| Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way Fremantle attractions, posted by real travelers and locals. Fremantle Map |
 | Fremantle Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 50 |  |
Looking for something different to do on a summer Sunday afternoon? Why not take yourself down to the Fremantle Arts Centre for one of their free Courtyard Concerts? From November through to early April, the shady courtyard makes a great venue for a varied programme of concerts where everyone is welcome and everyone has a good time.
Bring a picnic and a bottle of wine or buy lunch or a coffee from the cafe, spread a rug or sit on one of the benches or chairs provided and just relax under the spreading plane trees.
Come early and browse through the excellent craft shop, take wander through the museum, check out the galleries for an art exhibition - you could spend most of your day here within these old limestone walls.
Fremantle Arts Centre: 1 Finnerty Street, Fremantle
Concerts: 2-4pm Sundays, check the website for the concert and exhibition programme, map and other information about the Centre Leave a Comment
|
 | |  |
Visiting Fremantle?
Read reviews about Fremantle Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
The John Grahm reserve is part of Woodman Point Regional park, about 10 mins drive south along Cockburn (pronounced co-burn) Road from Fremantle.
There are several entrances along Cockburn Road, to the Park, Woodman Point itself and carvan parks.
For the reserve turn off Cockburn Road at Nyerbup Road .
\WARNING.-SLOW DOWN FOR THE SILENT POLICE MAN (SPEED BUMPS), THEY'RE VERY SHARP. If you have a car with low suspension, drive VERY slowly.
Drive for a minute or two along the little winding road and you will come to a beautiful picnic area (it's a good road and proper tar-sealed car park).
There is a large grassed area that's watered so it's green all summer, big trees, shade pergolas, picnic tables, free electric BBQ's and decent toilets.
On the far side of the reseve is the beach and Woodman Point Jetty. Older chilren often jump from the jetty into the water, there's a ladder to get back up.
It's a very popular place for family outings/picnics, swimming, fishing, scuba diving, kite surfing etc.
There's also an historic campsite (from World War 2) and nature trials if you want to walk.
There's no shop here, but on other side of Cockburn road, if you go up Fairbairn Road, there's the Lighthouse deli that sells everthing you're likely to want while you're there, including good coffee and bait. We had a fishermans basket (fish, crab stck, scallop, calmari and chips) for $7.50, large and delicious. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
Every day, at 1pm, exactly a small ceremony is enacted in the precinct of the Round House -Western Australia's oldest building. Firing the 1 o'clock gun and dropping the time ball is a ritual that followed the invention of the chronometer - the instrument that meant ships at sea could navigate their way across lines of longitude with an accuracy - and resultant safety - never before experienced in maritime history.
Invented in 1829 - the same year the Swan River Colony and the port of Fremantle were founded - the time ball's function is to give ships in harbour a signal by which to set their chronometers with complete accuracy. Once a feature of ports everywhere, first the radio telegraph and then electronic technology have seen time balls removed and nowadays there are only about 60 left all around the world.
Fremantle's Time Ball, and its accompanying shot fired from a small cannon, is manned by volunteers from the Fremantle Volunteer Heritage Guides Association. Anyone is welcome to attend, there's no charge other than the regular gold coin donation (ie $1 or $2) entry into the Round House, and you may even get the chance to trigger the shot. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
How many city's around the world have a swimming beach just at the end of the main street? Bather's Beach in Fremantle is just that, a little sandy cove that has important historical meaning for both the traditional owners of this land, the Nyoongar people, and the white settlers who arrived from Britain in 1829 and made their first landing on Western Australian soil right here.
