Fremantle, Western Australia facts
Laser guns, sailors and prisons in WA's laid back city
Fremantle in Western Australia is a delight, with a wild west feel and plenty of attractions, it is worthy of anyone's time
It’s advisable to walk cautiously. At any minute now, a man in a ten gallon hat could burst out of one of the saloons, firing his pistols and spitting tobacco on the floor. OK, so maybe not, but Fremantle has that kind of feel to it. In a country where anything knocked up before 1992 is regarded as a heritage building, Fremantle has a rare Olde Worlde vibe to it.
The streets look they’ve been transplanted straight out of the Wild West, and the buildings have that definite blast from the past quality, be it pubs, newsagents or bizarre novelty shops.
It’s not the sort of place to go to if you want your standard megastores and bog standard boozers. The pubs, for a start, are bloody brilliant. Every single one of them seems to have a mind-boggling variety of bizarre beers on tap, and food that would make anyone drool. The shops are similarly strange. There’s one that advertises “The best selection of salt and pepper grinders in Perth”. That one must do a roaring trade – after all, a good salt grinder is always worth splashing out that little bit extra for.
On the train in from Perth, the place doesn’t look so promising. All you see is docklands, and you half expect everyone you look like Captain Macallister from the Simpsons, or to be wearing their sailors’ caps at jaunty angles. Mysteriously it transforms into this pretty Wild West seaside town though, and the closest approximation to anywhere else in Australia is St Kilda in Melbourne. Although without the sheer weight of cake shops.
There are plenty of things to go and do here as well – the tour of Old Fremantle Prison is well worth doing if you ever want a good incentive not to go stealing Pick N Mix in Woolworths. There’s also the Western Australian Maritime Museum, and the Round House, which is the oldest building in WA. For the childish amongst you, there is even a Q-Zar on Essex Street where you can run around and play army, but without having to make rubbish machine gun noises and getting into fights when people claim that they weren’t hit by your metaphorical shot.
However, doing things isn’t really the point of Fremantle. This isn’t a hive of activity kind of place – it’s a place to kick, back, relax with a cappuccino and people watch. During the week, Freo has an almost disturbingly relaxed vibe. The only people around are a few tourists, and locals who clearly haven’t got jobs to go to. These people are technically known as drama students.
At the weekend, it gets a little bit more frenetic, as half of Perth decides that it be nice to have a day out in Freo. The markets bustle, the pubs are doing a brisk trade all day long, and the beach gets covered in towels.
If you can’t beat them, however, you should join them.
