Street festivals, coffee shops and bars

Trip Start Oct 20, 2004

Trip End May 02, 2005

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Flag of Australia Fremantle, Australia
Saturday, March 26, 2005

We checked out of our hostel this morning and caught the train fro the 30min journey to the nearby city of Fremantle known locally as 'Freo' fro 2 nights. We spent the day wandering around the town, watching street performers and in the markets. We also went up to Fremantle Prison where there were about 70 American Corvettes on display, from classic 60's models to new ones. We were going to go on a tour of the prison (it no longer houses prisoners!) but didn't have time so decided to come back the next day. We went to the shops to get supplies for the next few days before going out to the cinema later that night.

The next morning we went to the Prison for the tour, given by a girl from Tullybully near Alloa! We forgot to say that the Aussie accent must be about the least heard in Perth and Fremantle, there are so many Brits about. The tour was very interesting, the prison was opened in the late 1800's and it didn't close until 1992

01 Fremantle Prison

. Originally it was filled with men, boys and women from the Uk and Ireland, all prisoners in together from murderers to very young children locked up for petty crimes like stealing bread! They showed us various cells in the conditions they would have been in throughout the years. It was surprising to hear that they only had a bucket in the cell for a toilet right up to the late 80's. We were also shown the gallows where about 40 something and at least one woman had been hanged. The prison had a visitor centre with a convict database computer to search through to see if you have any convicts in the family. We found one Alexander Matheson (aka Mathieson) who was from Glasgow and was sent there in the early 1900's for theft! There were loads of Armstrongs! (no McHutchisons or Grahams!)

Later that day we watched the many street performers, performing as part of a festival in Fremantle. They were all excellent.

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