From seeing 50,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art, through to visiting the heritage port town Fremantle and holiday hotspot Rottnest Island, there’s so much to do in Western Australia
When we Kiwis think about taking a holiday in Australia, we might think of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, or the Gold Coast. It’s less common for us to visit Western Australia, but it really has so much to offer. Australia’s fourth-largest city Perth is both a gateway to other destinations – and a great destination in itself. One bustling hotspot is Stories, where across five storeys there are three restaurants, nine bars, a speakeasy and rooftop bar, and a beer garden. Wandering around the central city, you’ll likely see some high-quality street art on buildings and laneways. If you’re wandering around in the evening, you may see public artworks literally lit up, with light installations also beamed onto laneways and heritage buildings.
The most luxurious place to stay is the Ritz-Carlton, in a central spot overlooking the Swan River and the city skyline. It was the perfect oasis after a late-night flight, with the comfiest bed I’ve ever slept in appreciated. Be sure to have a dip in the infinity pool. And the hotel’s restaurant Hearth is not only for travellers, but deservedly a destination in itself.
Freedom in Freemantle
If you’re in Perth, be sure to visit Fremantle, originally called Walyalup by the Nyoongar Aboriginal people. Now technically a suburb of metropolitan Perth, it was originally a port township, and still feels like a town in its own right (it’s sometimes called Perth’s Old Town). Fremantle has actually been recognised as the best-preserved example of a 19th-century port streetscape in the world, and has 3000 heritage-listed buildings. Among these buildings, you’ll find a market, restaurants, galleries, breweries, distilleries, wine bars, and the Western Australian Maritime Museum. In 2022, Time magazine ranked Fremantle among its 50 World’s Greatest Places to explore. Take a self-guided tour with a map or app, or a guided walking or cycling tour.
Visit the Fremantle Prison – no longer a prison but now an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s huge. You can look around yourself, or take one of five different tours. In one, you descend 20 metres below the prison to explore a labyrinth of tunnels built by prisoners to tap into a fresh water supply; some are accessible only by boat, so you jump aboard.
Within eyesight of the prison is Warders Hotel. Its limestone cottages were once home to the warders who staffed the prison. Now its cottages, stripped back to the original timbers and stonework, also have all the modern conveniences you need. With its built heritage, Warders is so much more my thing than a standard ‘nice’ hotel. Downstairs is Gimlet, a tiny aperitivo bar by night and café by day that is the perfect place for a pastry and a coffee first thing. Warders also has its own award-winning, Asian-inspired restaurant Emily Taylor (the dumplings are highly recommended); and indoor-outdoor Spanish-style ‘cocina’ bar/eatery Sailing for Oranges (the cocktails are highly recommended).
Next door is Warders’ sister hotel Garde, Fremantle’s only five-star hotel. It opened in September within the former Fremantle police headquarters (hence the play on the word ‘guard’). Garde has its own restaurant Anglesea Bar & Dining with Japanese and Korean flavours.
Indeed, Fremantle has quite the foodie scene. Across the road from Warders is a top-tier restaurant, Cassia, which celebrates and elevates Australian barbecue. The modular dining room is built around the open kitchen, with its extremely long grill, as you can see the chefs do their thing. As well as its regular menu, there’s a set-course menu which I highly recommend.
And it’s all a few steps to the Fremantle Markets, established in 1897 and still selling food, art, clothing, fresh produce ad more, with live music.
Island time
Fremantle is the sole departure point to Rottnest Island – its Noongar name is Wadjemup – a 19-square-kilometre island half an hour’s ferry ride away. Go for the day or stay longer. Overlooking the Indian Ocean, Rottnest has 63 beaches and 20 bays, where the sand is blindingly white, and the water is azure and warm. You could take snorkel or dive tours, or you may want to find a quiet bay, have a dip and let the sun dry you. Each bay has its own unique feel. At quiet Geordie Bay, with its simple yellow bungalows, it feels like you’re in the Aegean. You can also stay in boutique hotels, heritage cottages, or simple family cabins.
