The architecture of the buildings around the old part of
Fremantle is just lovely. Lots of sandstone buildings, ornate verandahs, and
lots of history. Fremantle was founded in 1829, and convict labour was used to
build many of the buildings that still stand today. Actually all you need to do
is remove the cars from the streets, and you would feel like you are stepping
back in time. With the arrival of the gold rush, Fremantle soon developed into
a busy port, and today there is a thriving seafood industry, and lots of lovely
seafood restaurants and cafes along the waterfront.
We parked the car, and walked to the very interesting
Shipwreck Galleries, a fantastic museum of the contents of many salvaged
shipwrecks. The kids enjoyed seeing the silver coins, clay pipes, dinnerware,
and all sorts of things rescued from the bottom of the ocean. Some of the Dutch
shipwrecks date from the 1600s, including the Batavia which we had heard of
before, up in Geraldton where she was wrecked. There are even some timbers from
the Batavia that they have reformed into part of the hull – quite amazing.
We wandered around the beautiful streetscapes of Freo,
ducking in and out of bookshops, galleries and other interesting little shops.
We also stood and watched a very clever street artist paint a mural on the
wall. Lily and Sam were particularly interested in finding some more “Jacqui
French” written books - they both love
reading her Australian historical novels at the moment.
After a drive around the harbour and port, and watching the
containers getting craned onto the huge ships, we headed up the coast to one of
our other favourite places – Cottesloe Beach. This was a place we used to come
and have a swim, and eat fish n chips on the beach, when we lived here some
time ago. It is a lovely beach, and with the mercury hitting 27 deg today, it
was good weather for an ice cream.
Great spot.
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