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 Royal Mint, the little cruise on the Swan R,...

So what did we do in the afternoon after touring the Mint and then having a short cruise on the Swan River? We went to Kings Park in Perth. 

This large park is situated on the elevated area known as Mt Eliza, overlooking the city...great views! 

There is a large war memorial...

And there are the flowers; in particular, the wildflowers! 

The wildflowers' displays were wonderful...the colours were magnificent.

Most of the wildflowers grow in a desert environment and this was replicated in many of the park's gardens...

In the next group of photos, I'm there tossing a few coins in the wishing well.  Those bright orange aloes in the South African garden really took my fancy too! And that kangaroo paw in the lower left was just gorgeous. 

When DH wandered off to check out another memorial in the park, I decided to sit on the lovely green lawn and watch the world go by for a while. 

And then a voice said, 'Excuse me, but can you tell me where the toilets are?'. I knew that voice! Our friends had run into DH while he was reading the plaques on the Jewish war memorial! 

So I just had to take a photo of the three of them! 

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. 

The Perth Mint...

On Saturday morning DH and I walked the few blocks from our hotel to the Mint.

 We had some time before the tour started so we walked around the gift shop...and we just looked, no sales from us! ( I did like a wrist watch there but it was over $2000!). Then, just before the tour started, I decided to visit the Ladies and headed out the door of the Mint.

And I heard a voice call out, 'Let's just take a photo of this lady coming out the door'. What!???

And then I saw who it was!!!

Remember those friends that we met up with at that Sixties Night?

Well it was them!!! They are in Perth for a family wedding! We knew they were in Perth but hadn't made plans to meet up.

So, now on with the tour...it started outside with a talk about the history of the mint...

Then inside for a audio visual presentation first...as this finished, we noticed that this giant coin had risen up and was in front of us...but out of reach! Lol. The guide assured us that it really was 1 tonne of gold!!

Then we were directed to wander through the exhibits until it was time to go to the Pour Room.

After a while, our guide took us to the Pour Room where we would see a gold ingot being poured.

Adam was in charge here and he showed us the protective gear, explaining each piece as he put them on.

That glow in the next photo is from the crucible of liquid gold.

Adam used special tongs to lift the crucible out of the smelter and then he poured the gold into the ingot mound.

Then it was cooled in water, but it was still really hot for quite a while...but eventually Adam could hold it up minus his big gloves. He told us that this ingot has been melted and remade and melted for all the years that they've been doing the show. 

This Mint now only makes commemorative coins and also medals. 

After the ingot making demo, we were free to wander through the exhibits again.

The early miners used all sorts of transport to get to the goldfields, including bicycles like this.

There was a weighing machine that would calculate how much your mass would be worth if it was gold. Here's DH's gold value...😉

I'll finish this post with a bit of trivia about the arched front doorway of the Mint that Kevin our guide told us.

On the original plans, it was one large archway. But the 'powers that be' apparently didn't like the idea of the lower classes going through the same doorway as the more genteel classes. So depending on your status in society, you either walked through the left or the right. ( all those dusty miners coming in with their gold dust/specks to have the gold minted into sovereigns might have lowered the tone perhaps, lol) I wonder if it's just a story? 

Friday Night with Friends...

It's Sunday morning and I'm finally writing a post about FNwF! 

I joined in with everyone who had signed up but didn't 'last long'. By 8.30 I was very weary and headed for bed! I know that sounds extremely early, but that was 8.30 Western Australian time or 10.30 Eastern Standard time. That day DH and I had flown over here to Perth for 13 days of sightseeing as WA is a state neither of us has visited. And it's the time of the year that WA is famous for its wildflower displays. 

We are staying in an apartment hotel right in the city, with good lighting and some comfy chairs...just perfect for a bit of knitting! 

I brought along that 'started' project that I recently found amongst my yarn stash. A few of those long rows soon had me feeling weary though! Lol. But I still had joined in 😉