st pats..... lucy, crazy with curses ..random photos around town

Some pictures from Fremantle, and of the "Round the World Yacht Race"

Was meant to meet Sancha to do the museums today but she wore herself out over the weekend and stayed in bed. I was about to go without her but Gemini called and suggested I come to Fremantle to meet her. We walked along the port, the largest in Sydney, and lined with bars and restaurants that really must come alive at night to form a bustling esplanade. We met the boys, Sebastian and Cedric in the park and bought some cider and beer to drink in the sunshine all afternoon, feeling a bit like deros (derelicts)!

SEPTEMBER 14TH TO SEPTEMBER 16TH        SORRY NO PHOTOS FOR FREMANTLE

We flew out to Western Australia because we had a job lined up in a small holiday town in the extreme South West of Australia called Margaret River.

We flew into Perth international airport in the pouring rain and again, about 10 degrees in temperature! We took a shuttle bus to the port town of Fremantle, just south of the city of Perth.

Fremantle is one of the first settlements in Australia and you can see this from the relatively old buildings throughout the city. There is an old convict prison and military buildings and weapons along the front.

We arrived in Fremantle to clearing skies and so we decided to head out. It is compact and easy to find your way around and it was very nice walking around the centre just getting a feel for it.

That night we went to a nightclub in town (searched rigorously) and went back to the hostel at about 5 am! There is a large party scene in the town.

The hostel was Fremantle Sun Dancers hostel and was a very large building which originally was a victorian mansion.

There was free internet which i made use of at 5 in the morning!

We took a taxi to the TRANSWA coach service pick up point to take our 5 hour ride down to wine and surf capital of Western Australia, Margaret River.

If you head to this part of Australia, don't forget Fremantle! Most people only go to Perth (we didn't see Perth and I'm sure it's nice!) but Fremantle was really nice. But don't head across the country just to see it!

Fran, who Cecilia used to work with on Motor Yacht Pradera Blue in the Mediterranean, picked us up early in the morning at Perth airport and took us to their house located outside Perth, in Fremantle. Cecilia went with Fran for a baby scan, which was very exciting. The baby even winked at us. As we hadn't slept much on the plane we had a little rest over midday. When Rob, Fran's husband who also used to work on the boat, came back from his day doing renovations to their other house, we all went down to the beach for Rob to give James a lesson in kite surfing, which he thouroughly enjoyed. In the evening we had our first Aussie barbie - prawns of course.

After six weeks of very hot and humid weather in South East Asia, fortunately for us Perth was experiencing some unusually cool weather, which was bliss. Over the following six days really enjoyed spending some time in a real home rather than hostel and hotel accommodation. It was so nice to see Rob and Fran and also meeting Rob's mum, Rona, who was also staying with them plus the rest of their family and friends. Not eating out every single meal was also a relief. Fran had put together a good itinerary for visits around the area, which included visiting a Benedictine monastary, lunch at a beautiful winery, sunset drinks in Fremantle and a stroll along Rockingham sand dunes, where we were attacked by hundreds of flies. Apparently this had something to do with the lack of dung beetles?! We also enjoyed a day in Perth just strolling around the shops and down to the river side. 

Rob and Fran kindly got us some surf lessons for Christmas, which we had the day before we left at Perths famous Scarborough Beach. The water in Perth was much cooler than in Bali, but we picked up lots of good tips, so hopefully we'll be able to just hire boards and go out ourselves when we get to the East Coast.

It was sad to leave our friends, but we had to get on with our travels. Next stop The Rock!

Hi, from the Prison Tour I went to the Motor Museum. I spent roughly and hour in here taking lots of photos and then caught the Boat back to Perth. I will definatly come back here to do the rest of the Prison.

Have posted some pics from the Museum.

Will keep you all posted about the Job, I just hope they have internet and a TV, lol.

Speak soon.

Hi Everyone, whilst Chris and Dee did their Course for the Mining Position I decided to go to a Town called Fremantle. I had to catch a Boat over the Swan River to get there. When i got there I couldn't believe how much there was to do considering its only a couple of square Km.
I knew there wouldn't be enough time to do everything in one day so i chose two things.

Firstly I took a Tour of the Prison. This is where England sent all their Convicts in the 19th Century. The Tour was really interesting, I wanted to go down and see the tunnels where the prisoners had dug a Kilometre deep when they had attempted to escape but it was a lot more expensive. I think I will do this when I get back from the Mining Job, looks really interesting. The Tour I did was the more walking around the Cells and Grounds, it lasted an Hour and a Half.

Take care, speak soon.

Mum and I went to Fremantle prison while out on a day trip in 2002. It was my first prison experience (thank god) and as I love prison movies we thought we would go for a visit. Even seeing the huge walls that surround the now unused prison gave we the chills. We were shown around in a group of about 15 by a former prison guard who was very informative and had many a story to tell of his experiences there. We saw the excercize yard, bathrooms, kitchen, loads of cells from the first days of the prison to how they looked when it closed in the 90s and the most chilling of all DEATH ROW and THE GALLOWS. There was also a gift shop and cafe there.

