Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth-most populous city in Australia, with an estimated population of 2.04 million (as of 30 June 2015) living in Greater Perth. Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with the majority of the metropolitan area of Perth located on the Swan Coastal Plain, a narrow strip between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp, a low coastal escarpment. The first areas settled were on the Swan River, with the city's central business district and port (Fremantle) both located on its shores. The Perth Metropolitan Region includes 30 local government areas, which themselves consist of a large number of suburbs, extending from Two Rocks in the north to Rockingham in the south, and east inland to The Lakes.
Perth was originally founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. It gained city status (currently vested in the smaller City of Perth) in 1856, and was promoted to the status of a Lord Mayoralty in 1929. The city is named after Perth, Scotland, due to the influence of Sir George Murray, Member of Parliament for Perth shire and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The city's population increased substantially as a result of the Western Australian gold rushes in the late 19th century, largely as a result of emigration from the eastern colonies of Australia. During Australia's involvement in World War II, Fremantle served as a base for submarines operating in the Pacific Theatre, and a US Navy Catalina flying boat fleet was based at Matilda Bay. An influx of immigrants after the war, predominantly from Britain, Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia, led to rapid population growth. This was followed by a surge in economic activity flowing from several mining booms in the late 20th and early 21st centuries that saw Perth become the regional headquarters for a number of large mining operations located around the state.
As part of Perth's role as the capital of Western Australia, the state's Parliament and Supreme Court are located within the city, as is Government House, the residence of the Governor of Western Australia. Perth became known worldwide as the "City of Light" when city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the earth on Friendship 7 in 1962. The city repeated the act as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998. Perth came 7th in the Economist Intelligence Unit's August 2016 list of the world's most liveable cities, and was classified by the Globalisation and World Cities Research Network in 2010 as a world city.
We took the time to explore the city of Perth and to meet up with family both on Shirley’s side and mine. Although we had been there before, we never had the opportunity to see what the city has to offer. I am so glad that we took the time to explore the city and take a bus tour. The city is stunning and certainly my next choice as the best liveable city after the Gold Coast.
Our first visit was to the Mint and the experience was absolutely amazing. Here are some photos taken at the mint.
The grand entrance to the mint
Some historical facts on the mint
Here are some golden and silver objects crafted and on display at the Mint
We then saw the 1 ton Australian Kangaroo gold
coin with a face value of A$1,000,000 but obviously worth a lot more.
we went to a vault where they had a
gold pour which was very interesting even though we had seen this process at
Gold Reef city in Johannesburg.
Below the crucible with at least A$160 000
worth of gold
And the bar of gold after the pour
We also had the opportunity to feel and lift a
similar ingot, however the security was so tight that I could not take any
samples.
We took our time to visit the gold museum
and see some of the nuggets that was found in WA.
Here is a little history of the area
This is one of the larger nuggets found called
the golden stonefish.
The visit to the mint was most interesting and
the visit was time well spent. Next, we visited the bell tower which is a
beautiful lookout situated on the Swan river and overlooking part of the city.
Below is a view of the entrance. See all the
padlocks that you can purchase and have engraved to bring you good
fortune. There are hundreds of padlocks
on the wire and chain from people who have visited the Bell tower, from all
over the world.
Some of the bells in the tower.
And then the spectacular view of the City of Perth overlooking the beautiful Swan River.
The
bell tower was a great attraction with stunning views, so we decided to explore a little more of
Perth on a double decker city discovery bus tour. The tour lasted roughly 2 hours and we got a
good feel for the city and its lovely gardens.
I
love the architecture and the old buildings in Perth. This city has character and has a lot to
offer.
One
of the stopovers was at Kings Park, which overlooks the city of Perth and the
Swan River. The gardens are manicured
and has lovely bush walks as well. Here
are some photos below
We then continued with our journey through
Perth on our way back to the bell tower where we started our tour.
We ended the day with a nice stroll along the
Swan river.
It was a beautiful spring day,
a little fresh but clear blue sky. We
came across this cormorant basking in the sun trying to stay warm.
We came across these sculptures in a park on
the river bank and just had to take photos of it.
There is not much not to like about Perth, it is clean, well laid out
and has a good climate.
