Perth - Fremantle

Fremantle is a Western Australia port city in the overall Perth metropolitan area located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle serves as the port of Perth.

A non-delegate excursion allowed us to travel by bus and then train to Fremantle. Our first visit was to the Maritime Museum. Quite fascinating! Here are a few pictures.

After that, we had thought we were going over to the prison. Prior to British settlement, the indigenous Noongar people inhabited this area. The Swan RIver colonists settled the area in 1829, but the settlement struggled. In 1850, when Britain started sending convicts to the area, Fremantle became a primary destination. Fremantle Prison was built by convicts, and continued to operate as a prison until long after the transport of convicts ended (1868). It is now a World Heritage Site.

However, our visit to the Maritime Museum had taken longer than expected, so the group headed over to a restaurant for lunch. It was primarily a seafood place, and pretty much everyone seemed to have fish & chips, or calamari & chips, or some other kind of food and chips. (It seems like almost everything comes with chips (what we call french fries in the US) here in Australia!)

There were a couple of other places that we were going to visit before taking the train back to Perth, but it was hot. And muggy. Friend Elissa and I decided to head over to Fremantle Markets to take a look around.

Fremantle Markets has lots of independent business people with everything from hats to souvenirs and everything in between, along with folks with stalls of food stuffs of all kinds. I'm sure you have been in markets like this as you travel. Elissa was looking for a bag to use when out wandering, as was I. We both found one, so success!

We both decided to take the train, and then the bus, and then the short walk back to the hotel early. Tonight is the IBD Meeting Ice Breaker. I have a couple of possible excursions tomorrow and may have something to post after that.