Located just 19 km (13 miles) from Perth’s city centre, Fremantle continues to serve as Western Australia’s principal port. Fremantle is now part of the built-up area of Greater Perth. Founded in 1829, Fremantle owes some of its attractive appearance to the convict craftsmen shipped in to save the colony’s faltering fortunes in the gold-rush building boom of the 1890s.

The centre of town is compact, its venerable townscape best enjoyed on foot. The town was brushed up for the America’s Cup yatch race in 1987 (when the US lost the cup for the first time in 200 years, and to the Australians). Fremantle has since become one of Western Australia’s most popular attractions. Unlike glittering Perth, the old port’s colonial charms remain intact, including the Round House (which actually has 12 sides), the Fremantle Museum and Arts Centre (recounting WA’s convoluted past), while the Maritime Museum has many relics of the famous Batavia. You can also catch the ferry to little Rottnest Island, which was first settled as a natural prison for West Australian Aborigines in the harsh old days. Today, “Rotto”, as the Aussies call it, is the traditional holiday spot for Perth families!