We stayed in Freemantle for the first part of our visit, then moved into the centre of Perth for the rest. Freemantle is a small satellite city at the mouth of the Swan river and 19 km from the centre of Perth. It is built up all the way so it is like an outer suburb, and has an important history as it is the main port for Perth.
We stayed in an interesting Airbnb place, nicely located close to the sea, in a converted warehouse. The house is tall and narrow, spread over four floors with lots of stairs.
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| The main floor. The ceilings were very high! |
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| Looking down on it from the stairs. |
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| There were decks on two levels. |
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| The view from the street. |
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| The apartment was very fully furnished, with the owners' belongings everywhere. |
There was so much stuff in the apartment that we felt sure the owners must live there when they are no visitors. We half-expected them to walk in at the end of the day once they finished work! However they said they live "just around the corner", so that was a bit puzzling.
Freemantle is quite an historic town, established in 1829 by the British partly to claim the west of Australia before the French did! The town later argued for convicts to be sent to Perth from Britain, to provide them with cheap labour to build the town and infrastructure. Once a convict had completed his sentence he was released an became a free man, helping to grow the population and economy of Western Australia. There was also a rush to Australia at the end of the 1800's when gold was discovered.
Close to our BnB was the "Roundhouse", the oldest intact building in WA having been built in 1830. It is a small octagonal fort and was built as a prison. Today it is run as a time station for the tourists, with the big black ball hanging from a pole, and a small cannon which is fired every day at 1 pm. We have a similar station in Lyttleton, Christchurch, which was seriously damaged by the earthquakes.
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| The top deck on the apartment, with the Roundhouse and the sea beyond. |
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| "Baby" |
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| These two cats come with the apartment. Blackie especially was very friendly, and also ate most of the food. |
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| Sue at the Roundhouse on a sunnier day. |
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| The one-o'clock-cannon at the Roundhouse. |
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| Freemantle street art - a "numbat", I believe! |
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| There were seemingly-random yellow patterns on the paths and buildings... |
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| ...but look what happens when you view the street from the Roundhouse! |
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| The business end of a WW II submarine, showing the torpedoes. |
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| There has been a lot of development along the waterfront, including many bronze figures like these. |
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| ..and this bronze beach lady. |
Freemantle is a pleasant town, with a climate just a little warmer than Wellington (in our brief experience). We found it difficult adjusting to the five-hour time difference from New Zealand however, and it is a long couple of flights from home! We tried to stay near to NZ time, but that mean getting up at 4 am (no coffee shops open!) and trying to find dinner about 3 pm, which is too early for most dinner eateries.
