South Freo Eco Village - The Painted Fish

When booking my latest trip in Australia I wanted to find and stay at as much eco-friendly accommodation as possible. And the first tip I can share is that using the search term ‘eco accommodation’ + “destination” seems the best way to find the most relevant search returns using a search engine. (I had originally tried to be more specific putting in “B&B’s” as well however, this led to much less relevant search returns).

So I typed in ‘eco accommodation Fremantle’ and up popped The Painted Fish. So I called Shani and Tim and booked to stay 3 nights in the South Beach Eco Village. The accommodation is uniquely “Freo” and the website thepaintedfish.com.au is chock full of information about how Shani and Tim have turned their dream of combining a living gallery and sustainable accommodation. They are currently busy renovating another house in the ‘village’ and were more than happy to spend time chatting with me about their various projects and the choices they have to make in terms of choosing materials and suppliers. They like to use local suppliers wherever possible.

I stayed in The Railway Carriage (yes it really is a converted railway carriage!) which was beautiful, secluded and self-contained. The shower and ‘dunny’ are both outside and if you have never showered al fresco before then try it! The shower itself is one of Tim’s scultpures and is made from copper pipe and shaped into a showering sunflower.

This is high quality budget accommodation and ideal for two people to have a uniquely eco, South Freo experience. Locally run supermarkets selling organic produce are only 10 minutes walk away. In fact everything you could want is within walking distance. The beach is literally a 3 minute walk away! And you can easily get from Perth to South Freo by public transport so no need to take a car. It is simple to catch the train from central Perth using the Transperth Journey Planner and then you can either walk 25 minutes or take the free CAT bus to South Freo.