The Port of Fremantle or ‘Freo’ about twenty minutes drive west of
Perth is everyone’s favourite. Originally settled in 1829, only three years after
Albany it has many grand C19th buildings and remains a busy seaport.The smell of the sea is in the air and a whiff of distant shores. Once the first glimpse of Australia for most migrants, the sea of
different faces and the range of ethnic food, makes it seem as if many never
left, adding to both the colour and the flavour.
Though many of its warehouses are now expensive apartments surrounded by galleries and up –market restaurants, Fremantle retains both its historical and architectural integrity. The original Goal still looks down sternly from its hill and the cannonball still drops daily to mark the time for seafarers.
There are ramshackle industrial buildings and vessels of every kind – enormous container ships, fast catamarans, fishing vessels and yachts, even an old square rigged sail training ship,
The Leeuwin It is also the jumping off place for day trips to
Rottnest Island and for trips upriver past the homes of the rich and famous.
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| E Shed Number 4 where the markets are |
Markets have been going here since 1897. The one in E Shed is crammed with food stalls, cheap clothes and tacky souvenirs like the hat a friend bought that proudly declares “Perth, Queensland” (wrong state!).
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| Great hats! |
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| Kites |
The meals here aren't pretentious or elegant, just honest, filling, cheap and tasty. You can also catch a quaint hop - on hop -off tram here that takes you to all the sights but I haven’t managed to do that yet.
The Round House
My sister and I did visit the Round House - the original prison until 1899, and having been built in 1830 is probably the oldest stone building in WA. It was round because it was modelled on Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon, where one gaoler can observe many prisoners -a very modern concept at the
time. Instead of harsh corporal punishment, it relied on discipline, surveillance and the belief that solitude would give prisoners time to reflect on their crimes, repent and reform. It did not however, stop Western Australia's best known bush ranger and escape artist, Moodyne Joe from escaping, despite having his tiny cell reinforced with railway sleepers and iron bars. Underneath the prison is a tunnel used by whalers
The newer 'old prison' is also an interesting place with many ghost stories but I haven't been there yet either, or the old Lunatic Asylum which is now an Arts Centre.
C.Y. O' Connor of pipeline fame (see previous posts) is commemorated here too, but this time for his work clearing limestone bars and widening the harbour to make it suitable for big ships.
Thick walls, reinforced cells and iron bars in the Round House Prison didn't stop Moondyne Joe from breaking out of here either.
A big container ship leaves the Harbour
Other Places along the Coast
Rockingham and
Mandurah are the much touted tourist destinations along the coast, but all I could see were acres of retirement villages, chain stores and flocks of motor launches. Going north there are three fishing villages which have retained a bit of their original character.
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| There are acres of these subdivisions in progress - many of them retirement villages, along the coast |
Two Rocks
Two Rocks with its big pub, small fishing boats and a giant sculpture of
King Neptune presiding over the park above, looks like the sort of place where you might still get a decent serve of fish and chips and people might still sit on the wharf and dangle lines in the water - much more laid back than those frenzied new subdivisions where you have to go miles inland to find a shop which is then most likely to be an anonymous Woolworths surrounded by the usual suspects.
Seabird
Seabird, a little off the road further North, is like this too - a sleepy little fishing village now, but be quick as it is soon to have a new road and then the developers will kill that too. It is set on hilly country between dunes and has a pub, a shop and a post office and some very nice loos which shine like a beacon on the hill. The man in the cafe which serves really excellent hamburgers can't wait as the fishing industry has been in decline for years. Get it while you can, before the incredible sunsets and the azure swell of the
Indian Ocean are privatised.
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Searbird Sunset
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Lancelin
Lancelin, the end of the road and a bit further from Perth still looks like a proper seaside town too, a place where you might take the family for a relaxed weekend. There's a big sweep of blue ocean and a protected lagoon with islands and bird sanctuaries. I particularly liked that the cottages were still modest and unpretentious. Beyond it lies a land of startling dunes which have probably saved it it from further development so far.
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Lancelin has white sandy beaches, a protected lagoon and islands which are bird sanctuaries
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Endangered way of life?
Yes, it looks a bit messy, but a lot more relaxed than those 'lifestyle communities' being shoved down our throats. I can't imagine anything worse than being confined to a gated community with people my own age, unless it's an eventide home. |
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| Fishing nets hanging out to dry reflecting a gentler pace of life
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