Out and about in Perth - Point Walter and Fremantle Prison

For all my talk of loving England, we do have some enjoyable local outings too. I have already talked about our recent visits to Rottnest Island and Walyunga National Park, as well as a day spa trip with my sister. Since we returned home two months ago, Mr Bite and I have also managed a leisurely walk at Point Walter and a tour of Fremantle Prison.

These outings were photographed on my phone, which is why I haven't posted about them before now. Plugging my phone into my computer is so very easy, and yet also so very hard. I finally achieved it this week, and have rescued six weeks of random, varied quality pictures. 

Point Walter is a jutting sand bar on the south side of Perth's Swan River. There is a play area and cafe near the sand bar itself, and then a cliff-side walk trail that extends back along the river. It is a renowned area for cliff jumping (in an adrenalin / sport sense, rather than a more sinister sense) and there are always plenty of boats moored nearby.

We visited not long after we got back from Europe, returning to the cliff-side walk  that we have done before. When I was growing up, my family did the walk quite often but it is a relatively recent discovery for Mr Bite. It is an easy walk with attractive views, making it perfect for a weekend afternoon.

Spot the Merman!

Fremantle Prison was a longer outing and one that required a little more planning. In fact, we have been meaning to visit the prison for about 2 years, so our tardiness would suggest that we didn't plan as well as we might have. I visited the prison on a school trip when I was a teenager, but Mr Bite had never been. It was a functional prison until 1991 and so the option of touring it is still comparatively recent.

Fremantle Prison - exterior of the men's block

The prison buildings and grounds form one of the more intact convict establishments in Australia, and became a World Heritage Site in 2010. There are four tour types on offer, the daytime "doing time" and "great escapes" tours, the night "torchlight" tour, and the underground "tunnels" tour. The daytime tours are $19 per adult and run for 75 minutes, while the others are more expensive and somewhat longer.

One of the consequences of the prison being in use until 21 years ago is that you can really imagine what it would have been like to be a prisoner there. The prison opened around 1850 and in the 140 years it was in use, housed a mix of high-risk / dangerous prisoners and low-risk / short-term sentence prisoners. I can't imagine that combination ever working very well. Comments from our tour guide suggested it was a challenging mix at times. 

Fremantle Prison - interior of the men's block

The areas where whipping and hanging occurred left me feeling slightly queasy, as such things always do. Those moments aside, it was a worthwhile tour and I was surprised to remember very little of it from my earlier, school-aged visit (suggesting that my memory is atrocious or that my teenage self didn't appreciate history very much).

Having done the prison tour, we had some time wandering Fremantle streets and shops. I have documented my enjoyment of Fremantle previously, and this visit was no exception. I restrained myself at the markets, but did see Irish moss, the vegan gelatin alternative that is so difficult to find in Australia. I have tucked that discovery away for future reference!

After our wandering, we bought afternoon snacks. Mine came from my favourite Fremantle food establishment, The Raw Kitchen Cafe. Both were items I have sampled previously, in the form of their green smoothie (banana + spinach +  ice) and the vegan chocolate mint 'bliss ball'. They were just as good this time around.

Mr Bite went for a more traditional snack from a more traditional bakery - a chocolate brownie. To his credit, though, he did try a sip of my green smoothie and admitted there was no 'green' taste to be detected. I may convert him yet...

In all, two lovely outings, and a reminder that Western Australia has plenty to offer even if we are a tad isolated and prone to very hot weather (except this week, when we are alternating hot weather with thunderstorms, to my delight).

What have you got up to in your home town / state recently?

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