Fremantle

I rode my bike down the coast to check out Fremantle, Perth's port city, that I've heard so much about. I've heard so much about what an fun place it is, and how it is THE cool place to live and hang out.

I'm sorry to report that I was under whelmed. Perhaps my expectations where too high, or I did not find the cool area. It is very dense, like Santa Monica or Venice Beach, with lots of restaurants and cafes with sidewalk seating. There were a lot of people down there enjoying themselves.

I stopped and one of the cafe's and has what I have to admit was one of the best fish lunches I have ever had. It was interesting people watching. On the weekends are the Fremantle markets, a large flea market.

I will come back when I have more time and explore in depth. Obviously I am missing something here.

I turned out the best part of my trip to Fremantle was not the destination but the journey there and back. I followed the coast on my bike south from Karrinyup. The further south I got, the nicer the neighborhoods became and the beaches became very nice. I think the best spot was a place called Cottesloe Beach. This little community has an fantastically beautiful beach. The houses are very nice, just the right size and very well tended to. Nothing too extravagant. I would have to compare it the northern San Diego County beach cities between La Jolla and Oceanside. It looks like a place that I would love to live in. I've heard that area is also very expensive.

To leave Fremantle I decided to take the river ferry that connects it to downtown Perth. It takes about 20 minutes to go up the river. I picked the right day to do it. Saturday is the racing day for all the sailing clubs in Perth. There must have been 500 sailboats sailing around the bays between Fremantle and Perth. It was so cool to watch. The views from the river cat ferry are awesome. I highly recommend that you take this journey.

The river is much larger than at the mouth. It opens up into a series of deep and very wide bays all the way up past downtown. The water is salt for a few miles inland.