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Thursday 28th and it was nice to wake up to a clear blue sky. We hadn’t planned anything special for today but, after an hour or so of “thinking”, we decided to go off to Fremantle (Freo) for the day. It was only 35kms away so, with the very good suburban road network, we seemed to be there in no time. We’d spent quite a bit of time there eight years ago and quite liked it so we thought it would be good to visit again. We were able to drive right into the heart of Freo and parked within easy walking distance of the Round House and the Maritime Museum, two of the main tourist attractions. Freo is the main port for Perth and manages very successfully to combine being a busy industrial area and a major tourist centre. We strolled through the park next to where we left the car (after a bit of an ordeal with a parking meter which “robbed” me of $4. I inserted $4:20 for a three hour ticket and got one for 20 cents lasting about 10 minutes!!) and then on towards the Round House passing ‘Bathers Bay’ which had a pleasant looking beach.
First we went up to the cannon where at 1pm each day volunteers, helped by tourists, man the cannon and fire a blank explosion which the locals check their clocks by. A time ball which hangs from a flag pole is dropped at the same time and this keeps a tradition going that started in 1880. We went down the steps to the Round House which is not actually round but twelve-sided and should really be called Dodecagon House! It’s the oldest building in Western Australia and was built in 1830 and used as a prison and then a lock-up until 1900. It had eight cells and a jailer’s residence. There were a couple of very enthusiastic volunteer guides who were on hand to answer any questions. They encouraged visitors to try out the stocks and I duly obliged – not a very comfortable experience and one which hurt my throat! We managed to escape from the gaol and wandered towards the centre of Freo where there are still many fine old buildings.
We had a bit of lunch in the famous “Cappuccino Strip”, a popular area of cafes and restaurants, and strolled around the various arcades, familiarizing ourselves
Statue of 'Bon Scott'
It also says: 'the greatest rock and roll front man of all time' - you learn something every day!! with a few of the places we had visited before. Our two favourite activities from last time were, catching a river boat up to Perth and back, spending time near the Bell Tower in Perth, and also taking our bikes on the train to Perth and cycling the 21 kms back along the very picturesque riverside cycle path. This time we are unlikely to do anything quite so energetic but it was nice to remember. I wanted to go into the Maritime Museum that was near the Round House but Graham wasn’t too fussy so he sat and relaxed outside. To be fair we went in there on our previous visit but I couldn’t remember too much about it and as they only asked for a small donation, in I went. This, the smaller museum of two Maritime Museums in Freo, focuses on some of the shipwrecks that had occurred off WA’s treacherous coast. One of the ships, the Batavia, is particularly interesting – having been built in Holland it was on its maiden voyage and hit a reef on the 4th June 1629 near Beacon Island about 40 miles off the coast. As I went round the many displays
and information boards I learned some of her fascinating history which included an incredible 33 day voyage in a long boat by some of the surviving crew and passengers to get help (they ended up in Jakarta, Indonesia), murder and mutiny. A mutinous plot was being hatched even before the ship ran aground. Standing in the semi darkness on the balcony looking over the timber remnants of the stern, the dreadful happenings of September 1629 seemed quite vivid and then seeing the skeleton of a man who had probably been killed by the mutineers brought it to life (well, nearly!). The ship had been loaded with canons and trunks full of ‘Kings’ Treasure’ – amazingly two trunks were salvaged and some of the recovered coins and other items are on display in the museum.
I suddenly remembered Graham, who was patiently sitting outside, and so cut short my visit. He was still there happily ‘people watching’ but by now our three hours of parking were nearly up so we hurried back to the car to see if we had attracted a parking fine. Graham had refused to pay any more money into the parking meter and left a cryptic
note in the windscreen on our 20 cents ticket explaining what had happened. Either it was never checked or they accepted his explanation as there was no fine on the windscreen (phew!). We’d really enjoyed our fleeting return visit to Freo so perhaps we’ll find some time to come back again. It was as easy to drive out of the town as it was to drive in so we were soon back into Perth and nearing our temporary home at Forrestfield. We diverted briefly to Belmont so that Graham could leave his bank details at the Medicare Centre to complete the Medicare registering process, and then drove back to Sweetie. The sun was shining but it was still a bit fresh to consider using the pool and, anyway, I was still feeling a bit under the weather as I had done for the last few days. So we relaxed, I cooked dinner, and we settled in for the night.
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