Out and About Fremantle

Starting my last full week in W.A. (Mon. 18 May) Don and I took Jenny to lunch at a great seafood restaurant at the Freemantle fishing docks. I had a huge order of fish, chips, and squid with a side of fish chowder. Yum! Beautiful day too.

Jenny and Don. Mmmmmm fish & chips dockside.

After pigging out on seafood, I needed a little walk. This is a shot of the original pier pilings for old Fremantle port. The port is situated at the mouth of the Swan River with the city of Perth up river a few miles. Remember, we're on the west coast, so that's the Indian Ocean.

I wish you could see how clear the water is. Fantastic.

Jenny had errands to run so Don and I walk around old town Fremantle. The city has done a wonderful job of preserving the old buildings, some dating to the 1880's. For anyone interested in traditional turn of the century architecture, Fremantle is a perfect walking tour.

The following photos are a collection taken on several different days. They are in no particular order. I just wanted to give my readers a general feel of the Fremantle area.

A splendid example of typical hotel and pub common to Australia during this period. The thing with the hotel/pub combination is that by law of the time, in order to serve beer, the owner had to also serve a certain amount of food and provide overnight rooms. Obviously the consumption of beer in Australia is legendary, so at least the poor bastards had a place to crash afterwards.

A street lined with history.

Honestly, I could walk around Fremantle for hours and hours. Not only for the history, and fantastic old buildings, but the "atmosphere", interesting shops, outside cafe tables everywhere, and the old pubs, coldest tap beer you could ever have.

Scots Presbyterian Church Fremantle c. 1880's

Swan River looking upstream from Sterling Bridge. Don's former sailing club, the East Fremantle Yacht Club is not too far up river.

The tall pines on the left (these are rather young) are Norfolk Island Pines. They were first brought to this area to provide material for building masts for sailing ships. A very important industry in the early years of Fremantle.

This view of a stand of Norfolks is at the Esplanade Reserve near the docks in Fremantle, looking straight up. They are easly over a hundred years old and about 100 ft. high.

Here's Don at the Fremantle Fisherman's Memorial. Fishing, of course, was a vital industry which made Fremantle an important city on the west coast. The names of men who were instrumental in helping to develop this industry in Fremantle are engraved on stainless steel plates on the pilings at the left.

Jenny's brother Sim is one of those honored at the Memorial. (Hoogarwaard, Sim).

This was at the Maritime Museum. I am standing next to Australia II, the sailing yacht that won America's Cup in 1983, the first time ever that the cup had left the New York Yacht Club.

Australia II from above.

A mural on the side of a building downtown Fremantle. Dates from the 1983 America's Cup race.

The boxing Kangaroo logo is the symbol of the sailing team of Australia II. The primary finance for the effort came from Alan Bond, who at one time owned the Swan Brewery in Perth, hence the can of beer. This logo has remained in Aussie culture to represent to determination of the Australian people. The green and yellow colors were, and still are the "sporting" colors of Australia. "Go Aussie Go". Onya Mate.