Shirley is seen here with Aunt Lina and her
cousin Rob and his son James, unfortunately we do not have a photo with Rob’s
daughter Sam as she had to excuse herself and get ready for work.
Today was a special day as it was Rob’s
birthday and the family had come to wish him a Happy Birthday at his favourite
spot. Rob’s wife Patricia was not there
on the day as she was working.
Here are a few photos of this magnificent spot,
it is no wonder that Rob loves it so much. Floreat beach would be one of Rob’s
all-time favourite place to relax.
We then had a chance to visit Hillary boat
harbour which is close to where Shirley other cousin Jill and her husband
Steven lives, as well as her aunt Joan.
We had been to Hillary harbour on a few occasions
but were not able to do so this day as we had the dogs with us.
We met up with Aunt Joan and we went out to lunch at her favourite restaurant in Hilarys that she would often go to with Jill, and what a lovely afternoon it was. She is my father in law Jack’s sister and one
of the favourite aunts.
We also had the opportunity to catch up with
Shirley’s cousin Silvana in Fremantle for lunch. She is aunt Lina’s daughter
and Rob’s sister. We have not seen her
for more than 25 years.
At around the same time that we were in Perth, we
went to Fremantle to catch up with my cousin Michel, his lovely wife Charmaine
and their two sons Damien and Jean Michel.
They are the most wonderful people, so accommodating and we get along
like a house on fire. While we were
visiting Michel, he had the brain storm that we could move the caravan to the front
garden of his office in Fremantle (a house that he has converted into an office). This arrangement suited us very well as it
gave us the time to explore Fremantle.
The photos below are of Michel and his wife
Charmaine at a venue that his son Damien was playing at. Damien goes by the stage name of Noah Young,
is an extremely talented lad who is a great singer and songwriter.
The shorty in the middle is me, although I am
roughly six months older than Michel, he is at least 30 cm taller than I.
Below you can see Damien or Noah Young as he
prefers to be called playing his guitar.
Fremantle which is on Perth’s southern shore is
one of my favourite cities in Australia, it has charm, character and a vibrant
feel about it. I could move here in a
heartbeat.
On our first visit we went to the harbour and
surrounds and took our time exploring the place. We were here before on a whirlwind visit, and
did not have the time to thoroughly enjoy the place.
We made sure that we spent some good time here
this time.
Above is a tall ship in the harbour with some
wool stores that have or are been converted into curio shops and restaurants
etc. and below is the Fremantle Port authority building.
Below are statues of an
immigrant family arriving at the port of Fremantle with only suitcases.
The entrance to the maritime
museum next to the Port authority building
The view over the Port of Fremantle below.
Below is the entrance to the port.
We went looking for a brewery called
Little Creatures, which is next to a restaurant called Joe’s that we had been
to before and happened to come across this old water fountain.
We found the little iconic restaurant situated
next to the brewery on a fisherman’s wharf. We had the best fish and chips
which we have had for a while and walked on the wharf to look at two bronze
statues, one of a fisherman with his crab pot and the other of a fisherman with
his basket of fish.
And below is a photo of the outside seating
area of Joe’s restaurant.
We walked and explored the city of Fremantle
for at least two full days and we uncovered some really beautiful sites with
the most impressive architecture. The shoreline and boat harbour is also very
pretty and although Fremantle is on the Indian ocean, the sea is a lot colder here when you compare it to the East coast.
Here are a few photos close to the town beaches,
with the small boat harbour in the background.
The access to the small beach.
A small restaurant and pier
I had to have a photo taken with my girlfriend.
I could not resist it - PERVERT.
We then went on to visit the tunnel which was excavated
from the lime stone to provide easy access between the original port at Bathers
bay and the town. (see below)
The entrance to the tunnel
Some history on the tunnel.
We went through the tunnel and on the other
side we found a flight of stairs leading to the old round prison. The View from the top of the hill where the
prison is situated has a beautiful view out to sea on the one side and of the
city on the other.
When we got to the top of the stairs we saw
this metal cut out depicting the early settlers coming to shore on a steamer
with their cargo of domesticated animals.
The view out to the harbour with the small boat
harbour to the left and the beach “Bather’s beach in front.
