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Fremantle
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Although long since merged into the metropolitan area's suburban sprawl, Perth's port of
FREMANTLE
- "Freo" - retains an identity and charm all of its own. Much of the convict-built dock dates from the 1890s, though spruced up for the 1987 Americas Cup yacht race and an eagerly anticipated tourist boom that never quite materialized. The formerly rough and run-down port town is now quite presentable, but the jazzed-up image takes a knock as an unmistakeable ovine pong settles over the whole town when a stream of "baa-ing" road trains load up Arabia-bound sheep freighters.
Freo's relaxed, Mediterranean ambience attracts hordes of weekenders to its famed artsy markets (worth planning your visit around) and "cappuccino strip", as the cafA©-lined
South Terrace
is known. It's worth noting that in the heat of summer Fremantle is often a breezy 5A°C cooler than Perth, a mere 25 minutes away by train.
Trains
leave regularly from Perth for the nineteen-kilometre run down to Fremantle Station, located at the top end of Market Street, five-minutes' walk north of the town centre.
Buses
(routes #102-#106 and #151 from Perth's City Busport) also stop here; local
taxis
can be called on 08/9335 3944. The
Fremantle CAT
- Fremantle's free transport system - runs roughly every ten minutes, in a loop from the town hall through most of the port area. There's a small
tourist office
in the town hall on St John's Square (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun noon-4.40pm; tel 08/9431 7878). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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