Fremantle
Trip Start
Jun 18, 2008
1
62
72
Trip End
Ongoing
Fremantle,
Western Australia,
Australia
Thursday, November 13, 2008
It could have started better, to be honest. On the bus into town from the airport, two customers decided to pick a fight with the driver. I should point out both customers were not Australian - Australians would have settled for a row then would have invited each other out for a barbecue. Luckily it all died down quickly, but not before myself and another backpacker had to calm it down. It was simply over a joke made, that one person took offense too. Mind you, it was clear he was a total cock before he got on the bus - he has having an argument with a kid who worked at the airport because the kid didn't know what bus to get. It wasn't his job to know, his job was to collect the trolleys.
Then when we got into town we happened on the scene of a suicide attempt
Fremantle City Hall
. It's not really the memory you want of your last few days in Australia.Oh and it was raining. And cold.
Saying all this, we did have some good times in the short time we had there. There was an exhibition at the Museum of Western Australia, showcasing lots of aerial photography, from all over the world. It had a strong environmental theme to it too, and we spent about 5 hours looking around. Not bad for a freebie, eh? There is something about aerial photography that sort of mesmerises me - I can just look at it for hours.
We also jumped on the train down to Fremantle, something we didn't do back in June. Fremantle is on the coast, about 15km from Perth city center, and is home to a high concentration of artists, hippies and ferals, if truth be told. It is also home to the "Fremantle Doctor", an afternoon seabreeze that cools Perth down in the summer. During our time there though, it was more like the Fremantle Doctor, Nurse, Paramedic and Surgeon all rolled into one. The winds were ferocious to say the least.
Can't say we did too much - looked around the historical parts, such as the old Goal, fishing port and some churches - all of which were nicely preserved still. Apart from wondering around, there wasn't much to write about. I'd imagine that on a nice summers day it's a great place to talk the hours away, but on a cold Spring day, it was a struggle to fully appreciate it.
And that was Australia finished with. Later that day, we jumped on a budget flight to Singapore.
