Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PERTH & FREMANTLE IN…
Two Days
Book ahead for dinner in
Highgate
or
Mt Lawley
and then spend your first morning in the art galleries and mu-
seum of the
Perth Cultural Centre
. Grab lunch in
Subiaco
before exploring verdant and view-friendly
Kings
Park
. For your second day, catch the train to
Fremantle
and spend the whole day there, prioritising the world-
heritage prison, maritime museum and Shipwreck Galleries. Grab a bite in
Fishing Boat Harbour
and then head
to a
pub
to catch a band or drink WA craft beer.
Four Days
Take the two-day itinerary but stretch it to a comfortable pace. Head to
Rottnest Island
for a day trip and spend
any time left over on Perth's beaches. Allocate a night each to
Leederville
and the
city's best new bars and res-
taurants.
One Week
As for the four-day itinerary, but spend a day in
Guildford
and the
Swan Valley
, take a
whale-watching cruise
and head out to
Rockingham
to view penguins and sea lions and to swim with dolphins. Spend one of the extra
evenings in emerging
Maylands
and another in bohemian
Northbridge
.
History
The discovery of stone implements near the Swan River suggests that Mooro, the site on
which the city of Perth now stands, has been occupied for around 40,000 years. The indi-
genous Wadjuk people, a subgroup of the Noongar, believed that the Swan River (Derbal
Yaragan) and the landforms surrounding it were shaped by two Wargal (giant serpentlike
creatures), which lived under present-day Kings Park.
In December 1696 three ships in the Dutch fleet commanded by Willem de Vlamingh
anchored off Rottnest Island. On 5 January 1697 a well-armed party landed near present-
day Cottesloe Beach and then marched eastward to a river near Freshwater Bay. They
tried to make contact with the local people to enquire about survivors of the
Ridderschap
van Hollant,
lost in 1694, but were unsuccessful, so they sailed north. It was de Vlamingh
who bestowed the name Swan on the river.
Modern Perth was founded in 1829 when a hopeful Captain James Stirling established
the Swan River Colony, and named the main settlement after the Scottish hometown of
the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. The original settlers paid for their own pas-
sage and that of their servants, and in return they received 200 acres for every labourer
they brought with them.
