Granted, we spent much longer in Perth than five days, however nobody wants to hear about the days of mechanics and phone repairs so here are the best bits cobbled together to make a bit of an itinerary!
Day 1 – Exploring the City and the Perth Mint
Perth Mint Entry/Tour – $19pp
Our first morning was spent at the Royal Perth Mint. Gold was discovered Kalgoorlie in 1893 which is nearly 600 km east of the city. Due to the rising demand for gold refinery, the mint was opened in the 1899and at the time was responsible for refining gold sovereigns for the British empire.
The building is just stunning. As a Brit, I hate the lack of history in Australia and miss spending afternoons strolling around stately homes so it is always refreshing to see buildings from colonial times (albeit only 126 years old).
The Perth Mint is hone to the worlds largest gold sovereign, weighing 1 ton. It’s face value is one million dollars, though at today’s gold price it would be worth $79,926,141.50. Just to put that into perspective, Matt and I found out our weights in gold and we were around $4.3 and $5.3 million respectively. It is one big, heavy coin which greets you at the entrance to the tour. It isn’t really protected by any security during the day because quite frankly, you would need the Hulk to lift it out of there!
The guided part of the tour is relatively short, though you are able to witness a live gold pour which is pretty incredible. Watching molten metal form into a solid gold bar in front of your eyes isn’t something you see every day.The rest of your time you are able to spend at leisure, reading about the history of Western Australia’s gold fields and seeing real, gold nuggets – including the worlds largest intact gold nugget. (There have been larger discovered, though this is the biggest that hasn’t been melted down).
After the tour, we took the free city bus to the central shopping area. I needed me some retail therapy after months of country shops! We then walked over to Elizabeth Quay and watched boats funnel in and out of the harbour whilst eating our picnic lunch. We ended the afternoon with a stroll a long the bridge and back to our accommodation.
Day 2 – Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison Tours – 1 tour for $22pp, 2 for $32pp, 3 for $42pp three tours available, we took the Convict and the True Crime tours.
Another amazing example of colonal architecture is Fremantle Prison, built in 1855 to house convicts transported from Britain. It then became Perths main prison in 1886 up until it’s closure in 1991. As a bit of a true crime nerd, I always find prisons fascinating.
During the first tour, we were taken around the main cell blocks, learning about why the prison was built and who it’s original occupants were. As someone who knew very little about convict times, I found it incredibly interesting. The site is world heritage listed and after it’s closure, work has been carried out to bring the buildings back to how they would have looked originally. The prison was built by convicts and materials were scarce so much of the prison is made using recycled material from the ships and what they could find locally. The floor is actually Yorkshire flagstone from the ships ballast and the wall that surrounds the perimeter, limestone from within the prison grounds.
One particularly fascinating story is that of Moondyne Joe, you can Google him if you’re interested, but long story short, he escaped the prison so many times, an ‘escape proof cell’ was built just for him.
The next tour we took was the True Crime tour and in stark comparison to the first tour of 37 people, there was just 7 on this one, including myself and Matt.
The tour began with the story of Martha Rendell, the only woman to be hanged at Fremantle. She was convicted of murdering her step daughter with poison (and is suspected to have poisoned her other two step children prior to this). There is a pane of glass high up on the chapel window which has a smudge that looks remotely like her mugshot and som prisoners believe this is her ghost. I didn’t see the resemblance to be honest
!We took a stroll around the perimeter wall, visiting the gun towers whilst hearing stories of prisoners and escape attempts from the prisons history.
That evening, we decided to continue our prison experience by staying in the YHA hostel which is housed within the former womens block of Fremantle prison. Unfortunately our dorm appeared to be more of an ex office area than one of the cells, but it was still a pretty cool way to spend the evening.
Day 3 – Fremantle Markets and the Little Creatures Brewery
Little Creatures Tasting Platter – $15 T
he Fremantle market runs on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is Perths oldest and busiest market. It houses everything from fruit and veg stalls, fashion, street food and trinkets and is easily somewhere you could get lost in for a couple of hours.
On entry, the first thing that hit us was the smell of food and on a backpacker budget, it was a mild form of torture. Whether you are looking for coffee, brunch, lunch, dinner or desert, you will find something you like within the market. Most stalls have tasters too (which I took full advantage of) We eventually caved and treat ourselves to some arancini balls and honey cheesecake.
The stalls had something for just about everyone. I found the eco friendly ones the most interesting with lots of places selling beeswax food wraps, bamboo toothbrushes and shampoo bars and of course the shoe shops also distracted me for a little while!
We then made our way to the Little Creatures Brewery which sits near the docks. We opted for a tasting platter to share of their 10 beers, chose our favourite then bought a pint each to wash them down! (We then managed to wash the wash down with several beers on the way home at various bars en route!)
Day 4 – Rottnest Island
Sealink Ferry from Fremantle- $49pp return + $18pp government levy if booked 24 hours in advance
Bike hire – $30pp includes helmet from Peddle and Fins on the island
Matt has been banging on about Quokkas for the last month, so we absolutely had to go to Rottnest Island. Quokkas are almost only found on Rottnest island so visiting them is a very unique experience. On the island, they have very few, if any, predators so are not wary of humans and we have all seen the Quokka selfies all over the internet. More on that later.
We took the ferry from Fremantle early morning and decided to splash out on bike hire as we felt that would enable us to see a little more of the island than we would on the bus/foot and I would definitely recommend.
I haven’t really ridden a bike since I was a kid, so that was an experience in itself! There is a 22km ride that takes you around the whole island and maybe a little ambitiously, we decided to take it. (Every hill was an absolute battle!)
The day started of grey but by the aftenoon the sun made an appearance and the sea became the turquoise blue we are now so accustomed to. Here are a few snaps from around the island…
…But where were the Quokkas!?We had spotted one or two upon leaving the main settlement but they were already with humans so we cycled on but then didn’t end up seeing anymore!
On completion of our loop, we returned to the main settlement, chained up our bikes and went on a quokka mission on foot.Within minutes, we saw hundreds which means they obviously centre around the main food and tourist area. You are not supposed to touch or feed them, but it was evident that a few tourists didn’t follow those rules. We saw one quokka ransacking an entire picnic!
I wouldn’t particularly say they are friendly animals, but some Quokkas seemed more curious than others and this paired with the fact they aren’t scared of humans creates the illusion of friendliness in still photos. Some were more interested in finding their next juicy leaf and basically pretend you aren’t there but others couldn’t wait to have a sniff of you (and see what food you may have in your backpack!)
The Quokka selfie is a bit of a lie. Despite looking like they’re smiling and looking at the camera, they’re probably just eating and staring dead ahead. The photos are cool, but I just got lucky like so many other people with my photo that he was doing exactly that when I snapped the photo.
Quokkas are amazing, cute creatures and unlike any wild animal I’ve ever come across but they are just that, wild and again, I just wanted to reiterate to not believe everything on social media!
Day 5 – Kings Park and Botanic Gardens
Our decision to visit Kings Park was mainly out of the need to kill time before a flight, but I am so glad we did! You could probably spend half a day here, then visit one of Perths many beautiful beaches.
The view that greets you on arrival into the botanic gardens is breathtaking. High up on a hill, the park provides sweeping views of the city, the Swan River and beyond. Honestly, it wipes the floor with my first love, Kangaroo Point in Brisbane, and I think I could stare at it for hours and still not take it all in.
Lunch was spent on one of the perfectly manicured lawns and it is the perfect picnic spot. The next few hours were spent wandering around the gardens, marvelling at the view, the beautiful flora and fauna and the water garden.
Lauren Travels 