"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #53 Fremantle, Australia February 22, 2018 Thursday Sunny & 78 degrees Part # 1 of 4 80 Pictures

The settlement of Freemantle was founded in 1829, when Captain Charles Freemantle claimed this west coast of Australia for the British. The first European settlers arrived in June of the same year. By the 1850’s. it was a convict colony, built by convicts, eventually reaching the numbers of 10,000 male prisoners. The feel of this city is most Victorian, with so many of the classic buildings that have been preserved since those days. As the town grew, so did the migrants that came here, looking for a new and better life. They found work in the fishing and whaling industries, which was established by 1831.

There are so many cafes, restaurants, and pubs here you cannot count them all these days. Together with all of the museums, churches, and shops, Freemantle is a wonderful city to discover. And as far as tours go, where else can you find a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes a visit to these prisons, as well as seeing the underground series of tunnels. We understand that convict miners worked in these tunnels, going down as deep as 65 feet. There are rivers down there, where the convicts punted in flat boats to get around.

As recent as 2015, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel award went to Fremantle. They rated the city # 7 of the 2016 top 10 cities to visit. We happen to agree, because we chose to stay here today, and walk the town.

A mere 12 miles inland, is the city of Perth, the actual destination city. Built on the Swan River, this metropolis is modern by comparison. Here you can find exclusive neighborhoods, a yacht club, a 1000 acre botanic garden, and the Old Swan Brewery. Shopping malls and high end stores in also in Perth. In fact, Perth has been given the distinction of being in the world’s top ten of most desired and livable cities in the world.

Continuing out of Perth, you will find fertile growing regions, and some mighty fine wineries. You might recognize the names of Houghton and Sandalford’s Caversham Estate, both fine wineries to visit. With their Mediterranean climate, the vineyards in the Swan Valley have put this place on the map.

Caversham also has a wildlife park with the typical Australian animals roaming freely. You can reach Perth by bus, tram, or a river ferry. All of these areas could be toured today on the ship’s eight excursions. To see Fremantle, 3 ½ tours spent time there, while 4 ½ tours went out of town to Perth and beyond. The hours were from 3 ½ to 6, and cost from $70 to $230. And we have done them all, a few of the tours, more than once.

We got a later start today, since we had a very unrestful night. All through the evening, we could hear screech, groan, tap-tap-tap, and more loud noises. What in the world was causing that? All we had to do was look out our window, and see the culprit. It was that darned gangway that had been attached to deck three. It moved with the ship ever so slightly, but enough to make those ungodly noises all night. Even ear plugs did not drown out all of the noise. So by the time we finally fell asleep, it was time to get up. Oh well, we can rest later, right?

Since we had been cleared by the authorities yesterday, we could leave anytime. That turned out to be shortly after 9:30am. Before the start of a coast guard drill onboard. The ship’s whistles are so ear-piercing, we found it best to be off of the ship. Picking up a few maps and a booklet, we set off for town. Now we could have jumped on the local complimentary shuttle, but the center of Fremantle was a 10 minute walk. Up and over the train tracks and the highway, we followed the streets that took us to the downtown area at King’s Square.

On the way, we passed by the first of many Victorian sandstone buildings. This was a school in the Princess May Park, that happened to have many mature trees on the grounds. They were also full of small parrots called rainbow lorikeets. Larger than a parakeet, these multi-colored birds are in the moluccanus variety, one of 21 types of lorikeets. Really difficult to find, these little screeching, chattering birds were eating fruit, insects, pollen, and nectar of the flowering eucalyptus trees. Masters of disguise, their noises gave them away. We read that in the forested regions, these birds are actually pollinators of the coconut flowers.

Time to move on, as the day was already heating up. As windy as it was yesterday while sailing into the harbor, it was well-protected within the confines of the town. As we headed up a side street, we did pass by a sewing shop, where we could purchase some elastic to fix two sweatshirts. Needing to spend loose change today, this was a convenient way to do it. With one more $2 coin left, we bought a small zippered Australian souvenir pouch, suitable for packing the Kindle.

Passing a few historic churches such as St. Patrick’s Basilica and St. John’s Anglican Church (1843), we arrived to Town Hall (1885). This square was really empty of tourists this early, since most of the shops were still closed. A few years ago, we think our visit happened on a weekend, and there was a huge open-air street craft market here. Today there was one food stall in the square.

The tourist info center was located within the Town Hall. We had just run into friend Ginger, who was helping us with wifi sites. Even though we had a great little map, we had not looked at it yet. So Ginger showed us how to follow the symbols where good and free internet was available. Just happened, we were headed that way anyway.

We must have been close to a beach, because an outdoor café had young local customers sipping coffee, one gal with little on in the way of clothing. Like a hint of a bikini. It was more fun for us watching the expressions of shock with the many cruisers that were also having a morning coffee and pastry.

And we did find the beach, called Bathers Beach. It was located through an old whaling tunnel where the famous Round House is built. This former prison (gaol or jail) is Western Australia’s oldest public building dating back to 1831. Funny thing…it is not round, but a 12 sided dedocahedron. Volunteers from the community give a guided tour of this monument almost every day of the year. We did not climb the stairs, because we already have photos of this structure.

Going through the dark tunnel was eerie, because they have added a sound track with noises of whales, wind, and convict workings. It may be part of the convicts of Freemantle tour. This tunnel also served as a portal where the whales were processed back in the 1800’s.

