DAY 78 – Fremantle

Good Morning Fremantle!
 
Low 12°c (54°F) – High 22°c (72°F)
102km
 
I can understand why older people head north for the winter (not that I’m that young, but you know….) because everything aches more when it’s cold!  Thankfully this morning wasn’t quite as freezing cold as the past couple of mornings have been but both Shane and I have increasingly been aware of the stiffness in our backs and hips as the weather has cooled on our progression south. 
 
Despite a forecast of showers for the day, we were blessed with sunshine for a good part of the day and only one shower late in the afternoon while we were driving.  We thought to make the best of it and get out and see a bit of Fremantle and perhaps Perth if time permitted.  To be honest, we really aren’t city holiday people anymore and we’ve done our best to avoid crowds and Covid as best we can up until now so figured it isn’t time to start now. 
 
We headed out late morning and came across an amazing mural on the wall of a large building which is apparently a furniture store catering to trendy restaurants, bars and homes.  The store takes up an entire block and the mural has so many amazing features I don’t think you would take it all in even with a couple of visits.
 
It is truly boat city here – there are boats of all sizes and thousands of them.  Aside from being docked in harbors they are stored in some very creative fashions.  For some I don’t think going for a spin in the boat would be without a good deal of pre-planning just to get them into the water.  We drove down to Sardine Jetty – not sure about sardines but we were excited to see a pod of dolphins swimming around close to the shore and cormorants diving for fish.  One of the dolphins came right up to the edge of the rocks along the edge of the carpark where there were lots of small fish swimming close to the surface.  While I was watching and taking photos a guy in a delivery van pulled in who said he stopped off to watch them almost every day, and while I’m sure his boss probably wouldn’t be thrilled about it, I can understand wanting to see them.  So graceful and playful.
 
Heading into the Fremantle (Freo to the locals) city centre, it’s very trendy but some really beautiful heritage architecture and obviously there is an effort to embrace and protect the historic feel of the city and its maritime history.  Fremantle is a port city located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth and Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth.
 
Prior to British settlement, the indigenous Noongar people inhabited the area for millennia, and knew it by the name of Walyalup ("place of the Woylie" – a small, mouse sized, critically endangered marsupial).  Visited by Dutch explorers in the 1600s, Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829, and is named after Captain Charles Fremantle, an English naval officer who claimed the west coast of New Holland as British territory.  The settlement struggled in its first decades, and in 1850, with the advent of penal transportation to the colony, Fremantle became Australia's primary destination for convicts.  The convict-built Fremantle Prison operated long after transportation ended in 1868, and is now a World Heritage Site.
 
Fremantle was charted as a municipality in 1883, and the following decade its harbour was deepened for commercial shipping, transforming the port into a bustling trade centre and gateway at the height of the Western Australian gold rushes.  Declared a city in 1929, Fremantle played a key role in World War II as the largest submarine base in the Southern Hemisphere.  Post-war immigration from Europe, particularly Italy, helped shape Fremantle's character, and it rapidly gentrified after hosting the 1987 America's Cup.  Today, Fremantle is recognised for its well-preserved Victorian and Edwardian streetscapes and convict-era heritage, and is known as a bohemian enclave with a thriving arts and culinary scene.
 
After grabbing a bite to eat (and I’ll admit it – we got Churros!!!) and getting frustrated by the inability to park the car anywhere, we drove around to the entrance to South Mole Lighthouse.  A mole (when it comes to harbors) is a massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater, or a causeway separating two bodies of water. The North Mole Lighthouse began operation in 1906 at entrance to Fremantle Harbour. The occulting red light, emitted from a fixed lightsource at a focal plane height of 15 metres (49 ft) above sea level, is visible for 11 miles (18 km) and indicates the westernmost point of the harbour and its entrance. The lighthouse established permanent service from 1906; after the mole's foundations had settled a temporary lighting arrangement there was discharged. The light originally planned for the house was found to be too powerful and was sent to Broome for the steel lighthouse at Gantheume Point which we had visited a few weeks back.
 
The lighthouse and its technically identical yet green coloured partner on the south mole which we photographed are the last remaining of their type. It has an 'indicative place' status of the Register of the National Estate and is a well-known landmark to seamen visiting the port. The 15 metre towers are made of cast iron and feature classical decorations.
 
From there we followed Swan River to East Fremantle, all the way inspired by some unique and beautiful homes and equally beautiful gardens.  There are so many lovely spots to pull over and enjoy the view and it must be spectacular at night with the lights of the city of Perth in the background.  We spotted a group of guys in rubber dinghies sporting Army camouflage on some sort of training exercise perhaps.  Hopefully no military secrets have been harmed in the making of this blog.  Leaving Fremantle it was on to Perth where we drove through a few of the streets for a look as well.  We were conscious of not leaving too late as the weather front closed in with a fairly heavy downpour, and we also weren’t keen to be caught up in whatever peak hour traffic Perth may have to offer.
 
I had spotted that there was a Christmas shop not that far from where we were staying and so we called in to have a look around on the way back to the park.  There were some pretty things there – probably a really good thing we’re in a caravan and had no room!  But I also got a couple of ideas for things I might like to make when I get home.  Shane, spoiling me yet again, bought me a gorgeous Christmas Rocking Horse, and I purchased a few rolls of ribbon and some small decorations to perhaps use on a new wreath and an elf – because you can never have enough Christmas Elves.
 
On the way back we spotted an interesting takeaway called “Angry Chicken”.  I’m not sure it worked for me as an enticement for dinner and we wondered what made the chicken angry – and did it make it taste better?????  It was pouring rain by the time we got back to the van and we were grateful to have had everything outside packed up before we left and heavy rain continued right throughout the night.  We also had a visitor in the caravan as Shane was bringing Kitty back inside after a toilet break.  A huge moth that was reluctant to get back outside without a few fancy manoeuvres with the lights, though in all honesty who could blame him – it was cold out there!