Fremantle and Perth, Western Australia

By Glen Bruels
This is part of a series called Oceania 2025
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So, we are at the start of another adventure; this time a nearly 2-month trip across Oceania. Many of these places we have wanted to visit for a long time; some of the places have meaning for Deb and me because they are where our fathers served during WWII. We are starting this journey in Western Australia (WA), initially around the Perth area. We planted our flag in Fremantle, a city that almost never happened except for the tenacity of the early settlers, the dreams of some entrepreneurs, and the backs of a large number of prison laborers who nearly single handedly built most of the major buildings in the city from a quarry that they hand dug and upon which the prison that housed them still remains until this day. In fact, the hotel we are staying in is called The Warders (they built it too). The rooms were actually the housing units for the warders who provided oversight at the prison. The city still has that edgy, just on the right side of legitimate feel to it and it attracts all manner of people from around the world. Architecturally, this is an amazing city — over 250 of Fremantle’s buildings (mostly made of local sandstone) have been classified by the National trust. But that’s just a subset of the 3000 heritage listed properties in the Fremantle area. You can really feel the heritage of the place and the pride the people take in it. I know we aren’t going to see everything we want to on this trip; we’re already looking forward to coming back. Anyway, we started our day wandering around the Fremantle Markets, originally built back in 1897. Like so many other city markets, it has the best of local foods and handicrafts that cut across the many cultures that make up this city. From there we spent a few hours touring the Imperial Convict Establishment (now the old Fremantle Prison). The story of how convicts of all flavors were shipped in from all corners of the British Empire to build this city (including their own prison) is incredible. The fact that it continued in operation until 1991 (with no indoor plumbing!) Is also amazing. Many of those jailed here went on to gain pardons and become the entrepreneurs that made this city grow. We also walked down High Street, the historic and still reigning historic and cultural center of the city. It was great except for constantly looking in the wrong direction for which car was going to hit us. The multiculturalism of this town is in full evidence. As an example, for dinner tonight we ate at a seafood restaurant where literally everyone was an expat from somewhere else, and yet they were one of the most “well oiled machines” in terms of how they ran the place. We finished up the night at the gin bar at our hotel. They have gins from all over the world. I’m not generally a gin drinker, but the two bartenders here literally create concoctions on the spot based on the types of tastes or likes that you have. We also met a group of three guys (an American, an Aussie, and a Kiwi) who are sailing a good chunk to the world together. They were wonderful to get to know and the challenge for tomorrow night is to come up with the joke that starts “An American, and Aussie, and a Kiwi walk into a bar…” If you have any ideas, let me know!

An American, an Aussie, and a Kiwi went into a bar..
This is the Warders Hotel in Freo (Fremantle). These original structures from the 1850s housed the warders (e.g., guards) that worked in the prison. After sitting vacant for decades, they were finally renovated into this cool boutique hotel.
Entering the Fremantle Markets — literally a stones from our hotel.
Lots of fresh and prepared foods as well as crafts.;
This is Big Red — a stuffed actual kangaroo from the area. He’s become the mascot for the markets.
Entrance to the prison. A lot of convict labor went into building this place. Imagine building the place they are going to lock you up in…
This man looks guilty; lock him up!
Here is the inside of one of the cell blocks…
… and this was one of the cells. A classic good news bad news story. The good news is that (at least initially) you got your own cell and even shared a window. The bad news is that you could barely turn around in there…
And more bad news — no indoor plumbing, all the way until the prison closed in 1991. Originally, one cell, one convict, one bucket — but ultimately one cell, multiple convicts, one bucket. Lovely!
Of course, if you were really bad, you ended up here. Looks pretty spacious, but no furniture, no light, and no sound. We tried it in the dark and it was pretty horrible. Some prisoners were in there for months at a time!
We spent a lot of time walking around the city. Here is the main drag — High Street. I loved soaking in the history and architecture of this place.
Lots of statues in town. Here, Deb is being disciplined by a mean MP.
Part of the charm of Freo is all the old buildings and interesting architecture.
I mean look at this place — the oldest hotel in the city and one of the tallest.
But then you get a few outliers like this. Interesting, but clearly doesn’t fit it.
And here is the oldest public building in WA and yes, it was originally a jail!
Guilty!
The next day we took the train up to Perth. It actually had its start earlier that Fremantle with the establishment of the Swan River Colony. This settlement was controversial from the start in the sense that the British were colonizing the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people who had inhabited the area for over 40,000 years. This led to several uprisings and later massacres. The whole situation was litigated over the years, with lots of interim legislation passed with very mixed results. Finally, in 2021, the Noongar Recognition Act formally recognized the Noongar people as the traditional owners of the south-west region of Western Australia. I’m not sure there was any financial compensation along with that “sorry,” but, in going to the Boola Bardip portion of the WA Museum, it seems that feelings on the indigenous side are still riding quite high. Much in the way that Fremantle depended on importing convict labor to build their infrastructure, the same thing occurred in Perth, starting around 1850. The remaining buildings from that time (e.g., Perth Town Hall, Government House) really helped put the basic infrastructure in place that encouraged further settlement. This was helped with the gold rush in the late 1880s. Mining still is a major economic contributor to the area.
But this was another big difference between Fremantle and Perth. Fremantle still has much of its colonial architecture and it feels like a small city. Perth tore down many of its historical buildings during a big 1960s modernization period. Today, it looks like (and is) a very cosmopolitan modern city with innovative architecture, every luxury brand you can name, and lots of entertainment options available. The one area that has passed the test of time is King’s Park and Botanical Garden, one of the largest inner-city parks in the world. It is beautiful and it provides majestic views of the city and river from the elevated portions of the park. Perth is beautiful and, as the fourth largest city in Australia, truly a crown jewel for Australia. This is noteworthy give that the next big city is Adelaide, around 1250 miles away! If given the choice, I’ll take Fremantle as my favorite.
There still remain a few historic buildings in Perth. The Town Hall dates back to the late 1860s and was built by convict labor.
In fact, those that do remain are generally associated with government or religion, like the Archbishop’s Palace, built in 1855.
But many of the old buildings came down (at least in part) to make way for new architecture. This “arch” is all that remains of the Enrolled Pensioner Force Barracks, built in 1863, that housed guards that came over on convict ships. In other cases, the facades of the old buildings stand in from of the modern skyscrapers that replaced them.
Today, much of the architecture is modern. An excellent example is the Bell Tower which is both an observation tower and bell tower that houses 26 bells.
Footbridge to the new Perth Stadium.
WA Museum Boola Bardip. It is actually built on top of an old Aboriginal settlement so a lot of the display space is dedicated to the traditional people and culture of the area.
There were lots of examples of Aboriginal art here. This one contains many of the sacred symbols of art we will be seeing in the Kimberley.
One thing I will say for Perth — it has a fantastic array of public art throughout the city.
This entry was posted in Australia, Travel, West Australia
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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