Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 9 . PERTH & WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Shuttle (& 1300/668 687 in Australia, or 08/9335 1614) operates regular services
each day from the airport to hotels, or anywhere else in Fremantle you want to go;
you must book in advance. The fare is A$20 (US$13) per person, but gets cheaper
the bigger your group is—down to A$10 (US$6.50) per person for five or more
people traveling together.
Public bus nos. 37 and 39 run to the city from the domestic terminal. No
buses run from the international terminal. A taxi to the city is about A$28
(US$18) from the international terminal and A$21 (US$14) from the domestic
terminal, including a A$1 (US65¢) fee for picking up a taxi at the airport.
By Train The 3-day journey to Perth from Sydney via Broken Hill, Adelaide,
and Kalgoorlie aboard the Indian Pacific , operated by Great Southern Railway
(& 13 21 47 in Australia; www.trainways.com.au), is an experience in itself.
The train runs twice a week each direction. The one-way fare ranges from
A$1,506 (US$979) in first class with meals and en suite bathroom, to A$1,250
(US$813) in comfy second class (meals cost extra, and bathrooms are shared),
down to A$513 (US$333) for the sit-up-all-the-way coach class (not a good
idea). Connections are available from Melbourne on the Overland train. See
“Getting Around Australia” in chapter 2, for contact details in Australia and
abroad. The Prospector train makes the 7 3 ⁄4 hour trip from Kalgoorlie daily; call
WAGR (& 13 10 53 in Western Australia, or 08/9326 2000). All long-distance
trains pull into the East Perth Terminal, Summers Street off Lord Street, East
Perth. A taxi to the city center costs about A$10 (US$6.50).
By Bus Greyhound Pioneer (& 13 20 30 in Australia) runs daily from Sydney
(58 hr.) to Adelaide and once a week from Adelaide to Perth, trip time about
34 hours. It also has service daily from Darwin via Kununurra and Broome (trip
time: about 59 hr.). Traveling from Alice Springs requires a connection in Adelaide
and takes about 53 hours. The Sydney–Perth fare is A$397 (US$258),
Adelaide–Perth is A$264 (US$172), Darwin–Perth is A$550 (US$358), and
Alice Springs–Perth is A$441 (US$287).
By Car There are only two road routes from interstate. The 2,423km (1,514-
mile) route from Broome in the north follows the Great Northern Highway (not
so great for road quality), the North West Coastal Highway (a decent enough
two-lane affair), and the Brand Highway (pretty good). The 2,708km (1,693-
mile) route from Adelaide includes hundreds of kilometers along some of the
world’s straightest road on the treeless Nullarbor Plain. Arm yourself with an upto-date
road map before setting off on this route, and carry spare gas. It’s not a
bad idea to contact the South Australian or Western Australian state auto clubs
(listed under “Getting Around Australia” in chapter 2) for more advice on crossing
the Nullarbor. Both routes cross mostly featureless and lonely semi-desert,
sheep ranches, or wheat-fields most of the way, with very few towns en route.
For that reason, I don’t recommend either!
VISITOR INFORMATION The Western Australian Visitor Centre, Albert
Facey House, 469 Wellington St., WA 6000, on the corner of Forrest Place,
Perth (& 1300/361 351 in Australia, or 08/9483 1111; www.westernaustralia.
net), is the official visitor information source for Perth and the state. It’s open
Monday through Thursday from 8:30am to 6pm (5:30pm in winter May–July),
Friday from 8:30am to 7pm (6pm in winter), Saturday from 8:30am to
12:30pm year-round, and closed Sundays. Another source of information and
maps (plus a free booking service) is Perth Tourist Lounge, Level 2, Carillon