Fremantle

Fremantle is the Port city for Perth but has its own character, distinct from Perth. Many of the beautiful old buildings were built using convict labor beginning in the mid 1800’s. The buildings still make up a good part of the downtown today with its old hotels, pubs and cafés. In 1987 the Port was the site of the unsuccessful defense of what was, for a brief period, one of Australia’s most prized possessions—the America’s cup yachting trophy.
We arrived back in Fremantle after our Swan River cruise from Perth and immediately went to the Maritime Museum which is directly on the harbor. This is one of the most complete Maritime centers I have seen and has something of interest for everyone. The building itself sits at the entrance to the harbor and makes for a very interesting sight upon entering. I’ve included a picture in the Blog. As well, there are actual vessels from the beginning of the fishing industry in the 1800’s to current day America’s cup yachts. There’s also an Australian Sub from the days when the U.S. had its Sub base in Fremantle during WWII.
The city is compact enough that you can walk around the entire city in an hour or so. We did just that, had a Beer at a Pub and Fish & Chips at the Fisherman’s Wharf area. The buildings remind you a bit of New Orleans and everywhere you look is the Harbor. The streets are full of art shops, second hand book and map stores and touristy places. I bought an out of print book at a used book store on a guy by the name of Jon Sanders. I had seen his boat in the Maritime Museum. It’s a 42ft Sailboat in which he circumnavigated the world 3 times solo, each time leaving and arriving from Fremantle. No one has ever beaten his record. He was 645 days alone at one point without stopping. Interesting guy—must be nuts.
We left Sunny Fremantle on the following morning at 9AM on our way to Lembok, Indonesia. This will take 4 days to transit and we are very much looking forward to it. We’ll have a Post for you when we leave our 3 Ports of call there.