The Doctor

Fremantle, Perth's port, is slightly older than its "bigger sister". When I say older, I mean by only a few days. However, Fremantle has been a port city continuously since the 1830s, which isn't too bad if you think about it. At one point a goodly distance from the city it is now just another suburb of Perth, although the residents object when you point this out.

First, though, I stopped by the Western Australian Parliament as it's open only a two days per week. Unfortunately no photography is allowed inside so I have no pictures of it. I can't understand why and it actually irritates me a great deal. Is there really any sort of security risk? Anyway, the Parliament is built in a sort of Italian style that suits the warm Western Australian climate. On the tour there were the usual stops to the Legislative Assembly, some hallways, works of art, though the Legislative Council was closed due to renovations. It's a nice building but it should be open to photography.

Afterwards I made my way to the central train station to catch a train to Fremantle. Luckily trains to Fremantle are fairly frequent so I didn't have to wait long. The ride itself didn't take very long, only about 30 minutes. I disembarked at Fremantle Station and made my way into town. Fremantle has a fairly large collection of Victorian buildings.

Fremantle has a special claim to fame in that it is the home of the "Fremantle Doctor". On some hot days a cool sea breeze blows into Perth from the approximate direction of Fremantle and is called the Fremantle Doctor. In case you're wondering why, it's because it makes you feel better, like any good doctor.

As I wandered around I made my way firstly to the Round House, a former small prison. Now a historical site, it is the home of the 13:00 Gun that fires every day at that time, which it did just as I arrived. The building made of stone with a tunnel underneath that let whalers carry their catches from the port to processing centers in the city is a rather nice museum. It gives you a fairly good idea what early life in Fremantle was like. There are plenty of photographs and other artifacts in what used to be the prisoners' rooms. Not many were housed at any one time.

I spent the whole afternoon wandering around Fremantle. I stopped by the Fremantle Prison but didn't go in as the entry, I felt, was too expensive. I walked through parks and made my way to the harbour. All sorts of ships were docked, from large bulk carriers to small fishing vessels. There was even a cruise liner that departed in the late afternoon. After it had left I took a peak inside the passenger terminal, having never been in one so big before. As twilight set in I made it to South Point so that I could watch the sunset. As Fremantle is nestled on the eastern Indian Ocean, the sun sets quite spectacularly over the ocean. It ended up being quite a good sunset and the lighthouse made for a good photograph.

I took the train back to my hostel and ran into my roommates on the patio. We all got to talking and eventually broke into an impromptu acapella version of What I Got, by who I can't remember. We had a great night, laughing and sharing stories. I went to bed pleased with the day I'd had.