FREMANTLE

26^th March, 2012

We arrived at Woodman Point Caravan Park (10 kms south of Fremantle) after an interesting two day journey from Margaret River.  The trip started off well and we took a diversion into Bunbury to have a look around and north of there we decided to leave the highway (which was becoming very busy with weekend holidaymakers heading back to Perth) and take a look at Leschenault Peninsula Conservation Park.  This park is situated between the ocean and a large inlet and also has a campground, so after watching some fishermen on the beach we decided to drive along the dirt road to the campground and if it looked OK, spend the night and make our way to Fremantle in the morning.  The sign for the campground said it was only 4 kms but it felt more like 40 kms due to the corrugations in the road.  We passed a sign that said to take precautions against mosquitoes as Dengue Fever was a possibility.  Now you would think that would be a definite turn off for camping but neither of us felt inclined to tackle the rough dirt road back to the bitumen, so we found a nice spot to camp, sprayed ourselves liberally with Aerogard and settled in for the rest of the day.  At this point in time we were short on water after having camped out for the last six nights, but figured we would just have enough until we got to Fremantle the next day.  What we didn’t count on was not having any LPG gas.  We have two 9kg bottles and we had recently run out of gas in one bottle and had changed over to the other full bottle.  We planned on getting the empty bottle filled at Fremantle.  When we went to put the kettle on the stove for a cup of tea …… NO GAS!  Wok said ‘That can’t be right!’ (or words to that effect) and went to check the gas bottle.  It was empty!  After pulling everything out of the front boot he found the problem – the tank selection tap was loose and had been leaking (obviously for some days).  Well without any gas we had no way of boiling a jug or cooking anything, so dinner that night was sandwiches and cold drink and breakfast was cereal.  The ranger came around early in the morning and told us that the dirt road was being graded.  That was good news as we weren’t looking forward to the rough ride back out to the bitumen.  By the time we were underway the grader had just about finished and the road was smooth to drive on.  When we got to Mandurah we started looking for a place to fill our gas bottles and buy a new tap fitting as the old one was cactus.  You know it’s never easy to find exactly what you want in a strange town.  After several helpful people had sent us to several different places, we finally found a place to fill the gas bottles and the guy directed us to a plumbing place to get the tap fitting.  Nearly three hours later we were finally on our way.  Sometimes the actual getting to a place is the most interesting part.  The next day was spent doing housework …. washing, sweeping, washing, sweeping and more washing.  The whole van seemed to be full of fine red dust and sand.  If it hadn’t been for the water restrictions we would have washed the outside too, as apart from the red coating it had there were still some splattered grasshoppers on the front.  We checked out the local car washes but there was no way the van would fit in the bays.  We could at least give Mitzi a wash and she came up all nice and sparkly again.  Then it was time to give Fremantle the attention it deserved.  Our first stop was at Fremantle Prison where we booked on the Doing Time Tour followed by The Great Escapes Tour.  Our guide Matthew took us through the booking in proceedure for inmates and then took out a really large metal ring that had umpteen dozen keys on it and let us through the iron gates to the prison proper.

Fremantle Prison

Built in 1855 with convict labour the prison is on the Unesco World Heritage list.  With its 5 metre high walls enclosing a 6 hectare site the prison dominates present day Fremantle.

Inside Fremantle Prison

The later addition of razor wire to the prison walls made escape seemingly impossible.

Razor Wire around Fremantle Prison

The prison was in use from 1855 to 1991 and as we toured through the different sections Matthew regaled us with stories about the hardships the prisoners endured.

Cell Block in Fremantle Prison

A convict’s cell was very cramped (2.1 metres X 1.2 metres)

Convict Cell in Fremantle Prisoon

but at least there was a bit of light coming through the barred window high on the back wall.  Floggings with a cat-o-nine tails was a regular occurrence and any prisoner sentenced to more than 30 lashes usually did not survive.  Also were the not-so- lucky souls confined to solitary.  No light could enter these cells and prisoners were only given bread and water once a day.  The longest anyone was imprisoned in solitary was six months.  We found it hard to imagine how anyone could have possibly survived for that length of time in these pitch black cells where we couldn’t even see our own hands in front of our faces.  On The Great Escapes Tour we got an insight into the imaginative and cunning ways prisoners tried to escape.  Some were successful and managed to evade capture for a number of years.  Others were not so fortunate and were recaptured within days or hours of escaping.  The most famous escapees were the bushranger Moondyne Joe and in the last years before the prison closed ‘postcard bandit’ Brenden Abbott.  Of course our tour would not be complete without a visit to the gallows.

Wok - you aren't supposed to look happy about releasing the trapdoor!

43 men and 1 woman were hanged in the prison.  One thinks that death may have been a blessed relief to the suffering these poor inmates had to endure.  Our tour over, we escaped through the iron gates to the outside world.

The next day we drove to a free car park near the marina where we caught a CAT bus.  These buses are free to ride and are provided by the local council. They drive a circular route through and around the city of Fremantle.  They are spaced about 10 to 15 minutes apart and you can hop on and off at designated stops along the way.  With parking space hard to find and pricey in the inner city area, this is an ideal way to get around for tourists and locals alike.  Our first stop for the day was at the Shipwreck Galleries Museum.

