Lap Around Australia: Fremantle

We're in Fremantle! Happy 11th Anniversary to us!

We made it to Perth at last!
We finally picked up the Jackaroo from Axis Auto Repairs on Thursday afternoon, and so first thing on Friday morning we dropped the hire car back to Hertz, hitched up the caravan and headed south along the Brand Highway. It has to be said that Barb remained pretty tense until at least Dongara, some 65 kilometres down the highway, worried that the car might not cope. The newly refurbished gear box seems to be doing the job nicely and our caravan tyres are no longer deflating either. By the time we reached Eneabba Roadhouse, Barb felt confident enough to call the Discovery Park at Forrestfield in Perth and book in for four nights. The journey was quite delightful, with an abundance of wildflowers visible from the road. It would've been lovely to have the time to stop and take a proper look at them, but really the mission today was to get to Perth....and that we did. About time!

The Discovery Park is very nice and we even scored a drive-through site, which meant no arguments back in. Yay again. We're right by the amenities block again too. Bonus. Also there is a Coles, Woolworths and Petrol stations just up the road from here. We are set.

 

 

We got all excited that the wind had finally dropped too. We set up camp with the awning out and fixed to the ground with screw-in pegs. Barb woke John at midnight to wish him a Happy Anniversary and to send him outside to take the awning down as the wind had picked up and the gusts were threatening to tear the awning asunder. Barb helped in this process too. We were woken at 7am by Barb's sister Janice calling to wish us Happy Anniversary. She was a bit surprised to find us not up as Barb's usually a very early riser.
The weather is a little overcast today, but that didn't stop us driving down to Fremantle to have a look around. John's Mum and Dad had visited here from England back in the eighties and spoke very fondly of the place...so it was definitely on our list of "must see"s.

We parked close to the harbour and decided to walk around there and then follow our noses into town. Our first impression as we got out of the car and walked across a lovely park with a ferris wheel and skate park were that it is indeed a lovely place. The architecture alone is worth seeing. Beautiful gracious old buildings that have been kept up well. Brisbane could learn a thing or two about preserving the cityscape heritage buildings.

 

 

We walked out along the harbour side quay and along to the uniquely shaped Roundhouse. It was built as a gaol back in 1831 and continued to be used as a local police lock-up until 1900. We went in and saw the old stocks, the bell and the displays of local history. Right beside the Roundhouse today there was an outdoor wedding taking place. We had to hang around to see the Bride walk down the aisle accompanied by her Dad and preceded by two very cute flower girls who took the job of scattering rose petals very seriously. These people will now share our Wedding Anniversary day, so it made us very happy to take part as onlookers.

 

 

We walked past the Western Australian Maritime Museum which houses the Australia II yacht which won the 1983 America's cup. We also passed the Shipwreck Museum. On any other day we'd go in for a look, but today we are celebrating....so we were drawn towards town instead to find somewhere to have a coffee and wee morsel to eat. We found a gorgeous old bakery café and it delivered up a very good celebratory elevenses.

Afterwards we wandered around town, dawdling through bookstores and second hand music stores and just soaking up the atmosphere. There were a lot of people in town. Even more inside the Fremantle Markets. This place was really pumping! We also enjoyed all the buskers and street theatre on offer outside. It really did give the place a great vibe.

The other place we wanted to see while we were in Fremantle was the East West Design centre. Which is actually a very eclectic furniture warehouse. The interesting thing about this place is the street art decorating the walls outside. We loved it! The surrounding area also has some cute 19th Century colonial architecture preserved and lived in, complete with pretty gardens and a thriving café culture.

It's definitely a great place to visit. We wish we had more time. I'm pretty certain we will have to return on another visit to WA and see the South West corner that we will miss this time. That visit will include more time in Perth.