Fremantle, the state’s capital, is located in Western Australia at the mouth of the Swan River. The city was named after Charles Fremantle, an English naval officer who established the camp at the site and pronounced the British possession of Western Australia. What makes it such an interesting city is that it has retained much of its original Victorian architecture and of course is location at the meeting of the beautiful Swan River and the Indian ocean.
During World War II, Fremantle was the second largest base for Allied submarines operating in the Pacific Theater. Up to 125 U.S., 31 British and 11 Free Dutch Submarines operated out of Fremantle until the Americans moved forward to the Philippines.
We spent a number of days in the southern part of Western Australia on our 2009 driving tour and Fremantle was one of our favorite stops. We had chosen an all day free ship’s tour to Yanchep National Park, a coastal area north of Perth that we didn’t have time to visit on that trip. It sounded like fun but it was canceled. None of the other tours were of interest to us as we had already been to all the other tour places on our own.
The only other thing we are interested in seeing is Fremantle Prison, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built by transportees, convicts sent to Australia to relieve the over crowded prisons in England in 1855. It served as a prison until 1991, which, after seeing it, is unbelievable.
It is a big, fortress-like, set of stone buildings that didn’t have any indoor plumbing until shortly before it was closed in 1991 and that was very minimal. The prisoners used potty buckets in their cells that they emptied every morning! The doors to the cells are only 5 ½ feet tall, the average height of a man when it was built. The prisoners got a shower at intake and a set of clothes with an extra pair of undies. They then got to shower on Tuesdays and Fridays! The original cells were only about 4 by 6 feet, but in the last years of its use, the interior wall separating two cells was taken down to double the size of the cell, but of course this increased over crowding.
Intake showers
Since we have all day there is no rush to get off early so we have a leisurely Sunday breakfast and then head ashore. A ship from the Europa line is docked in front of us and we share shuttle service with them. It is also Sunday and Fremantle has a very active weekend scene especially around the marina area and the markets.
We meet our trolley again after the tour and finish seeing the rest of Fremantle by about 12:30PM. The driver is nice enough to drop us at the Fremantle Weekend Market which is booming today. Our thought is to grab some street food, but it is crowded and hot by this time. So, after a look around we head for the ship's shuttle.
Round House, Fremantle's original goal and oldest building, built in 1830.
We have a long bus tour tomorrow.
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