Last weekend we got lucky with a beautiful day of Winter sun! It was a lazy Sunday morning and we weren’t sure what we were going to do with the kids until I vaguely remembered someone telling me about The Little Ferry Co – a new ferry service in East Perth that would take you straight into Elizabeth Quay.
Given the sunny forecast I was sold, so made a call and managed to reserve four seats on a little ferry courtesy of the Little Ferry Co, departing from Claisebrook Cove at 1.15pm. Because the ferries are little (a maximum of 11 passengers) I didn’t want to get down there just to be disappointed. And you can just imagine the kids complaining all the way home….but apparently, you can book online if you have more than 24 hours notice.
In Winter there are only 3 departures from Claisebrook Cove per day – 11.15am, 1.15pm and 2.45pm. Coming back from Elizabeth Quay in Winter, the ferry departs at 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2.00pm. We knew we wouldn’t be able to come back by ferry to our car so we left it at home and got the train! Claisebrook train station was less than a 10-minute walk away so it was easy. Kids loved the novelty of getting on a train and then getting on a ferry, all in one day!
I really like it down at Claisebrook Cove so we arrived early and had a lovely coffee and a quick bite to eat at Toast. Because the sun was shining the whole area was pumping! I did also make a mental note to spend another sunny Sunday having a few wines at The Royal on the Waterfront, it’s such a great spot. In the past we’ve spotted dolphins from there, I remember the kids were mesmerised trying to spot where they were going to come up again.
So just after 1.00pm we saw our little ferry coming up the cove and we waited patiently on the dock. The fares were really reasonable and they had EFTPOS facilities available onboard.
I expected the ferry to be tiny but it wasn’t too bad onboard, we took our pram (collapsed), I had a big bag with me and the kids kept swapping seats along the way and there were no problems. The cruise to Elizabeth Quay took around 40 minutes and it was great as our Skipper gave us some really interesting commentary along the way!
The ferries are electric but most of the time they run on solar power which I thought was pretty cool! The kids had the back seat and because the ferry was electric there were no stinky exhaust fumes to deal with. They don’t go fast; around 6 knots if you know what that means but it was great because you could really take in the Swan River and everything you passed cruising up the river.
I loved seeing Crown Casino and the new hotel towers from the water, the Perth Stadium and spotting things we knew along the way.
All in all, a fab little family excursion with the Little Ferry Co!
Once we got to Elizabeth Quay we walked over the bridge, played in the playground, queued for Gusto Gelato (yes in Winter) and then made our way across the city back to the train station. I highly recommend it!
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Alison Cridge is a busy marketer who loves exploring Perth with her family, more often than not in search of the perfect flat white! A born ‘n bred Perth girl, Alison is enjoying seeing a different side of the city with her two young children. She loves cheese, wine and travelling and can’t wait to show Izzy and Leo the world :)