E-bikes or segways are great ways to get around, and there’s a hop-on hop-off bus. Choose from around 20 spots for dining, imbibing or snacking, including two restored retro caravans: one with great coffee, and another with sensational gelato. The seafood plates at Greek tapas restaurant Havza overlooking the sea are fresh, generous and incredibly tasty (if you have lunch there, you may not need dinner). As I ate, I felt something nestling up to my leg and realised this was a very up-close-and-personal “quokka sighting”: these are very friendly, very cute marsupials.
The island is also a protected sanctuary for wildlife, flora and fauna. Hikers love it here. The 45-kilometre ‘Bidi’ (which means trail in Noongar) weaves its way around the island, divided into five walks. At the Western end of the island, by the lighthouse, you can spot seals.
I really liked ‘Rotto’.
Remarkable rock art
There’s much more to see than Perth, given Western Australia occupies about one-third of the continent. I took a two-hour flight from Perth to the small town of Karratha, located at about the midpoint of the western coast of Australia. Karratha International Hotel – a four-star hotel with a restaurant, al fresco dining, and an outdoor pool – is a great base. Twenty-five minutes’ drive from Karratha is the Murujuga Cultural Landscape, named a World Heritage Site in July following decades of campaigning by First Nations groups. That listing is very much deserved. Spanning nearly 100,000 hectares of land and sea, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape is home to the world’s oldest, largest and most significant collection of petroglyphs (rock carvings): around one million, some dating back around 50,000 years.
A tour is a must. The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) brings together guardians of the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples to care for Murujuga. Its rangers offer rock art tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A 1.5-kilometre boardwalk was built recently, making the tour suitable for wheelchairs and prams. First up is a Welcome to Country ceremony, with a traditional calling out to the ancestors. Then you get to see cliffs made of rocks that are covered in art, including human figures, extinct giant fat-tailed kangaroos, and marine animals such as fish, sharks, whales and stingrays. Seeing some of this rock art was an unforgettable experiences. Through the stories of Aboriginal ‘Lore’, you can hear and feel how Murujuga is a living landscape, with its history just as present as the present day.
On Wednesdays, MAC offers Cultural Awareness Training sessions to the public, with rangers yarning about the history of Murujuga and its traditional custodians, how MAC came to be, its Ranger Program, key cultural sites, its rock art, song lines, Lore and more.
For other Aboriginal tourism experiences in WA, see Discover Aboriginal Experiences.
Jetski joyride
The Murujuga Cultural Landscape also encompasses the Dampier Archipelago with its 42 islands and islets. The best way to explore it is via Lethal Adventures – don’t worry about the name, because it’s a play on the operator’s name Leith (Rowe). This laidback Kiwi used to work in mining, and, in his free time, explored the Dampier Archipelago. Then he thought, why not make it his office?
Leith now offers three different two-hour tours aboard SeaDoo Fish Pro Jetskis, which leave from port town Dampier. He has an extensive knowledge of the Archipelago’s islands, with their coral reefs, shoals, channels, straits, sponge gardens. There are more than 650 species of fish, turtles that nest on the beaches, and whales and dolphins.
Drive a jetski by yourself, or do it in pairs with one person driving. I jumped in behind Leith because I wanted to go fast and do some spins, which we did. I had a grin plastered across my face throughout. He showed us around “Sam’s Island”. A Yugoslavian-born man, Sam Ostojich arrived in Dampier in 1965, visited the island on a raft of 44-gallon drums, found himself stranded for a few days, and decided to live there. See the summer and winter houses he built by hand with rocks – his castle wall is quite something. Sam stayed for 40 years, respected by locals.
Prefer something more chill than jetskis? Leith and partner Jess also offers the Sunset Island Cruise, a 2.5-hour journey aboard a nine-metre-long boat that takes you through the Archipelago as the sun sets. Leith has also started offering whale-spotting tours on the boat. He’ll also tailor any activities to your needs.
With all the outdoors activity, I worked up an appetite. So I stopped into the award-winning Fiorita Wine Bar & Restaurant in Karratha, a small, cosy spot where a temperature-controlled room stores more than 200 vinos. There are also tapas you can share – or keep for yourself.
Western Australia was better than I ever imagined – and I’d really like to go back.
Sarah was hosted by Tourism Australia and Tourism Western Australia