Thursday - February 22, 2018

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Today is dedicated to walking through Fremantle. After breakfast we headed toward the Maritime Museum. There is a foot and bicycle path parallel to the railroad tracks. This leads to the waterfront and the museum. The museum structure is contemporary and very nice. It has a boardwalk all around the exterior. There are some exhibits outside. We spent an hour before we entered. We did the usual Finn thing. We read every plaque and description. The most intriguing for us was a World War I submarine that had been salvaged and set on land along with some old cranes that serviced it. It is over one hundred years old, but very well kept. It cannot be entered, but viewing it and reading its story is very

moving.

In front of the museum are many stainless steel walls engraved with the names of the early settlers of Fremantle. Many hundreds of people are commemorated here. It is a powerful monument to the immigrants who founded this great city.

Our next stop was The Round House. This is a convict built fort atop a hill overlooking the shore. It guarded the entry to the city from the sea. High Street runs from this point through the center of the city. We would return to this later.

We left The Round House and walked along the cliff above the Bathers Beach. This is a white sand beach that was being used by only three bathers this morning. The setting is awesome.

Steps led down from the cliff to the beach. A short walk across the sand took us to a boardwalk. We were able to follow this for quite a distance along the waterfront to the Fishermen’s Harbor. All along the way we passed bars and restaurants with lovely sea views. The harbor is home to the local tuna fleet as well as many beautiful sailboats and yachts. Midway around the harbor we found Little Creatures craft brewery and restaurant. It was just 11:00 and they were preparing for lunch. We forged on.

Across the street was The Esplanade. This large park was also home to a large Ferris wheel. It seems that every city now has a Ferris wheel. This one is moderate in height, and not currently working.

We headed back toward city center. Shortly we were at the entrance to the Shipwreck Museum. The star feature here is portion of the wreckage of the vessel Batavia. In the 1970’s some Australian naval divers discovered and raised this wreckage. What was salvaged is a portion of the aft starboard of the ship. After treating the timbers to prevent their rotting, a steel frame was constructed to hold the timbers in their original places. This is nicely done. It makes an impressive exhibit. It reminded us of our visit to the Wassa exhibit in Stockholm. We were glad we did not miss this.

Now we were on High street headed toward the town square. Notre Dame University of Australia occupied a square block here. Students were out at the shops and restaurants along High Street. We admired the old architecture along the street. The shops were small, but they offered all sorts of goods. Our mission was to spend our last 65 Australian dollars here. We were targeting an Opal shop and a sewing store.

As we stopped to look at our street map a passing lady offered her assistance. She was able to direct us to the opal shop. We followed her directions, but could not find the shop. Nearby was a tourist information center. They told us we had stopped just a block short of the opal shop. They also showed us how to get to the sewing center.

The owners of the opal shop were very helpful in explaining the types of opal settings. They showed us many beautiful pendants. Surprise! They were all more than $65. We had agreed to keep the credit cards in our pockets. We loved what we saw and enjoyed the hospitality of the owners, but we left empty handed.

A short distance away we spied a Singer sign hanging above the sidewalk The sewing center was very small, but had a nice selection of fabrics died in Indonesia. The woman who owned the shop was helpful in getting us started, It took us a while, but we finally selected three styles. This consumed $55. Postcards and ice cream took the rest.

We walked back to Amsterdam to change for sail away. We went to happy hour in the Crow’s Nest to watch as we sailed out of the harbor. Upon leaving our birth we first passed a Dutch built three-masted private yacht. Our captain told us that it cost $250,000,000. This almost equaled the cost of our 1,200 passenger cruise ship when it was built in 2000.

Next we passed the largest sheep transport vessel in the world. It was being loaded with sheep destined for the Middle East. Now we cruised past the Maritime Museum before gaining speed and passing through the harbor mouth. Three long blasts of the ship’s horn bid a fond farewell to Fremantle. This may have been our last visit here. We really enjoyed it.