I was in Fremantle for Christmas 2012 for 10 days and loved here so much I decided to write a blog post about it.
Here are my five recommendations on what to do in Fremantle, south of Perth, Australia.
1) Go out along the Cappuccino Strip
Fremantle has a lot of bars and restaurants and the Capuccino strip is well known for this. Take a wonder down here for lunch, you can get lunch for under $10. I also like getting a frozen yoghurt which you can also do at the Red Spoon ice cream shop.
2) Go to the local brewery
Little Creatures is a brewery in Fremantle but also a bar and restaurant. We went there around 8pm and had to wait 40 minutes for a table but it was worth it. We ordered 5 different dishes, prawns, nachos, chicken and even some kangaroo (I know, it was very unlike me to eat that). It gets very busy inside the brewery at peak times as you would expect. If you don’t want to have a meal, you can sample to local beer – for $10 (AUSD) and grab a seat outside on the waterfront.
3) Eat Seafood
We went to Joe’s Fish Shack in Fremantle for dinner. I am not really into seafood but had some fish here and it was delicious. Joe’s Fish Shack was on the harbour and we had a fantastic view of the sunset. It was good price as well, we had one bottle of wine called “Miles From Nowhere” and we each had a main meal (there were 5 of us) and it came to $120 (AUSD).
4) Catch the Ferry to Rottnest
Rottnest was named after the quokkas that live on the island. Rott means Rat in Dutch as the quokkas resembled big rats. The island was discovered by the Dutch in 1688 and was used as a prison and reform school until it was proclaimed an A class reserve in 1917. At a cost of $65 each, we took the 7:30 ferry from Victoria Quay in Fremantle and arrived in Rottnest just 30 minutes later. We and hired bikes which cost $15 for the day. We cycled all round the island which is just over 22km. It was a very hot day and we stopped by lots of beaches on our tour of the island while also digging into our picnic. It was a fun day out, but as we went at the end of December and there was a easterly wind, there were a lot of flies.
5) Go to South Beach
We went here on Christmas Day as we were staying at Silver Street Cottage a few blocks away. South Beach was very quiet, no fighting for a place to sit on the beach. Some parts of South Beach allow you to bring your dogs and I think at one point I counted 20 dogs. There are lots of new developments behind the beach, I doubt there will be a huge influx of visitors to crowd the beach as the market matures. It is a great place to take your picnic and watch the sunset.