Lots of anchors outside the Shipwreck Galleries Museum

What a marvellous museum this is.  Housed inside an 1850’s Commissariat building we spent ages wandering through the galleries looking at the relics and reading about all the ships wrecked along the treacherous West Australia coast.  The museum has devoted one gallery to the 1629 wreck of the Batavia and has assembled part of the original timbers along with many artefacts that were recovered from the ocean floor.

A piece of the bow from the Batavia and a stone arch that was part of the cargo

The wreck of the Batavia is only part of the story.  The shipwreck pales into insignificance compared to the story of the passengers and crew that survived.  With a $2 donation entry fee this has to be one of the best value for money museums around.  We left the museum and walked along the foreshore past Bathers Beach

Bathers Beach - Fremantle

to the Round House.

The Round House - Fremantle

Shortly after the founding of the colony this odd 12 sided stone prison was built in 1830/31 and is the oldest surviving building in West Australia.  The colony’s first hangings took place here and when the new prison was built the Round House was used to hold Aboriginal prisoners before they were taken to Rottnest Island.  On the hilltop beside the Round House is a signal mast and time ball.  At 1pm each day a canon was fired and the time ball was dropped so that ships at sea or anchored off shore could correct their time.  This was an important navigation aid.  As it was nearly 1pm we stayed for the re-enactment of the canon firing and time ball drop.  Man oh man … those canon blasts are loud!  Beneath the Round House is Whalers’ Tunnel carved out of the sandstone in 1837 and used to access Bathers Beach where whales were dragged ashore for processing.  A short walk away is the Maritime Museum housed in a new structure on the southern shore of the Swan River entrance.  There are several galleries that explore West Australia’s relationship to the sea … from dugout canoes to pearl luggers, from sailing boats to ferries.  There is a whole section devoted to fishermen and we are sure Lachlan would have spent a great deal of time in this gallery.  One of the museum’s biggest drawcards is the winning America’s Cup yacht, Australia II.

Wok heads for Australia II to check out the winged keel

Outside is the Oberon class submarine HMAS Ovens which can be seen by a guided tour.  

HMAS Ovens outside the Maritime Museum

As we have already toured through a few submarines in our travels we decided to give this one a miss.  We reckon that most submarines (except maybe the more modern ones) are generally all the same …. cramped, dark and claustrophobic.  We are in awe of the men who served on these submarines.  There’s also some hands on stuff as well and Wok tried his hand out at an old time navigation aid. 

Wok tries his hand at navigation

After a few minutes of trying to work out where he should be on the navigation chart he declared that we were well and truly lost.  Thank goodness we don’t have to rely on that navigational aid to get us around!  There are lots of bronze statues placed around Fremantle and just outside the Maritime Museum were two bronze statues symbolising the many orphaned children who were brought to Australia from England in the early 1900’s in the hope of giving them a fresh start in life.  

Wok with the Immigrant Children statues

Stories of their early lives make compelling reading and reveal the sometimes brutal and harsh treatment they received as well as love and kindness from folk who welcomed them into their families.  We leave our child immigrants and hop on the CAT bus back to Mitzi and back to the campground for a well earned rest.  In the morning we headed out again, parking in the free car park and once again catching the CAT bus into Fremantle.  This time we hopped off at the markets and wandered around the many stalls of crafts, nik naks and fresh veggies.  From the markets we took a walk along the old streets looking at all the Victorian buildings.

Victorian buildings in Fremantle

We grabbed a bite to eat before hopping on the CAT bus back to Mitzi.  On the way back to the campground we stopped for a look at C.Y. O’Connor Beach.

CY O'Connor Beach

It was a lovely sandy beach with beautiful clear water and there were scuba divers exploring the marine life around the pylons of an old jetty.  There are many statues in and around Fremantle but the one that lies in the water here 10 metres from shore has intrigued us the most.  It is the figure of a man on horseback and is a memorial to Charles Yelverton O’Connor (C.Y. O’Connor).

Memorial to CY O'Connor

Charles Yelverton O’Connor was brought to West Australia by the newly appointed Premier of WA in 1891.  He was an engineer and his first major project was the rebuilding of Fremantle Harbour which was an engineering nightmare due to the rocky bar blocking the mouth of the Swan River.  His solution was to simply blow it up and place two stone moles at the entrance to stop sand entering the harbour.  The problem was solved and although many people said the harbour would never last it is still in operation today.  But his greatest achievement was the building of the Goldfields Pipeline Scheme.  In 1896 he proposed to build a pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie (a distance of 530 kms) to supply up to 5 million gallons of water a day to a town desperate for fresh water.  He had many critics and was unfairly slandered in the newspapers alleging that he was misusing government funds.  Tragically on the 10^th March, 1902 Charles Yelverton O’Connor rode his horse into the water near Robbs Jetty and shot himself.  The years of criticism from politicians, press and peers had taken its toll.  Less than a year later the pipeline was completed and fresh water flowed to the goldfields.  This pipeline is still in operation today and is still the only source of fresh water for the Kalgoorlie area – a testament to the engineering genius of a man called C.Y. O’Connor.  There is a rather large statue of C.Y. O’Connor near the harbour in Fremantle but we feel the statue in the water of horse and rider is a more poignant memorial.

And on that note we bid farewell to Fremantle.  It’s a wonderful place to mosey around and soak up some colonial history ….. and if you close your eyes and listen really hard the sound of prisoners breaking rocks still echoes through the streets.