Jade invited us around for a bbq and a few drinks.  We checked out her new place, sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the view over the park.  Big Matt and Lou also turned up and it was great to catch up with them as we hadn't seen them for a while.

With a few beers in the beer garden at Rosie O'Grady's in Fremantle.  It was a great day for it as well.  We grabbed a few tables and joined them all together as we were joined by the family and friends.  It was our first chance to catch up with some of our friends due to everyone having to work during the week. 

Today was the last day of the tour.  As I mentionned in the previous entry, we started off at 5am as we had about 1000km to drive back to Perth.  We stopped at Wave Rock for lunch and some photos, York for a quick look around the cute little town that was the first settlement in WA and to see the totally random town with the dog cemetery and the record of the most dogs in utes in a queue!  Strange.  We got back to Perth about 6pm and we all went for a nice Indian meal in Northbridge.  I made my way back to Fremantle to the Old Firestation.  I unfortunately lost my place in the girls dorm but was happy to be back nonetheless.

Just a quick update to let everyone know I made it to Western Australia (the flight was 4 hours!!).  I am absolutely knackered as I only slept an hour last night.  I look like a piece of crap!  I never got all my work done but stuff it.  I did as much as I possibly could!  I think I have come to the right place.  Everyone says that Perth and WA are the epidome of laid-back Aussie life so bring it on!  I got my first glimpse of the Indian Ocean today and it was beautiful!  I can almost feel the tension in my shoulders and back relaxing!  I'm staying in the Old Firehouse with Louise and Angel.  It's great to see those 2 crazy plonkers again! It's a cool hostel with character and lots of characters.  I think it's quite the party place.  Some Irish blokes were already drinking beers at 10am when I arrived!  I was apparently supposed to be in the "Pleasure dorm" a 20 bed room where anything goes but luckily am on the girls wing at the moment.    I can tell we are going to have a blast together!  We've been chilling out today (most everyone is really hungover) and watching Bridget Jones Diary in the girls TV room!  Louise and I are just about to go for a stroll.  There are tonnes of excellent music things going on here this weekend and next weekend (Blues and Roots festival with Ben Harper, Missy Higgins, V festival... Fringe festival).   Louise has a few days off so we will likely go exploring before I head south for awhile on my own (they are working girls afterall).  Louise and I are planning our wine tours and camping trip up North already.
I'll update again soon,
Hannah

You can get an iced chocolate almost anywhere...but I had my first at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle. It was great!

A tour of the Fremantle Prison is a fantastic and fascinating day. The Fremantle Prison is a piece of living history. When you step inside you will be transported back in time to experience what it is like behind the thick walls and inside the tiny cells in which people lived day after day, the stunning art painted straight on the walls and the inspiring convict-made architecture.If only the walls could talk! The guides know some amazing stories. This ancient buildings history holds many secrets and stories ready to be shared. We had a really good tour guide.

I have never been inside a prison - not that I really want to be - but knowing I am just a visitor and that I can leave any time I want to, made me feel allright.

There was one room I really did not like at all -  - it was the room where they hung people. Horrible place!

Amazing that they actually had inmates until 1991! The place is really old and in not very good condition but of course it should not be fun anyway. The tour was about 2 hours and I was very glad and happy to see the prison walls from the outside again after that.

It is for sure worth a visit! They also offer tunnel tours and night tours! 

The Fremantle Prison has a rich and varied past. As a place of incarceration for almost 150 years its inmates included British convicts, local prisoners, military prisoners, enemy aliens and prisoners of war.

It was built by convicts in the 1850s, it became a colonial prison in the 1880s and its inmates extended to include women as well as men. Its twentieth century history includes time as a military prison and after its closure as Western Australia's primary place of incarceration and a maximum security prison it is now one of the state's premier heritage sites.

The first prison - also the first public building in WA was built in 1831 -
the Round House.

On the 4th and 5th of January 1988 was a Fire and riot at Fremantle Prison. The  prisoners rebelled and rioted, setting fire to 3 Division, taking some Prison Officers hostage and making demands about conditions. Order was restored on 5th January, but not before some of the officers held hostage were injured, and extensive damage done to the part of the Main Cell Block by fire and water.

This year also saw the commencement of the Fremantle Prison Conservation and Future Use project in which extensive investigations and research into the Prison site and its history and heritage potential were carried out. At the time it was the largest such project ever undertaken in Western Australia. The project reported to the State Government during 1990, recommending the prison be conserved as a significant heritage site. The recommendation was accepted by the Government.

In 1991 the inmates and staff of Fremantle Prison were transferred to the new security prison at Casuarina, about 20 kms south of Perth, and the Fremantle Prison was closed.

Since 1992 a tourist operator is offering tours of the Prison.

We arrived for the last day tour of the day, it was well worth the 2 hours! The guide was fantastic. It was quite the experience to walk around a prison - it some places it looked like that the inmates just left but on the other hand it was hard to believe that this prison were actualy inside until 1991! The prison is really old and the conditions inside really poor, it was about time to change something.  

They offer also special tours through the tunnel and at night - I was not brave enough to do that! ;-)