Free time in Freo

 

There is nothing that drives Drew into a rage more than people shortening things. You should hear him rant when someone getting off a bus in Cardiff says: 'Thanks Driv', he reminds anyone with him, or even passing strangers, the word is DRIVER! I might have reflected on this tendency when coming to this country as yesterday's location is known by one and all as Roto and today's as Freo! [Co-pilot's note: I must, dear readers, point out that I have less of an issue with it here than I do on the 132 Mardy to Cardiff Bus - there is no exuse for it there, it is hardly a time saver. How much time do people save saying driv not driver in say 20 years, I reckon it would be 20 seconds all told! In this country it seems more to be part of a national culture, so it isn't a problem for me HERE!]

Still, it makes for a good title for a blog post - Free time in Freo!

Anyway, less of the title, more of the blogging, which after a full and exhausting day on Roto aka Rottnest Island aka Wadjemup meant us having dinner in the Angel Falls Restaurant. 

Dinner at Angel Falls

Given the uncertainty about how awake, or otherwise, we would feel after the long flight I'd only booked one restaurant in Perth, for the last night, Wednesday. Yesterday, Drew had looked at restaurants local to the hotel and spotted one he really liked. However we were already to late to book it, so we went to the Italian, which was also lovely. But kept this one in reserve for today. Hence we had dinner at Angel Falls, a Venezuelan restaurant. It was nice that all the staff were Spanish speaking and amusing to switch back and for between the two languages during the meal.

Drew decided to vary his drinks and try the Mint Fruit Juice which was on the menu, this had Pineapple, orange juice and mint and a vibrant colour.

I stayed with the usual sparking water, which was cool and refreshing.

For starters I had a selection of tacos called El Trio - from left to right this was a slim arepa topped with corn battered prawn, pico de gallo, maíz, guasacaca and nata sauce, a toston with chorizo, pico de gallo, maíz and green aioli sauce, and a mini cachapa topped with pork belly bites, coleslaw, maíz and chilli kick sauce.

What a treat to find such tasty, yet distinctive food, just a few hundred metres from the hotel.

Drew was equally pleased with his starter, Croquetas de Maiz. This was four crispy croquettes made of sweet maíz, bacon, a dash of chilli, onion, coriander, and cheddar; served with green aioli sauce. He says they were exceptionally tasty, hot and salty, just like his favourite croquetas would be. They had more of a bite to them than the ones he is used to in Spain, but he thought that made them better. 

For mains I had Chicharron con Maiz asado y Papas Criollas con alioli verde. Yes, I know some readers may note it is pork two days in a row, but this was beautifully prepared pork. I'm so glad I chose it. The meat was crisp and lucious Pork Belly with Corn on the Cob and Venezuelan Potatoes with green alioli, every mouthful had something wonderful in it and the pork was crunchy on the outside and soft inside - perfect.

Drew opted for Carne Mechada con batatas fritas, shredded Beef with sweet potato fries and aioli. Drew really enjoyed the fruitiness of the chilli in this dish and that went well with the aioli. The fried were sweet, hot and salty - a real hit.

So, content, we went back to the hotel and I wrote the blog post on our day in Perth, two days ago, before going to bed at 11pm.

Morning - Tuesday

I woke up on Tuesday morning at 5.30am. The alarm was set for 6am, so when it rings I go and shave, brush my teeth and shower. Drew follows after me to do the same. 

I carry on the epic task of editing photographs and Drew reads his Kindle until we go down to breakfast at 6.30am. Even at that time breakfast is busy here, lots of Chinese people staying and they seem to like early breakfast as much as we do. I also think many of the hotel guests are here on business and eating before heading off to meetings. Indeed, as well as suits, we see fellow guests dressed in American Marine clothes.

I treated myself to an omlette today, there is an egg station here, where they take your order and bring it to you. It was very tasty.

As usual after breakfast we make a loo call and leave the hotel at 8.00am

On the way to Fremantle

We walk to the Post Office on St. George's Terrace, one block down and one block across from the hotel. It opens at 8am and we arrive at 8.10am. Cards posted, one to Australia and two to the UK. 

