Vine times to be enjoyed around the other Perth

Having sampled the delights of Eastern Australia, Robin heads west and raises a glass to the country’s opposite coast

G’day and welcome back to down under. I’m in the third week of my adventure and over in Western Australia. I’d like to share with you the epic rail odyssey that brought me here, the dynamic “other Perth”, lively Fremantle and the glorious delights of Margaret River, one of the world’s great wine touring regions.

I ventured over to Perth from Sydney on one of the world’s great rail journeys, the Indian Pacific (www. greatsouthernrail.com.au), which covers 4,352km (2,704 miles) and takes a whopping three nights and four days to cross the expanse of Australia.

I’m pleased to report that it’s even better for tourists now it’s privately, rather than government, owned.

Gone is the backbreaking seated class. Everyone now has a bed, whether in Gold Class (which I travelled in) or the more exclusive (and 50% more expensive) Platinum Class.

Life aboard the Indian Pacific is a wonderfully relaxed affair as you cruise across the land with your cabin window opening up the vastness of Australia.

I loved sitting watching out for bounding kangaroos, leggy emus and soaring wedge-tail eagles, the bird that is the symbol of the Indian Pacific. The locally sourced food is excellent too and handily, all drinks are included.

Perth is the most remote state capital in the world but these days this increasingly dynamic city no longer feels that cut off.

Como the Treasury (www. Comohotels.com/thetreasury) was every inch a plush five star, awash with hardwoods and marble and my bedroom was the largest I’ve had on this entire trip.

I liked that the Como is built into the historic State Buildings complex and it was alive with all manner of shops, bars and restaurants.

My favourite place to eat was elegant Wildflower, which sits on the roof of the Como with epic views of the rapidly changing Perth skyline.

One trend I noticed here was the move to open up walkways, cafes, bars and restaurants along the beachfringed coast, both at old favourites like Cottesloe Beach and along the emerging City Beach. I found this trend alive too in Fremantle, the port town just down the Swan River from Perth that seamlessly merges with the city.

My base in “Freo” (as the locals dub it) was the recently revamped Tradewinds Hotel (www tradewindshotel.com.au), a good value option just back from the river.

From here I struck out to the revamped waterfront, kicking off at Little Creatures. I loved it here. It’s a brewery but it does brilliant food and genuinely caters for all the family. The award-winning range of beers is world class too.

Just along from Little Creatures were a brace of great value dining options.

Bather’s Beach House is the only place in WA with a licence to serve drinks on the beach so it’s a very popular spot with visitors of all ages. The seafood platter was excellent, though it offers a lot more modest dishes too.

Further along the coast Bib & Tucker was propped high above the sands, giving me a great view of the efforts of the local surfers. The octopus and chorizo “small plate” dishes here were superb.

It was time to push south now to the cooler climes of Margaret River. I’ve been to many wine regions but none so virginal. The first wines were not produced here until 1971.

Handily, my first stop was at the