Australia 2014: Perth to Fremantle to Perth

Day 4 – July 23, 2014 – Perth to Fremantle to Perth - distance travelled: 74 kms - 15^oC high; 8^oC low. Off to Fremantle for a day of sightseeing. We toured the replica of the Dutch VOC (Dutch East India Company) ship the “Duyfken”, the original of which was the first recorded European ship to land on mainland Australia in 1606. Very interesting; it took them 11 months one way from the Netherlands to Dutch East India (now Indonesia) where they traded goods for very valuable spices. A crew member was rewarded with a handful of spices, which had a value equivalent to anywhere from a big house to a small farm. Of course, crew members only received the reward upon return in the Netherlands but only about half of the crew survived the return journey. Next we saw a piece of another Dutch VOC ship, the Batavia, which was shipwrecked off the coast of Australia in 1629. Part of the stern of the Batavia was pulled from the ocean, restored and is on display together with other artefacts from that ship and other wrecked ships. After a stroll through downtown Fremantle we toured Fremantle Prison, which also very interesting. The prison opened in the mid-1800s and closed its doors 1991, not all that long ago. After the tour we drove back to Kings Park for some pictures of downtown before it was completely dark, following which it was time to go back to the cabin.