Stop #50 - Perth (Fremantle)

Heading into northern Perth, we reach traffic lights for the first time in many months, as well as experiencing multiple lane roads.  To add to the novelty, we see commuter trains running parallel to the road, before spotting many of the large retail shops and stores such as we are accustomed to seeing in big cities.  This is what it feels like to be a country person visiting the big smoke, how quickly we forget and acclimatise.

Google Maps manages to steer us past the Perth CBD, as we head further south to Fremantle, our base for the next 5 days, whilst we explore Perth and the surrounds.

We decided to stay south of Perth and away from the CBD, but close enough to allow us to catch public transport into town.  I'd been to Perth a couple of times, and particularly liked Fremantle and the smaller, boutique style shops and cafes.  Like I mentioned to the family a number of times, Fremantle reminded me much of Melbourne, small pop up cafes and stores, the alternative and free style of living, without the hustle and bustle of bigger cities.

We'd booked into Coogee Beach caravan park, a 15 minute bus ride south of Fremantle.  Again, the surrounds of the park are filled with parks and playgrounds, cafes, exercise equipment as well as BBQs.

The caravan park itself is small, and mostly filled with permanent tenants who are either temporarily working in the area, the elderly who've fallen on hard times or have decided to completely downsize.

Luckily for me, the caravan park is close to Woodman Point, a renowned squidding ground in Perth.  And so early one morning, I explore one of the jetties off Woodman Point.  The water was murky, visibility not great, but conditions calm and perfect for squidding.  There was plenty of squid ink on the jetty, relatively fresh, so I know they are about.  After an hour and a half of squidding, I catch 3 squid, and call it a morning.  Although that may not sound like a good return, it is on average, what you would expect from squidding for Green Eyed Calamari.  It's hard to explain to those that do not squid, but the hours pass by quickly, as this form of fishing is peaceful, calming and serene.  You are allowed many hours to day dream, think and take in the surrounds, very relaxing and soothing.  The bonus is fresh squid for the table, which is nothing like the squid you would buy from shops.  Freshly caught squid is sweet, tender and superb on the plate.  Unfortunately fresh or live squid is also deadly bait for most large predatory fish, so the fisherman needs to decide whether he wants to sacrifice his hard earned squid for the chance of some bigger fish, or have delicious calamari on the plate.

With my relative success in the morning, and after determining that the jetty is safe to fish from, I decide to take Jai squidding at night.  Arriving at the jetty, we are greeted by hordes of fishermen, all over the jetty.  Obviously the locals were in the know that squid were about, as most were after a feed of squid.  This was the best chance that Jai would have of catching his first squid.  We found a spot away from others, and started squidding.  We tried all sorts of techniques, jigs and locations.  For some reason, the squid were not around, we only saw one squid caught that night, amongst the 30+ fisherman; I did however manage to bring up a squid tentacle, the result of some aggressive jigging, part and parcel of fishing for squid.  We left disappointed that we did not catch a squid, I was especially sad for Jai, for he tried gallantly the whole night.

I managed to fish one other morning at Woodman point, for 4 nice calamari.  Again, the setting was serene, and the session soothing.  The calamari was a bonus.  We managed to catch up with the Franke family, who'd moved into the caravan park down the road, for dinner.  So I cooked up some battered Threadfin Salmon and Calamari in the camp kitchen, setting off the fire alarm a couple of times, but the meal was popular with all.

Whilst at Fremantle, we took the bus into town, and then train into Scitech just outside Perth. 

Scitech is like Questacon in Canberra, with the usual scientific activities, games, experiments and displays; very entertaining, mentally stimulating and interesting for the kids (small and old).  

We also took in some of the shows and videos, the latter held in a giant iMax theatre, where we were taken on a tour around the planets universe and delved into the topic of whether we are alone in the universe, and the probabilities of there being other forms of life.  Very interesting and thought provoking for the whole family.

We also managed to visit the Maritime museum in Fremantle, Ship Wrecked Museum, and a general look around the foreshore of Fremantle.

One of the things Jackie wanted to do in Perth was visit Kings Park to see the Wild Flower exhibition.  So we drove the 30 minutes to Kings Park, to be greeted by blooming wild flowers and millions of buzzing bees.  The displays were spectacular, colourful and a magnificent attraction for all.  Another great decision by Jackie, I never once thought that seeing flowers in a park would be boring !!

During one of the rainy days we were at Fremantle, we drove to Swan Valley to check out the wineries and food trail.  We'd intended to meet with the Franke family at the beginning, however the schoolwork and other chores meant we got to Swan Valley around lunch time, by which time the Franke family were well and truly underway with their exploring.

First stop was at Mandoon Estate, to feed the hangry out of Grace.  They did a great pizza, washed down perfectly with the locally brewed beer.

 We didn't know how the experiment with taking kids to wineries and food outlets would transpire, suffice to say there was plenty of nagging, dragging and hurry ups dished out.  Of course when we visited the chocolate factory, the whining and whining ceased.

We were pleasantly surprised by what was on offer at Swan Valley, an easy 45 minute drive from our caravan park.  There were plenty of vineyards that were located near each other, the estates and eateries were of high quality, and there were plenty of destinations and options for the whole family.  Definitely worth a trip out, for those visiting Perth.

We'd hoped to visit the WA Birds of Prey centre in Swan Valley, however the lady informed us that she would be doing an exhibition at Bunnings in O'Connor, not far from our caravan park.  So we stopped by on our way home, and what a surprise we had.  Bunnings had put in a Father's Day special, free BBQ, icecream, kids activities and of course the BOP exhibition.  To say Jai was excited was an understatement, to see a Wedge Tailed Eagle up close, and then to hold it, a dream come true.

We were sad that our time at Fremantle was up, however we were all looking forward to seeing Grandpa down at Busselton and visit the bigger wineries, oh, and stay in a house for a while !!