Known as Manjaree by the Nyoongar, and featuring in their dreamtime stories that tell of how the islands and coastal features here were formed by the sea rising and falling as an age of ice came and went, this was where Capt. Thomas Fremantle raised the flag and claimed the whole of Australia's west coast for the British crown. After this the beach was used for bay whaling (the tunnel through the cliff behind the beach was used for access to the town by the whalers - though never for dragging whales through as some people believe) and as a dumping ground for ballast and ultimately left neglected and deserted until a determined group of local artists began a campaign that saw the beach cleaned up, a limestone staircase built to link the cliff to the beach, indigenous vegetation replanted, the original shoreline marked out and part of the original wooden jetty rebuilt to include ceramic inserts and the story of the area illustrated with inlaid tiles (Joan Campbell, a master potter who had her studio in an old limestone building on the beach, was the driving force behind all this).
The beach runs from the South Mole around to the Fisherman's Harbour. Whilst it's popular with local people for swimming, visitors need to be aware that there are no lifesaver patrols here and the nearest changing rooms and showers are across the railway line in the Esplanade park, so you might prefer to just visit the beach here and go elsewhere for a swim. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
Kiteboarding(kitesurfing) is becoming very popular, almost taking over from windsurfing.
For those who've not heard of it, it involves using a special 'kite' to pull you along on a board similar to a body board.
On the day these pics were taken, the sea was quite calm, but when there's bigger waves, they leap many feet into the air, and the best may spin and turn most attractively.
It's quite delightful to watch, but don't expect to see much if there's not a fair breeze, they won't fly if there's not enough wind. They take advantage of the "Fremantle Doctor", the afternnon sea breeze, (sometimes more like gale on the beach) which comes in during late morning/early afternoon during summer. It makes the temperature on the coast drop by several degrees. When it's 35c, that's worth having! Leave a Comment
|
Visiting Fremantle?
Read reviews about Fremantle Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
As soon as you get out of the city, you are likely to come across some wildlife.
Pelicans are common on the beaches, often hanging around the fisherman. Dolphins are commonly seen from the beaches too, but they're much harder to photograph.
Ibis somtimes gather in great flocks, wheeling and screaming rather like seagulls. They like grassy places near water.
We also often see many types of parrots and hawks, and great shoals of fish from the beaches and jettys.
These ibis were on the main road from Fremantle to Rockingham, the pelicans were at Woodman Point, and the bob-tail lizard on the main road between Rockingham and Baldivis. Leave a Comment
|
North Fremantle sits on the north side of the mouth of the Swan River. Life on the north side has its share of bustle with the docklands and fishing boats coming and going. You can reach North Fremantle via the Stirling Highway or Queen Victoria St bridge from Fremantle. There have been many new residences created on the foreshore, several with their own moorings. Leave a Comment
|
Matilda Bay Brewery is right on Stirling Highway as you drive from the beaches into Fremantle and was started in 1984 by a group of friends, brewers and businessmen who decided that Australia needed a better type of beer. The beer is said to have more flavour than any beer tasted before and is brewed in small, craft batches. With the popularity which exceeded demand, the company became public in 1988 and launched the popular Redback beer. This new brewery opened its facility in 1989.
Location : 130 Stirling Hwy North Fremantle Leave a Comment
|
As you drive along Riverside Rd you will come to John Tonkin Park. This is a lovely grassy reserve right on the beach. There is a jetty to fish off as well as play equipment for the kids and undercover picnic tables. You can get a nice view across the Swan River to the Mosman Park area. There is also a kiosk there. Leave a Comment
|
On top of Wireless Hill is the Telecommunications Museum with its collection still housed it the original building dating back to 1912. It was the site of the very first communications radio in WA. Equipment dating back to the time of the earliest radio technology is display along with some of the developments which are still current today. You can see the first radio made in WA.
Location: Almondbury Rd. Ardross, Leave a Comment
|
|
More Fremantle Travel Deals Hotels in Perth
Book your hotel in Perth online. All hotels with special offers. Hotels.com Official Site
Hotels.com Low Rates Guaranteed! Call a Hotel Expert. 1-800-449-4167 Australia hotels
Cheap, Luxury & Last Minute Hotels Save up to 65%! The Search is Over™ hotels
Discounts on Hotels, Activities & More. Book your vacation today! Sponsored Links
|
on February 6, 2007
on March 19, 2006
on December 16, 2004
