Advertisement
Published: December 13th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Day 226 - Woodman Point
Our second day of catch up was quickly upon us so for much of the morning I was glued to the laptop again whilst Darryl gave the outside of the caravan a good clean and sorted out the washing. What a guy, good on you Dar!
Caravan fever struck mid morning and frankly enough was enough, we both needed to get out and explore what was on our doorstep - another great coast line. We thought we’d go for a short bike ride as Dar had also found time this morning to give the bikes a bit of love, care and attention. Our K-Mart two wheelers have not faired well on our trip so far, the front wheels are a weeny bit buckled and the gears are ‘semi-automatic’ ie they change when they want to rather than when we flick the lever!
With plenty of enthusiasm we sought out the cycle path and were pleasantly surprised, it was a nice easy ride in the direction of Coogee and through the park where we’d gone fishing only yesterday morning.
Having a tendency to get carried away is probably my worst trait (although don’t
ask Darryl because he’ll come up with a laminated list rather than just ‘that one’!) and my mouth got the better of me as I suggested that we continued on towards Freemantle because “It’s only 8.5km”. That’s nothing is it really, I mean the Ironmen and of course women cycle for 180km and that’s after a 3km swim and then they are faced with a 40km run or something ridiculous. 8.5kms, pah, easy. And it was too, the ride gets a bit confusing when it hits Coogee as with most other old industrial areas on the coast it is being redeveloped and a huge housing plus marina complex is being constructed. The advertising signage makes it all look very appealing with ocean views and play areas for little ones. Some of the lots are enormous and the houses extensive although no doubt apartment blocks will take up some of the available space as that’s where the real money is for the property developers.
We muddled our way through the new estate and managed to re-attach ourselves to the cycle path at the other end. This section looks pretty new and whoever painted the Keep Left detail must have been
having a bit of a laugh - check it out in the photo! Dar was completely taken in and thought that perhaps it was so posh that they’d actually laid a dual carriage way cycle path so went looking for the ‘other side’ which ironically would have also sported the ‘Keep Left’ descriptions but of course should have been the right way round! *Sigh*
A cycling we did go and thoroughly enjoyed the shady parts of the track and the views we got of the ocean. As we got closer to Freemantle, or Freo as the locals call it, we came past firstly the salt factory and then the potato factory before hitting the endless stream of boat yards.
The ride also took us past the Little Creatures brewery so we enquired about doing a tour but it’s too small a place to do that but we were welcomed back for a pint once we’d had a look around town. Deal!
We ditched the bikes outside the Shipwreck Museum. A gold coin donation gets you into this fascinating display which shares with you the secrets found in the depths of the ocean off Western Australia. This intriguing
museum had us happily wandering around being wowed by the history, recovery and restoration of the famous Batavia, a Dutch merchant ship wrecked in 1629. There are several display areas but the most domineering is the restored section of the Batavia hull and a huge stone façade which was intended as the entrance to the Batavia castle and onboard the ship when it sank. You can read all about the Commander Francisco Palsaert and how he and 47 others left 268 people on a waterless island to go look for help. It took them 33 days to reach mainland Batavia (now called Jakarta) but 63 days to return to rescue the survivors. When they arrived the island was in the grips of a mutiny and 125 men, women and children had been slaughtered. Palsaert arrested the mutineers and before executing them cut off either their right hand or both of their hands then they were hung til death.
We stayed in the museum for far longer than either of us anticipated, it’s well worth a visit especially as it’s so cheap to get in and so much effort has been put into the displays.
Freemantle is a great
place to wander around, very lively with some interesting shops dotted about. With yet more photos printed for Christmas cards we made our way back through the ornate buildings via the Round House. Unfortunately the doors were shut but we’ve been inside before on a previous trip and found it fascinating hence dropping by again today. Built in 1831 it’s the oldest public building in WA, was originally a prison and became the site of the colony’s first hanging. We remember some of the ludicrous reasons people were held here and the miniature feeling to the cells, it’s got a strange feeling about the place.
Back at the Shipwreck Museum we were chuffed to find our bikes still locked up together outside and as it was still daylight we thought we’d treat ourselves to a pint in the Little Creatures brewery. We sampled a new brew that was the result of a competition between the brewers, it wasn’t bad and as it was a Special Bitter I thought I’d give it a go whilst Dar tried their Pale Ale. The building is split between brewery and pub really but it’s got a great feel to it and they’ve made
interesting seating out of kegs. Wish we’d thought of that a few years back! We caught up on some interesting brewery news from back home via the plentiful brewery associated magazines available, quite a lot has been going on since we left the UK.
So with the nice feeling of being slightly inebriated off we pedalled back to the caravan park, with the wind in our face which put a bit of a strain on things but we made it in good humour and with not too much ache in our limbs.
Lastly but by no means least, I kicked Dar’s arse yet again at Rummikub (5 nil now) and then we went to bed!
Beautiful
Dar and Sar
Advertisement
Tot: 0.04s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0207s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jan Kettle
non-member comment
Coor(s) !
It's good to see Coors up there but a shame that Wadworths of Devizes haven't made it yet! When we were camping near Freo we cycled in, put us and our bikes on a train and went into the centre of Perth and later on in the day we cycled all the way back, mostly along cycle paths by the river (approx 22klms). Just another brilliant experience to be had in WA. xxx Mum K