My flight from Brisbane back to perth took two hours longer than going the other way…yuck…the flight arrived at midnight, which was too late for public transport, so I slept at the airport…at first, I didn’t know where I could sleep, or if I could, but then I noticed a few people racked out near unused baggage carousels…I didn’t sleep well, but who does at an airport…the next morning I caught the bus back into the city, then took the train back to freo, and walked home…the whole process took about two hours…not too bad, and waaaaaaaaay cheaper than the shuttle or a taxi!!
I spent the rest of the day reading and watching tv, and generally doing nothing…nice…
My last day I was finally a little productive again…I did laundry, packed my stuff, bought some food, visited fremantle prison, visited the war memorial, booked a shuttle to the airport and cleaned a bit…not much, but a little…
The prison in fremantle has a long history…it was built by the convicts themselves, originally opening in 1855…the guide told us that convicts were those who were convicted of crimes in the UK, then shipped here for their hard labour punishments…they didn’t commit their crimes in Australia…when the convicts first arrived, the local authorities didn’t even know they were coming, the letter telling the authorities was on a different boat…so the convicts were originally housed in a warehouse, until the letter arrived…then they built the prison…if I remember correctly, it took about 7 years? I could be totally wrong on that…most of the prison is built from local limestone, which is really soft…you can see how it’s been clawed out in a few places…the "new" part of the prison was built out of limestone from another area, much harder, and you can easily see the difference when you're walking around the prison grounds...prison labour built not only the prison, but a few other places around town…according to the guide, having a job while you were in prison was a good thing, because otherwise you had nothing to do with your time…if you had a job, you went out of prison grounds every day to work...if not, they put you out into the yard, every single day…regardless of how you felt, or the weather…the tour takes you through all of the prison, I wouldn’t want to spend time there…it must’ve been soooo monotonous…after a bunch of years the prison started taking local prisoners as well, though the routines didn’t change…it was still maximum security, and the prisoners still lead very boring lives…according to the guide, from time to time old prisoners still come back to take the tour of the prison!!
We saw the punishment area, which had a gallows, as well as the spot where prisoners were whipped by the cat of nine tails…OUCH…the area where they had solitary confinement, and sensory deprivation…ugh…the area where prisoners who needed special care, or separation from other prisoners...I think I’ll stay on the right side of the law, thank you very much…the prison closed down for good in 1991, mainly due to safety concerns…there was a fire in 1988, and they realized that firetrucks couldn’t get into the prison because the gates were too small…that was something that couldn’t be fixed without essentially taking everything apart…there are a few different tours, I took just the basic one…there is another that shows you how prisoners tried to escape over the years, and some of the well known prisons…
The war memorial honours those who fought in several different wars, including Americans who fought in the area during WWII…ever since I first came to Australia in 2008 I’ve felt that aussies do a better job of honouring those who have fought…you see these memorials in lots of towns all over the country…and ANZAC day is one of the biggest holidays…
That night, my host and I had fish and chips…an appropriate dinner for my last dinner in Australia…loaded in salt, and perfectly yummy…I’m a sucker for fish and chips, especially when it comes wrapped in paper…I’m sure I’ll be back at some point, but it’ll probably be a while…it’s an expensive country in which to travel, and it’s not on the way to anywhere else…
the shuttle came to pick me up, and I said goodbye…then I spent the night at the airport…yippee skippee…
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