Visiting Freemantle

Our second day in Perth sees us travelling by train down to freemantle. The train station is just down from the YHA where we are staying so easy to get to.

We actually went past the factory where the Perth trains are actually built in Maryborough over the new year weekend , adding a little interest to the trip.  

The train travels past the Karrakatta cemetery giving us a hint about a chance to chase dead people latter in the week. 

Fremantle is very much a port city and the entry to the station really shows this.  

Outside the station was the bus stop for one of the CAT (City area transit) busses. We jumped on the blue rout for a free trip through the city and back down the foreshore.  

The town reminds me a lot of Townsville and Ballarat combined.  The port and climate of Townsville and the buildings and history of Ballarat. 

Our aim in Fremantle was  both to do the tourist thing and work out what we were going to do later in the week so eyes were open for accommodation.  

First stop was at the Maritime museum where we found that it was a free entry day.  Our luck is still holding.  

As we didn't have to pay entry we decided to cough up the $10 for the tour of the Oberon class submarine parked out the back. 

I've been on one of these subs a very long time ago, but this was a chance to crawl over the whole thing.   The knowledgable guide took us through the history of the submarine as well as describing the operation and how the submariners worked. 

Back in the museum we visited Australia II and the extensive display of WA maritime history. 

Back outside we wandered around to the roundhouse, the oldest building in WA as well as the first prison. 

The tunnel under the roundhouse was built by prisoners to allow the transport of material from the whaling station on the seaward side under the limestone cliffs. Those cliffs have since been quarried away leaving a hill for the roundhouse to stand on.  

Still looking for accommodation for Wednesday night we headed up to the information centre in Kings square ( and maybe a cache). 

The information centre was not really informative and the cache was a bust but  sticking our heads into the St John church led to a history lesson from the past by the pastor.  

One of the stain glass windows describes the history of the Duffield family who arrived in the early 1800's to establish a wheat farm.  

The pastor was very knowledgable about the area and we talked about everything from conditions in the early settlement to the current condition of the swan river and how floods impact the surrounding area.  

The plan from here was to look at one of the backpackers near the station. Unfortunately it was under renovation so we headed back to another based I the old fire station.  Unfortunately we

Have been spoiled by the YHA, this one was a little interesting...

Heading back to Perth we decided to drop into the  Karrakatta cemetery and look up some family.