We then walk up three blocks to Perth Railway Station 

and buy tickets for Fremantle, our destination for today. Our first experience of public transport in Australia is very positive. The ticket machine is outside the station, you put in your destination, it tells you the price and asks how many tickets. There is no return option, just buy a ticket from travel within the next two hours. In this case the trip to Fremantle 12 miles and costs $5.20 (£2.60 each). 

We catch the 8.35am train and travel on the pleasant tube style train, with similar seating to the London Underground, but the route is above ground all the way. It is another beautiful day as we travel through the Perth suburbs and on to the Fremantle ones. 

Leaving the station we visit the location suggested to us by the people who were sitting beside us on the Ferry yesterday. They had been to Fremantle the day before. This was the Western Australian Maritime Museum.

We walk through the old harbour noting the many memorials to the people who came to Australia and stopped off on Perth often on the way to other parts of the, then, colony. 

On arriving at the Maritime Museum we discover that as it is donation Tuesday visits are free, but you are welcome to donate to the museum. My former marketing mind makes me wonder whether they actually increase takings on quite days by getting people to donate more than they would pay? Yes, I know, I'm an old cynic!

The museum provided a fascinating insight into the impact of the sea on Fremantle and the region, with displays about the people, the ships and boats, the animals and the aquatic environment. All of which were really well presented and informative. 

The centre piece of the museum is the actual yacht, the Australia II which was used by the Perth based, Australian team in the Americas Cup.

Fun fact, the Americas cup is named for a boat called America not for the country who won it for many, many years. It was particularly interesting for us to see the yacht as a few years ago we had dinner in Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco when the yachts were competing for the cup in the bay.

We have a neighbour - Jan, see you did get a mention - who delights in Wild camping from the back of her car. The look of horror on my face when she explained the concept to me made her realise I was better suited to hotels and a bit of comfort! Anyway here in the museum was a vehicle that Aussie Wild Campers would have used in the day - so this is for you Jan 😉

For all the photos of the Museum you can click here and follow from there forward.

Colonial Fremantle

Fremantle has all the markings of a British Colonial town, architecture here will be familiar to people who have visited the Carolinas in the USA or Ontario, Canada.

Fremantle was deemed to be founded when in April 1829 a British ship the HMS Challenger arrived in the waters off the Western Australian coast near the mouth of the Swan River and formally 'took possession' of the land which was then named "New Holland" for King George the 4th.

Soon after Captain James Stirling arrived from England to begin the Swan River Colony of Perth. It was Captain Stirling who named the port settlement 'Fremantle' after Captain Fremantle, the captain of the HMS Challenger.

From then on the town was developed and essentially become the old town to the latter development of Perth, further up the bay. The buildings, mainly from the 1800s show their routes in the UK. Here are just a few:

Having walked through the old town we came to the Town Hall and St John's Church which face each other at the centre of the Old Town. 

The Church, though old (the foundation stone says 1879, though it wasn't used until complete in 1882), is bright and airy and a member of the congregation is inside to give a warm welcome.

Following the advice of the person in St. John's we then walked up to St. Patrick's Basilica, the Catholic church in the town. This also shows the era in which it developed from its architecture. 

Fremantle Prison

Fremantle Prison was founded as a location where transported convicts would live while serving and working for the community. Unlike prisoners, who in the Victorian era were largely being incarcerated for what was regarded as some perversion or other, convicts were specifically people deemed able to contribute to society even though they had committed a crime. It is why many Australians' have an affinity for their swashbuckling convict ancestry. 

In the case of Fremantle, the first service the convicts were forced to do was to build the prison itself. The used the limestone (a poor soft limestone) from the site itself - indeed you can see the height of the hill which stood where the prison is now, which was dug out to create the limestone for the prison.

These images give a good representation of it.

Return to Perth

Having completed our visit to Fremantle we head back to the train station and catch the 3.40pm train back to Perth. It takes about an hour to do the journey. So, with no time to blog or edit photos, we shower and dress ready for our dinner tonight. This is in a restaurant called Wildflower - but that experience, and it was delightful, will wait for another blog post.