Fremantle

Posted by efloow on November 17, 2015 in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

November 11-17

We spent a rather hectic week in a house, south of Perth, in the historic port town of Fremantle. The house was in a great location close to all the major attractions, local cafes and restaurants, with easy access to the trains to Perth. At first it seemed rather opulent, but interestingly by the end of the week we were all ready to move on… it was a a little too much like being back to home again!

We enjoyed exploring Fremantle. The Maritime Museum and the tour of the Oberon class submarine was a fun morning. The Shipwreck Gallery Museum consolidated all we had learnt about the famous ancient wrecks of the west coast, and it was amazing to see the 400 year old bits and pieces salvaged from the actual wrecks, as well as the reconstructed part of Batavia hull.

The World Heritage Listed Fremantle Prison tour was a real eye opener and brilliantly guided. The prison, that was built by convict labour in 1851-9, was operational as a high security prison to 1991 and was preserved as it was left. It looked and felt just like the prisons of TV and film and was incredibly intimidating, especially as the tour included operational details around the gallows (last used in1964), the solitary confinement cells, and scary details around the recreation yards and hard yard life.

We got the ferry to Rottnest Island and cycled the full 22 km to explore the picturesque bays and lakes. We had fun spotting the cute little Quokkas that are indigenous to the island, and we climbed the 155 steps to the top of the Wadjemup Lighthouse built by convict labour back in 1897. The views where incredible.

Scitech was a great place to spend an afternoon with the kids. Science in action, with clever displays and workstations and excellent science shows with demonstrations. They planetarium was really excellent and well done and cleverly explained some of the amazing night sky of our trip.

The car and camper got indulged in Perth to ready them for the trip home. After about 25,000km the car got a service, new windscreen, and new brake pads. It also got a valet… so clean in and out that it was nearly unrecognisable! The camper also went and had its service, bearings and brakes repacked and adjusted.

We were looking forward to the shopping in Perth as a chance to update worn clothes, accessorise cameras, and sort out cracked iPad screens (oh, oh Alex). In the end the shopping became rather functional and tedious and probably contributed to our desire to run away again! We where all rather surprised to see Christmas decorations everywhere… the fact that Christmas was near had passed us by!

But now, back on the road and into the final leg of our trip around the southwest corner. Our plans around this leg are a little vague. Margaret river, Albany, Esperance, the Karri forests, and Kalgoorlie with the Superpit mine are all on the itinerary. The details around when to cross the Nullarbor and how to avoid the crowds and chaos of the school holiday crowds on the way home are less clear.