Sorry about that...:-(
Fremantle, April 16/2013
This was supposed to be a 12 hour stop and then on to
Bunbury but things have changed. Because of drought and low water levels and
the draught of The Dawn Princess we have been banned from entering the harbour
at Bunbury, The stop in Fremantle has been changed to an overnight, we leave at
one o’clock in the afternoon of April 17th.
We had arranged to go on a private tour with BJ and
Henry Miller and initially the concern was getting back to the ship on time but
that would no longer be a concern. However getting started on time became a
concern. Because we were away from Australia on our last port (Lombok
Indonesia) we would be subjected to another customs and immigration inspection.
Those always take time. Initially we were in group three and so BJ and I went
to see if we could be changed to group one. It was so very easy for us, because
we both have BLACK cards. Those do come in handy some times.
We were changed to group one and we arranged a meeting
time for the morning.
Well even with being in the first group it appeared as
if we were going to miss our connection.
Much to our pleasure and surprise the Trolley was
waiting for us just outside the terminal, we did not have to walk to the first
stop, which was the town hall.
Our plans were for a Triple tour and the first leg was
on a replica of an old fashioned Tram. This Tram would drive us all around Fremantle.
Fremantle was established in May of 1829 when Captain
Charles Howe Fremantle formally took possession of the whole west coast of New
Holland .In June of that year , Lieutenant Governor James Stirling arrived and
decided that Fremantle would become the port and the new colony ( today known
as Perth ) would be developed approximately 20 kilometers up the Swan River on
good soil which would allow for the development of agriculture.
Part of the problem with the development of Fremantle
was the shortage of lobour- a problem that was solved by the establishment of
the Imperial Convict Depot.
The famous Fremantle Prison was built by convict
labour The influence of convicts on the
architecture of Fremantle can never be overstated.
So many of the buildings are beautiful limestone
structure, still beautifully maintained.
Along side are the modern structures of today. The
tram driver and guide Neville enthralled us with stories of the city and its
history.
We had a stop at the Fremantle prison for a photo op.
We viewed the site of the 1983 victory of Australia II
in the America’s cup competition.
Neville pointed out the examples of the architecture
of the area.
After an hour and a half we were delivered to the dock where we said good bye and thank you to
Neville and we boarded A Captain Cook catamaran for a cruise up the
Swan River to Perth. There was excellent commentary and the sites we passed
were identified and reported about. It was beautiful and fascinating and
informative.
This cruise lasted an hour and a half and the day was
beautiful and the water was calm. Bj and Henry and Ken and I sat upstairs where
we had lots of room to take photos. We passed multi million dollar homes, the
Old Swan Brewery, the Royal Perth Yacht Club and Kings Park. Much to our
surprise they had free wine tasting and well as free coffee and tea.
We arrived in Perth at the Barrack Street Jetty at 12:30
It was lunch time and we decided to have a lunch of
fish and chips at a place called The Lucky Shag. It was really nice and we ate
outside at a lovely table in the shade. The others tried a local beer. We each
ordered one dish for two to share and we had lots of food .
After that delicious lunch we shopped at a near by
souvenir shop while we waited to begin
the third part of our Triple Tour, our ride on the Hop On Hop Off bus.This
offered us a bird’s eye view of King’s Park and Perth’s top attractions. We
boarded the bus at 2:15 at the Barrack Street jetty which was stop number one. We rode up top and
without thinking we all sat on the left side. We forgot about the bus driving
on the left and so we spent some time
ducking tree branches. There was excellent commentary as we passed the cultural center, the mint, Roe Gardens ,
and we had a tour of Kings Park.
If it were earlier in the day we would have Hopped off
and on a few times but it was almost the end of the day for the bus. We
disembarked at stop number 10 which was the Moon and Sixpence Pub. This was a
wonderful quaint English Pub with so much atmosphere. We enjoyed English Beer
and “crisps”
Soon we made our way to the train station where we
were helped by staff to get our tickets to travel back to Fremantle. This trip
took us less than a half hour. The train was crowded because it was rush hour but the people we very friendly and kind and
considerate of each other. BJ was offered a seat right away and I was offered a
seat which I declined.
When the train reached the end of the line which was
near to the ship we learned that there was a free city bus called The Red Cat which would take us
even closer so we made our way to the bus stop and waited for The Red Cat.
Within 15 minutes we were on the bus.
. At this stop we merely had to cross the street and
then make our way over the bridge to the awaiting Dawn Princess.
What a day this has been! We travelled on old
fashioned tram or trolley car, catamaran, double decker bus, commuter train,
city bus and shanks pony.
We have another half day in this city!
Fremantle day 2,
We had such a full first day that we had little we
wanted to do today.
But the one errant left to do was shop for Tim Tams.
We have been told that everyone in Australia loves and eats Tim Tams, so we
just had to get some to bring home.
So the hunt was on. We walked into the down town area
and quickly found a small mall. In there was a Coles store.( Coles is the big
grocery chain here). We found and purchased Tim Tams to bring home to the
Harmony ladies.
We enjoyed walking around and visiting with the
locals. We saw many from the ship doing the same thing.
Our second visit
in Fremantle soon came to an end and we headed back to the Dawn
Princess.
Albany, April 18/2013
This was another sunny day for us to enjoy beautiful
Australia.
This was a docking port and it dawn very foggy with
the fog horns blowing. The fog was so thick that we wondered if it was going to
be possible to get into port. This is a very tight entrance with islands on
either side. When the captain cleared the obstacles he began to do a complete
360 , the fog had lifted, the sun was shinning but I was very unsure that a
complete turn was possible. We were amazed by his skill.
Next we gathered our things and headed into town.
There was a free shuttle to take us into town. When we arrived at the stop
there were a number of stalls of
crafters in the park. We browsed and Ken found a toast rack which he purchased.
There was a display about an animal called Gilbert’s
Potoroo. It is a small marsupial which was thought to be extinct
but was rediscovered in 1994. It is the smallest of
the kangaroo family and is about the size of a rabbit. We had our picture taken
with a costumed character representing the Potoroo.
I made a quick visit to Scots “Uniting Church, “ it is
a beautiful sandstone structure and services have been held there since March
of 1892.
We strolled around the town and headed for the Albany
Residency Museum. Here we viewed the
Brig Amity and of special interest to us was a lighthouse exhibit.
There was an amazing meteorite there in the courtyard. I was shocked by the
size and the weight of it. It weighed 3.5 tons and was about the size of a
basenette. It is 4,600 million years old
and is believed to have come to earth about a thousand years ago.
By now it was time to head back to the Dawn Princess.
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