Perth, An Easy Going Aussie Town
Kangaroos in the wild.
Perth, Australia Sunday February 22, 2015
An Easy Going Aussie Town
Our friend once asked, “do you you know the meaning of WA?” I replied, “are you asking me about Western Australia?”
“It means WAIT AWHILE!” he said with a grin.
“What's changed,” I asked.
Today we are in Fremantle or Freo as the locals call it. This charming city has an easy going feel and an exaggerated beauty of a western film. It has a harmonious combination of history; prisoners andconvicts, aboriginals, and America's Cup all made an impression here. Before it flourished, it was well known as Western Australia's roughest port town. Over the years since the 1950's, a new wave of immigrants has helped changed Freo.
At the downtown area, once can enjoy excellent restaurants, unique art galleries and local gift shops.
At the Modern steel and glass Western Australian Maritime Museum on Victoria Quay is the winning yacht for America's Cup in 1987.
No trip woud be complete without visiting the Fremantle Arts Centre. It is a one -time criminal lunatic asylum built by convicts in 1864. It provides an extraordinary way to enjoy Fremantle. It is a good place to view a good collection of Australian arts including aboriginal arts. The burgeoning scene is a good example of a place reinventing it into a different destination. Along with restaurants, cafes and art galleries, Freo's compact downtown has one of the UNESCO world heritage site. The Fremantle Prison is a place where one can see the gallows where hangings is said to have taken place on Monday mornings right up until 1964. You can climb down the labyrinth where prisoners were ordered to hard labor in the tunnels serving as water catchment.
Bathers Beach is walking distance from downtown Fremantle. If you are looking for white sand and clear water off the Indian Ocean, then swim at Port Beachor Cottesloe Beach along Marine Parade which is 5 miles north of Fremantle.
