Freo

Today we took the Captain Cook's Tours rivercat done the Swan river to Fremantle, which is further away from Perth itself than I had thought (about 19km I think) Lots of very posh developments on the north bank, which must have excellent views across the water and the seemingly endless marinas which line the banks. Lovely day - blue sky and 33 degrees. We pulled in to Fremantle directly opposite the main docks where a couple of container ships were unloading, and right next to HMB Endeavour, the replica of Cook's ship that we missed in Sydney but which is by luck in WA at the moment. We decided to give the Endeavour queue a miss until later and walked to the Little Creatures brewery, which had been recommended as a lunch stop by various people. Plagued by the famous Australian flies today. Haven't noticed them anywhere else, but Perth and Fremantle are infested with the things. I thought they were only interested in English people but then I was heartened to see that the locals were doing the Aussie wave as well.

Had a vast pile of nachos and a very acceptable light-ale style beer in Little Creatures, which was a great barn of a brewery into which they'd put a kitchen and loads of tables. The beer was drawn straight from the steel vats. It was packed with both families and hardcore beer drinkers, and had a very nice view of the fishing boat harbour. We liked it. I resisted the temptation of a second pint as we had some exploring to do and you can't do that when you're lying down for a while resting your eyes in the sun.

After lunch we took a stroll down South Terrace, which is where all the coffee shops, funky retail emporiums and markets are. It's not as self-consciously alternative as somewhere like Camden, and the vibe is a bit more laid back hippie than urban, but it's a fun place to be. Fremantle centre has retained many if not most of its original 19th and early 20th century buildings, so is architecturally interesting as well. Outside the Market building we watched a punk bagpiper with a leather kilt and an orange Mohawk doing Metallica covers. He was great.




We then viewed the town's first jail and WA's first permanent building - the Round House - which was worth a visit for some local context and history. On the ferry ride over we had been told about the new maritime museum, and indeed it's impossible to miss as it is the most imposing building on the south bank of the river. It was to this that we found ourselves inexorably and mysteriously drawn... luckily though, it was free today in some kind of link up with the Endeavour being in town. They have another Oberon (out of the water on the slipway this time though) but we didn't go aboard as it was exactly the same as HMAS Onslow in Sydney. The galleries were good.




Final stop was Endeavour again, with shorter queues now, and we had a tour of the ship. I confess it was quite exciting, in a spotterish kind of way, particularly to see Joseph Banks's actual cabin etc. Well, not his actual cabin of course as it is a replica, but it is a very good replica. I didn't tell Dad for fear of being branded a lubber, but after crawling around the highly compact below deck spaces for a while, and with the ship bobbing about quite a bit on the wash from the various traffic passing by, I felt slightly green and was pleased to get back on to dry land. Pathetic isn't it? Still, it gave me an appreciation of the mettle required to live on such a thing for three years, cut off from home, exploring places that must have seemed entirely alien. I suspect we have completely lost the ability to undertake tasks requiring such fortitude and expertise.

Then back to Perth on the commuter train, and a stop at a pub to watch the Wallabies being beaten by the All Blacks. Ate in tonight, as fed up of restaurants.

Location:Bennett St,East Perth,Australia