Is the WA Shipwrecks Museum the best museum in Fremantle?

The best museum in Fremantle is the WA Shipwrecks Museum. It does a great job explaining the history of Dutch exploration of the Australian coast.

The best attraction in Fremantle is the World Heritage-listed Fremantle Prison. The tours of this convict-built prison are excellent and thoroughly recommended. It’s a push to call that a museum, however. Therefore, if handing out a title for the best museum in Fremantle, it’s the WA Shipwrecks Museum.

Australia does a nice line in shipwrecks. Some, such as the Maheno wreck on Fraser Island in Queensland, have become tourist attractions in their own right.

WA Shipwrecks Museum: Shipwrecks in Western Australia

But in Western Australia, shipwrecks also play a key part in Australian history. The WA Shipwrecks Museum gives a far bigger overview than you might expect.

Lt James Cook wasn’t the first European to ‘discover’ Australia. The Dutch got there first, with several less well-known voyages of discovery.

The first arrivals came as the Dutch East India Company (or VOC) attempted to control the spice trade from what is now Indonesia. The surrounding areas were scouted, and in 1606, Willem Janszoon on the Duyfken landed on Queensland’s Cape York peninsula. The landing spot is one of Australia’s most important heritage sites. But Janszoon thought he was in New Guinea. thinking it was New Guinea. A crewman was killed in a skirmish and Janszoon got out quickly.

Ten years later, Dirk Hartog arrived, following the Roaring Forties trade winds and turning north too late. He stumbled across what is now Dirk Hartog Island in Shark Bay, and in 1616, left a plate nailed to a post there.

Dutch shipwrecks at the WA Shipwrecks Museum

Other Dutch ships made the northward turn too late as well, and came off considerably worse. the Zeewijk, Zuytdorp, Vergulde Draeck and Batavia were wrecked off Western Australian shores long before Cook arrived. The WA Shipwrecks Museum has plenty of artefacts from these Dutch ships and more. The Batavia Gallery is the most interesting section of the WA Shipwrecks Museum, largely due to the extraordinary, grim story of the Batavia shipwreck.

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The Dutch did end up mapping much of Australia’s west and northern coast, partly through not wanting to lose any more ships. And it’s learning this history that makes you want to leave the WA Shipwrecks Museum and buy a whole host of books on the Dutch history of Australia. You might end up wanting a couple on the English exploration of Western Australia while you’re at it.

Admission to the WA Shipwrecks Museum, formerly known as the WA Museum Shipwrecks Gallery, is free. There is a $5 suggested donation, however. The museum is close to the Roundhouse, Western Australia’s oldest public building, and the excellent Bread In Common restaurant.

Other Fremantle activities include taking a ride on the Fremantle ferris wheel, going for a sunset cruise and a street art and beer tour by bike.

Unusual Fremantle accommodation options include the Hougoumont Hotel and Fremantle Prison YHA.

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