Perth, Fremantle & Rottnest Island

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We went to Kings Park which overlooks Perth CBD. There was a wildflower exhibition on this month and they had flowers from all over the state. At the water garden there was some baby ducklings only a few days old. Perth has a free bus service called CAT and there are 3 of them. The red, blue and yellow. They criss-cross the Perth CBD. Fremantle also has the CAT. We got to catch one when we went to the Post Office to collect our mail.

We caught up with our friends that we met in Coral Bay - the Pipers. James is the same age as me and his sister is 1 year younger than Kate. We had 2 plays and stayed for tea one night.

We went to the Perth Mint and did a tour. There was a display of the conditions that the gold-miners used to work in. They also had replicas of the “Welcome Stranger” (found in Victoria), the “Golden Eagle” and the “Hand of Faith” (found in Kalgoorlie). We got to watch a gold pour where they melt the gold at over 1000°C. It is poured into a mould and dipped in cold water. Within minutes it is set and able to be held with protective gloves. There was a security guard watching the whole time.

Fremantle is very close to Perth and we went across to Rottnest Island from Perth. We got to see some quokkas and fed them leaves. They were cute and one had a joey in its pouch.

Next day we went to the Maritime Museum and went on a submarine tour of HMAS Ovens. It was good. We had to climb down ladders, go through bulkheads and squeeze down narrow passages. There isn’t much room on a submarine.

We left Perth and went to the prison in Freo and did a day tour of the prison. The cells are only 2.1m x 1.2m and they get a bucket for a toilet. The prison was closed in 1991 after a fire, because the up to date fire engines couldn’t get through the main gate to extinguish the fire. Also with buckets for toilets and poor conditions it was easier to close the prison and move them the new prison further south.

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Photos

Kings Park
Kate & I with the baby ducklings

Perth Mint
Me with the Welcome Stranger

Perth - Swan River
The river cruise on the way to Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island
Me feeding the Quokkas

Maritime Museum
HMAS Ovens - the submarine we had a tour of

Fremantle Prison
An 1800's cell - very very small

Fremantle Prison
Razor wire kept them in