February 21&22, 2023
Good Morning, this morning we sailed into Fremantle. Fremantle is a port City approximately 22 km. from Perth. Freo as the Aussies call it has a population of 32000. Freo has a lot of heritage buildings, lots of small stores and eateries and also houses a lot of drinking facilities like micro breweries. Perth has a population of 2.1 mill.Freo and Perth are connected by the Swan River.Today we hadn’t booked an official excursion. We had tickets to take the boat from Freo to Perth for 1 PM. Up until 1, we went into Fremantle and checked out the town with all its small stores and all the Heritage buildings. From time to time we had to take breaks, because it was quite hot out today. At 1 PM we boarded the river cruise boat for our trip to Perth. The Swan River is a spectacular river lined with jachtclubs, white sandy beaches and beautiful condos and houses. At times the river is over half a mile wide. After enjoying our boat ride for an hour and a bit, we arrived in Perth. First thing we did was have lunch on one of the patios on the waterfront. After lunch we walked around and did some sightseeing and ended up in a huge shopping area downtown. By 4:30 or so our legs were so tired because of all the walking and the heat. It was time to start thinking of heading back to Freo. We headed for the Subway and boarded the train to Freo, which cost us a whole $5 each. After we arrived in Freo we walked another 15 min back to the boat. After a small dinner we went to bed early. I was so tired that I even had to pass on the Mardi Gras party that was planned for tonight on the boat.
Day 2
For today we planned to take the ferry boat over to Rottnest Island. We got up early and walked over to the ferry dock to board the 7: 30 ferry. The Ocean was pretty rough for the 35 min crossing. To be safe I decided to wear my anti seasick armbands. I wasn’t sure what to expect of this visit to the island. The Island got its name from a Dutch explorer in the 1600’s who landed on the island and found nothing but Rat’s roaming the Island. The Rats were actually Quokka’s, a small wallaby-like marsupial. We found these small animals roaming all over the island. They are quite harmless. The Island is lined with beautiful white sandy beaches. The Island is used as a vacation destination by the Ausies. There are several hundreds of small cabins which are for rent. Vehicles are not allowed. There are bicycles everywhere to get around the island. The Island is covered with paved bicycle pads. We only had 4 hours to spend here today. After we arrived , we got ourselves a map of the Island and we took off on foot towards the lighthouse. We followed a walking pad along the ocean with beautiful views. After we checked out the lighthouse circled around and ended up near the place where we started. Here was also the site of an old prison where over 3500 aboriginals were imprisoned over a period of 100 years. The prisoners were being led up here in chains from all over western Australia. Many of them got lengthy sentences for petty crimes like leaving an employer or stealing minor things. We got ourselves some coffees and pastries before heading back to the ferry. On arrival back in Freo we walked around the City some more and had some lunch in one of the old Hotels before we headed back to the boat. We finished the day on the back deck saying farewell to Australia with half price Margaritas. We truly enjoyed our visit to all the places we stopped in Australia.
“We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.” By- George Washington.
Cheers
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