We had a pleasant surprise waiting for us when we strolled around Bathers Beach. This small stretch of a sandy cove near the marina is a great place for swimming and sunbathing. It was also the place to see dolphins coming very close to the shoreline as they fished in the calm waters of the bay. At least four of them gently surfaced, working the boulders of the harbor’s bulkhead. Watching for the longest time, they disappeared from sight. Still was a lucky sighting. This entire beach area is well documented with plaques describing the colorful history here…..an outdoor museum, and the kind we like.

This entire area around the marina is the Fishing Boat Harbor, where local fishermen bring into their fresh catches of the day. The waterfront is lined with really cool restaurants and cafes serving the finest seafood, among other items. One of the signs at a fast food type place warned about leaving your food unattended. The sneaky gulls are known to take off with an easy meal. We had read that this entire marina had been expanded for the 1986 America’s Cup, the famous boat and yacht race.

Little Creatures Brewery is located here. One part of the complex houses the brewery, while the other is a full restaurant/café/bar. Since it was close to noon, we figured it would be a great time to try for the wifi. Ordering a couple of Little Creatures pale ales and an order of fries, we happily can report our mission was accomplished. So that was lunch # 1. More would follow. As more and more folks wandered into the brewery, we knew the speed would drop significantly. Time to go.

Directly across the street from the marina, was Esplanade Reserve with a huge ferris wheel ride for the tourists. Also in and under the huge Norfolk Island pines were a flock of large white parrots, but not the Sulphur-crested cockatoos. These were in the galah parrot family. They were so engrossed with foraging through the leaf litter, they barely moved when we got very close to them. Also in this park, there are very old Moreton bay fig trees, huge ones, full of the messy figs that litter that lawns and streets.

Near here are the historic Freemantle Markets, built in 1897. At least 150 stalls stocking everything you can imagine “Australian” exists here. From produce to food, fashion, antiques and jewelry can be found here. There was only one problem…..it was closed today. You would have to be here on Fridays and weekends.

We think the Cappuccino begins here…..an area chock full of cafes, restaurants, and bars with balconies both indoors and outdoors. Great place to kick back, pull up a stool, and watch the world go by.

Well, it was time for pizza, and we remembered a restaurant we dined at a few years ago. Only it was gone….the building was empty. So we went next door to Portorosa Restaurant where we enjoyed yet another Margherita pizza with two Heinekens.

One last stop at Cole’s supermarket was in order. Many of our friends were shopping in there for the best deals on chips and sodas. The brands that we are familiar with can be purchased in Australia. But once we leave this country, the products might say the same ingredients, but they might not taste the same. In particular, the sodas. Different types of sweeteners are artificial sweeteners are used, and can change the taste significantly.

We were looking for jars of black bean dip, but all we could find was salsa. So our only purchase was three bunches of flowers for a total of $22.50 Australian. Comparing the amount of flowers we got, they would have cost at least $100 USD on the ship. We were overdue for our President’s Club arrangement, so we supplied our own.

Finally back in the cruise terminal, we wondered if the flowers would be confiscated. It was never mentioned that we were free to purchase fresh flowers after leaving the South Pacific. At the security check, the bouquets were taken around the screening, checked, and returned. Not a problem. Little did we know we were being watched by other guests. They figured they would have been taken away from us. Now, we can’t say the same for the alcohol collection. A table was set up for the bottles “illegally” brought back on the ship. Or at least, the bottles that will require the $18 corkage fee.

It was 3pm by the time we got back to our room, where we relaxed with picture down-loading. At 4:30pm, we went to deck nine and eventually down to deck eight to in in the sail away activities. Even though it had been 80 degrees or more in town, we knew that once the ship cleared the Inner Harbor, the winds would pick up and be chilly once again.

The ropes were dropped after 5pm, and we sailed slowly past that private sailing yacht docked near us. The captain mentioned that the name of this magnificent ship was Eos, and it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 million dollars. Just 50 million less than the Amsterdam cost back in 2000. As we got nearer to the Maritime Museum, we noticed another tall ship by the name of STS Leeuwin II, an 1850’s style barquentine ship. Their decks were full of passengers ready to sail out into the ocean for a thrilling ride. Eventually we did see two of the massive sails unfurled, but the distance increased too fast between our ships for us to see more of it.

Before we left between the two lighthouses, we passed by the cattle/sheep carrier vessel. Big rig trucks were lined up with thousands of sheep crammed in like sardines. You could smell the animals well before seeing them. Captain Mercer mentioned that the livestock ship was the largest one of its kind in the world, and these sheep were on their way to the Middle East. Wow, that is one long haul from here.

As expected, the wind picked up, and the decks cleared. We stayed with hopes of seeing more dolphins, but it never happened. All we saw was the Rottnest Ferry continuing towards the island off of the coast. That disappeared on the horizon as well, as we sailed further north towards our next destination of Indonesia.

Dinner was delightful, as we were guests of friends, Susie and Woody. They have a table for four, but just for the two of them most nights. Two hours flew by while we shared not only food, but memories of the many years we have known each other.

It was such a full day, we missed the show starring Andy Bunger, a marimba, panpipes?, steel guitar, drums, sax, and trumpet player. Wonder what panpipes are?

Really looking forward to three days at sea.

Bill & Mary Ann

The innocent-looking gangway that squeaked and groaned all night long