Fremantle...or Freo as the locals call it.

DH and I have ended up making 3 trips in total to Fremantle this holiday, but this post is about our first visit of the three. 

We caught the train...being Seniors, the fare was $1.90 each way...pretty good! 

There are some beautiful old buildings in Fremantle...

We rode the free CAT buses around the town getting our bearings...

We decided to visit the Maritime Museum first...we ended up staying for hours as there was so much to see! 

I'll just show some of it...

The statue honours the disadvantaged British children who were sent to Australia under the Fairbridge program. History has shown that these children often were not treated to a better life here. 

There was a large area of exhibit devoted to the cargo ships. I loved the sheep! 

One big exhibit was about immigration...and all those from the UK who came on the Fairstar...

Who could resist the chance to try out the periscope? 😉

Talking of submarines, there was a display of the remains of an old sub which was sunk in WW1 in the Dardanelles. 

There is also a submarine just outside the museum which can be toured...but all the tours were filled before we got there. So we stood on Level 1 of the museum and took photos.

And this pic shows the rest of the sub...

Australia's Americas Cup winner was there, complete with that controversial winged keel...

DH posed beside the 'Americas Cup'...

A slightly older vessel than the previous one...complete with diver! 

An even older vessel...fishing boat from around the Indonesia area.

There was a model patrol boat that took my fancy. It was a model of one version of camouflage that the US navy trialed in WW2...but it wasn't a success. 

Apparently it wasn't that effective as camouflage and the paint wore off rather quickly and was very time consuming to redo. So only one patrol boat was ever painted that way. Shame...it looks rather classy! Lol

After all those recent posts about the Sixties, when I saw this exhibit, I just had to get some photos. I think the maritime link must be the surfing culture that this van represented in Australia all those years ago????

A few memories there for some people but not for me! 

At the back of the museum...it looked a bit like the bow of a ship.

I zoomed in on that lighthouse...

Being in the museum, one didn't really see all the beauty of the design of the building. But a day or so later, we were on a ferry and were able to see the building from the river...

It was well after lunch time when we decided to catch a bus from the Museum and head off to a restaurant I'd read about on Bev's Kainga Happenings blog, called Raw Kitchen. We shared a delicious pizza and a salad for lunch.

And then it was back on the bus to check out Bathers Beach and then on to an old gaol, the Round House.

There were some other very old buildings adjacent to the hill where the Roundhouse was...

And some lovely art works, such as this one...

 Across the road from the Round House, were some buildings that were much newer but were built in such a way to blend in with the historical buildings...

Our next stop was at the Fremantle Markets where we walked around for a while...but it soon became obvious that we were feeling a bit tired, so we caught the CAT bus back to the station. 

After the Mint Tour...

After the Mint tour, we said farewell to our friends and headed off to catch a free CAT bus to Claisebrook Cove. A volunteer at the information centre in one of the city malls had told us of a fairly new ferry service called The Little Ferry Company. This ferry is electric powered from solar cells and is so quiet. It runs from Claisebrook Cove to Elizabeth Quay in Perth city. 

While we waited for the ferry I took some photos of the lovely surroundings...

But soon the little ferry arrived.it was whisper quiet.

And then it was a leisurely cruise on the Swan River towards the city...

We had noticed lots of construction along the river bank, but as we neared the city we saw a gondolier paddling his gondola. Our captain told us that that gondola actually has a little electric motor! 

All too soon our ferry ride was over as we had reached Elizabeth Quay. 

And then it was time to find a CAT bus stop to take us to our next destination of the day. But more about that in the next post.