramatic. A boardwalk has been constructed to help protect the delicate habitats here and it allows you to see some of the wildlife. It is a perfect location for whale and bird watching. Migrating Humpback and Southern Right whales can be seen here in April and again between September and December. Ospreys have nested at Fish Hook Bay for over seventy years though sightings are not always possible. The coastal scenery here is equally dramatic with the powerful ocean crashing through arches and fissures in the cliffs.
Close by are Cathedral Rocks where a viewing platform gives some fantastic views of New Zealand Fur Seals as they bask and swim. They have a habit of resting with their tails sticking out perpendicular to the surface of there water, quite curious.
As you travel back towards the ferry terminal at Thomson Bay there are some particularly nice beaches on the northern side of the island at Little Armstrong Bay and Parakeet Bay. From here the ride back to the ferry terminal is relatively straightforward but make sure you have enough time to catch you allocated sailing back to the city. Refreshments are available at Thompson Bay and there’s nothing ;like an ice cold drink at the end of your mammoth cycle ride.
We booked return sailing at 5pm so we were back in Perth at 6.30, just in time for pre dinner drinks. A great way to end a wonderful day out.
Perth in Western Australia may well be regarded as the worlds most isolated city which makes all the more reason for making the most of a visit here. It has so much to offer and is such a chilled and relaxed place that you should aim for at least a four day visit and maybe longer if you have the time. This gives you time to not only explore the city itself but also to get out and explore the wider city region. Here’s what we managed to do in four days, its a fairly relaxed itinerary and is by no means exhaustive, there is plenty more to see and do if you have the time or different interests. Whatever you choose to do you won’t be disappointed, Perth is a truly wonderful place and I can’t wait to go back there.
TAKE A WALKING TOUR
I always try to do a walking tour soon after arriving in a city. You get the benefit of local knowledge and in many places you have a choice of tours to suit your particular interests. Two Feet & a Heartbeat undertake a two hour tour of the Central Business District that includes historic buildings, alleys and lane ways, street art and concludes with a welcoming cold beer in Yagan Square. Tours are around two hours in duration, start times and frequency depends on the particular tour you choose.
Rottnest island sits in the ocean 11Km west of Fremantle. It make for a perfect day trip from Perth and is a very popular destination in the summer months. We booked a trip with Rottnest Express which included bike hire so we could explore the whole island during our visit. Ferries leave Elizabeth Quay early in the morning for a very pleasant cruise along the Swan River to Fremantle where it collects the remainder of its passengers.
Collect your bike as you disembark at the ferry terminal on Rottnest, its very busy close to the terminal but once you get a short distance away you will almost have the road to yourselves.The highlight of any trip is a viewing of Quokkas, small marsupials that can only be found in a small number of locations in Western Australia.
You can return to the terminal for a late afternoon sailing back to Perth, arriving just in time for pre dinner drinks.
The Swan Valley wine region is just a short drive north East of Perth and makes for an excellent day out of the city. There are a number of companies that offer day trips which have hotel pick ups and drop offs in the CBD. We chose Out and About Wine Tours, visiting five wineries (Lancaster, Sandalford, Windy Creek, Sittella and Heaford Glen), Elmars micro Brewery and The Margaret River Chocolate Company. Lunch was provided overlooking the vineyards at Sittella. Tours depart fro the city at 10am and return at 5pm.
CRUISE ON THE SWAN RIVER A cruise on the Swan River is a lovely relaxing activity and a great way to get a slightly different perspective of the area. You can take a dedicated cruise with one of the operators from Elizabeth Quay or combine your cruise with another activity. The trip to Rottnest Island includes a cruise downstream to Fremantle and it is possible to cruise up stream as part of the Swan Valley wine experience. Either way its a delightful thing to do.
SEE SOME STREET ART Perth is regarded as the second best city for street art in Australia after Melbourne. I love street art and seek it out wherever I go as the street art scene can tell you an awful lot about a place. Hunting out street art can be time consuming but in Perth you get to see some fine examples on the CBD walking tour with Two Feet and a Heartbeat, especially in the area of Grand Lane.
TRY SOME CRAFT BEER AND NATURAL WINE There are so many options in and around the city its difficult to know where to start. In the CBD the State Building on Barrack Street is a good place to start. Here you will find Petition, a superb craft beer bar. With 18 beers available on tap and many more available by bottle you really are spoilt for choice, what’s more the list on tap changes rteqularly. We arrived late on a Sunday afternoon and there was live music and a lovely atmosphere. What more could you ask for.
Petition
In the same building is The Wine Merchant which has a very impressive wine list with bottles on the shelves for you to browse and select, if you prefer just a glass they have about 20 available at any one time. Wines of While is a small wine bar located on William Street in Northbridge. All the wines here are made with minimum intervention and no nasty chemicals. The list is eclectic and fascinating, a real gem and not to be missed by lovers of natural wine. further afield in Fremantle is Little Creatures Brewery and Taproom, great for a c old beer or two after a day spent sight seeing before catching the train back into Perth.
