Fremantle is a port city in Western Australia that’s part of the Perth metropolitan area and extremely popular amongst tourists and locals during the weekends for their weekend markets and fresh seafood.
Our tour guide came and picked us up in this minibus and there was another family of 3 taking the same tour as us. I chose the Historic Fremantle tour as it was fairly slow-paced and easy for the seniors in my group. The tour costs SGD 88 for adults and SGD 55 for children ( up to 12 years of age ). On top of the normal tour, we chose the return to Perth via a cruise which costs another SGD 30 for adults and SGD 15 for children. Again the tour company was very accommodating as we called them the night before to arrange for front seats for the seniors.
The tour starts by going through King’s Park to see some of the main sights of Perth city, the guide was very informative and provided us with a lot of fo information about historic buildings in the city centre as well as plants that are native to Perth
As it was a semi-private tour, the guide let us decide on where we wanted to have a quick stop for pictures. This was a huge platform in King’s Park with a panoramic view of the whole Perth City centre as well as the coastal area of Swan River
The guide was very knowledgable with the local plants and even plucked some bush tucker plants for us to try. The plants do look very raw but it has a strong lemongrass taste to it. It also has a nice fragrance that stays for a long while and can keep your bags smelling nice.
After the tour in the park, the guide also made a quick stop for us to take some wonderful pictures at this shed called Crawley Edge Boatshed. This shed doesn’t really have a history to it and nobody really knows who owns it but it has been making its rounds on many Instagram pages and thus gained it’s popularity. Social Media aside, it is indeed a picturesque sight but do be patient as it has gained quite a following of tourist coming here to take pictures so do expect a queue.
We had a quick stop at the UWA – the University of Western Australia which is very famous throughout the region. The campus was very grand and beautiful and the architecture fits perfectly into the historic city.
We had a 1-hour drive next to Fremantle and the guide drove around to see some of the main sights in Fremantle like the Fremantle Prison. Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The six-hectare site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, and tunnels. ( Source: Wikipedia) Currently, you can also take part in an escape program in the prison where there is a designated route for participants to take as an experiential tour
The guided tour ended around 12 pm which was just in time for lunch and the guide will drop us anywhere you request to be dropped. The main Cappucino strip has multiple stores as well as the main weekend market for you to spend the rest of the day. As the cruise back to Perth starts from 3.45pm we were free to roam around the city
As we had seniors with us, we only visited the E-shed market which has souvenirs, local produce as well as a food court area where customers can stop and rest. The E-shed market was just opposite the boarding jetty for the cruise so it was very convenient for us to board the cruise
Due to very heavy rain, the boarding was changed to the bigger jetty so the Captain Cook Cruise company arranged a coach to transfer all their customer to the bigger jetty. The cruise itself took about 1.5 hours and was very stable and comfortable. The cruise ship itself is spacious and has 2 levels for more than a hundred customers. The same cruise ship also caters for dinner cruises with buffet dinner. As our was an afternoon cruise, we had a free wine tasting session as well as some snacks. The toilets were at the basement level which is quite convenient although it can be a bit tough for the seniors; there were sufficient handrails for them to go up and down the stairs.
The cruise arrived back at Perth city centre around 6pm and was just in time for dinner. The cruise staff were all very helpful and extended their help to the seniors in my group to alight the cruise and this was very thoughtful as I was struggling with shopping bags and helping 3 seniors. Overall, the tour was very slow-paced which is more suitable for people who are interested in nature as well as history. Personally, the cruise was good for the seniors but for young travellers, I would suggest to make your way back on your own and spend more time to explore around Fremantle.
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 