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

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CHAPTER 9 . PERTH & WESTERN AUSTRALIA
La Pizzeria WOOD-FIRED PIZZA/SEAFOOD Freo has loads of restaurants,
but this joint has an upbeat, easy ambience with its terrazzo tables, concrete
and timber floor, and stainless-steel bar. Wood-fired pizzas come straight
from the funky oven at the back, bearing toppings like grilled eggplant, roast
capsicum, and mushrooms. Traditional pastas and seafood main courses get
served up, too. It’s licensed to serve alcohol but you can also BYO beer and wine.
95 Market St. & 08/9430 6126. Pizzas A$13–A$18 (US$8.45–US$12); main courses A$16–A$22
(US$10–US$14). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon–Thurs noon–10pm; Fri–Sun noon–10.30pm. Train: Fremantle.
WHAT TO SEE & DO IN PERTH
AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) Kids You won’t catch performing
dolphins a la Sea World, but there’s plenty to see here, including a moving walkway
through an underwater tunnel of sharks, rays, turtles, and fish; a touch pool
that even has a (small!) shark; and lots of aquariums that showcase the marine
life of the Western Australian coast, including pretty leafy sea dragons, coral
reefs, jellyfish, cuttlefish, sea snakes, crocodiles, and deadly stonefish that look
remarkably like stones. Keepers feed the sharks and the touch-pool creatures
daily, and a program of talks and movies on marine creatures is scheduled
throughout the day. For A$90 (US$59) plus A$30 (US$20) for dive gear, qualified
divers can dive with sharks. You may need to book this experience weeks in
advance. Allow half a day here.
Sorrento Quay at Hillarys Boat Harbour, 91 Southside Dr., Hillarys. & 08/9447 7500. Admission A$20
(US$13) adults, A$17 (US$11) seniors and students, A$13 (US$8.45) children 4–14, free for children under 4;
A$58 (US$38) for a family of 4. Daily 10am–5pm; Wed (Dec–Apr) 10am–9pm. Closed Christmas. Train and
bus: Take Joondalup train line to Warwick, transfer to bus 423. By car, take Mitchell Fwy. 23km (14 miles)
north, turn left into Hepburn Ave. and carry on to roundabout at entrance to Hillarys Boat Harbour; AQWA is
at the western end of the harbour. Free parking.
Art Gallery of Western Australia Most outstanding among this state gallery’s
international and Australian works is the Aboriginal art collection, regarded as the
finest in Australia. Free 1-hour tours of a particular collection run once or twice a
day Tuesday through Friday and Sunday; call for times.
Roe St. and Beaufort St. (enter near the walkway opposite Perth Railway Station), Northbridge. & 08/9492
6600 administration, or 08/9492 6622 recorded information line. Free admission. Entry fee may apply to special
exhibitions. Daily 10am–5pm; from 1pm Anzac Day. Closed Christmas and Good Friday. Train: Perth. Bus:
Blue CAT Stop 7 “Museum.”
Cohunu Koala Park Not all states in Australia permit koala cuddling, but
Western Australia does, and this large park set in bushland is a good place to try
it. You can also feed 100 kangaroos, wallabies, and emus wandering in natural
enclosures, see wombats and dingoes, walk through an aviary housing Aussie
native birds, and see wild water birds on the ponds. The Caversham Wildlife Park
in the Swan Valley (see “Side Trips from Perth” later in the chapter) has a bigger
and more intriguing range of native species, but it does not allow koala cuddling.
Off Mills Rd. E., Gosnells (in the suburb of Martin on some maps). & 08/9390 6090. Admission A$20
(US$13) adults, A$10 (US$6.50) children 5–14. Koala-cuddling photos A$15–A$25 (US$9.75–$16), or A$12
(US$7.80) if you take the photo yourself. Daily 10am–5pm; koala photo sessions 10am–4pm. Closed Christmas.
Train: Gosnells on Armadale line then a cab (about A$15/US$9.75). Bus: 219. By car: Take Riverside Dr.
across Swan River onto Albany Hwy., follow for approx. 25km (16 miles) to Gosnells, turn left onto Tonkin
Hwy. and right onto Mills Rd. E. (approx. 35-min. drive from city). A cab from the city is approx. A$40 (US$26).
Holmes à Court Gallery This glamorous riverside gallery offers rotating
exhibitions from one of the country’s most outstanding private art collections,
that of Janet Holmes à Court, Australia’s richest woman. Many of the works are