This photo shows the hill where we were
And the view to parts of the main harbour
Behind me you can see the old round prison
On the opposite side of the round prison is the view of one of the main street in Fremantle. This is the view that you would get when exiting the tunnel.
And the view further down the road, note the
beautifully restored old buildings
We visited the old round house prison and found
it most interesting
Once again, I had Shirley held captive.
This is what’s left of the building with only a
few cells remaining.
Some of the allowances that the prisoners had.
Another view of the city from the top of the Round prison hill.
The city of Fremantle is loaded with history
and a museum on every street corner, we went to the WA museum and shipwreck gallery
and found it very interesting indeed.
Some artefacts recovered from wrecks recovered
in the waters close to Fremantle.
The remains of an anchor hanging in the museum
A little write up on the old canon
There was also a ship wreck off the coast of a
ship named “Batavia”. Here is a short
story regarding the Batavia.
We then uncovered the skeleton of one of the
first settlers who was on the Batavia
Some ceramic pots and artefact that was found
with the remains of the Batavia
And more treasures found on the sea bed
The bits and pieces in the museum are far too
much to show, however this diving helmet was remarkably well preserved in light
of the fact that it had been underwater for so long.
We spent a couple of hours at the museum and
then went on to discover the city of Fremantle by foot.
I thought that I had worn the sole of my shoe
out by the time we stopped for a cup of coffee.
The buildings and old churches in this area are beautifully restored and you can only imagine what it would be like in the years gone by.
A visit to Fremantle is not complete if you
have not visited the old prison, so one morning we decided to take a tour of
the old prison, which lasted most of the morning.
The prison was built by convict labour between
1851 and 1859 using lime stone excavated from this area. The tour was
most fascinating and depicts the hardship that the prisoners had to endure and
how brutal the system was in these days. The prison was eventual decommissioned
in 1981 after a prisoner’s revolt as a result of poor sanitation and living
condition. There were no toilets or running water in the cramp cells and in the
cold damp months in winter the cells would have been like a fridge and yet in
the heat of summer the temperature would rise to a stifling 40 degrees. The stench of human odours and raw sewerage
would have been over bearing.
There were 45 executions which took place at
the prison, 44 of which were male convicts and 1 female. The punishments were brutal with floggings
and solitary confinement as part and parcel of the disciplinary action.
The photos below are of the housing complex for
the prison officials.
The courtyard at the entrance to the prison. This was the quarry where they excavated the stone to build the prison. Note
the height of the far wall which shows a fence line and the depth to the
ground, this is the amount of rock that was excavated. This courtyard ended being a vegetable garden
when the prison was built. There were other areas that were excavated as well
when they ran out of rocks.
To the left of the wall was the prison cell
The inside of the prison
The kitchen area
A small court yard for the inmates that worked
in the kitchen, to hold this status in the goal was a real privilege and they would do everything in their power to keep these positions.
This courtyard below was for the general
prisoners, here they would stay the whole day.
The photo below is the other side of the courtyard that housed the toilets for the inmates.
The corridors inside the goal
There were also two churches on site of Anglican
and a Catholic denomination.
This photo below shows seating upstairs that would seat all female inmates, the sections with curtains was for the inmates in isolation, and the main seating in the church was for the male inmates.
A copy of the Lord's prayer
This is what the general cell looks like. It consists of a hammock, a
small desk and a slop bucket.
One of the cells was beautifully decorated with
oil paintings by a talented prisoner.
Another exercise area. The prisoners had to spend most of the day in
this area, they would come in after breakfast and stay until dinner time.
Below is the triangle frame where prisoners were
strapped before they were whipped with a cat of nine tails.
A solitary confinement cell.
Another view of the courtyard from the Wardens
post
The end of the tour and here we are at the
entrance of the prison once again.
On our last day in Fremantle we drove to a WW2
gun emplacement called The Leighton Battery, which was a gun emplacement that
was set up to protect the coast of Fremantle.
The view from the emplacement
Some of the old cannons
On our way back to the caravan, we came across
this mural on an old building. This city
never seems to amaze me.
So as we say our farewell to family, after having such a memorable visit to Perth and Fremantle, we start looking forward to another exciting stop at Bunbury and staying with Vincent and Kim.
Map of our trip.
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