MaPa has arrived!!!
We made it in time to arrive in Perth and the first 
thing we did was? No – not checking into a caravan park we drove to the domestic airport and surprised two peoples! My parents arrived for their holiday in Australia. They already spent some time in Darwin before coming to Perth and didn’t expect to see us at the airport. But we were there and greeted them and decided to meet later in Perth city where we had a nice dinner.
Next day was reserved for the first exploring of Perth. We took one of the three free bus lines and drove to the Bell Tower with the Swan Bells. My parents went up the tower while Tom and I stayed back to take some pictures. While my parents were on the tower the bells started to ring – every day between noon and 1.00pm they ring for a whole hour.
After the first sightseeing accomplished we walked to Kings Park and took the stairs which gave some information of the Kokoda trail (the famous war hike in Papua New Guinea. We kept on walking through the Botanical Gardens and had our lunch at the War Memorial enjoying the views of the Swan River and got entertained by a group of students…
The next adventure took us to Fremantle. Unfortunately there was no big vessel (neither roro, container or bulk carrier) in the harbour so we went straight to the fishing harbour. We walked along the shoreline to the Round House before saying “hello” to the Fremantle Fisherman. The next day my parents left Perth for a 4-day trip to Shark Bay via Geraldton and Kalbarri.
When they returned we met at the Britz Camper Van Rental Store to pick-up their accommodation for the coming 4 weeks and drove to the
caravan park in Fremantle. We tested all things in the van and decided that they would sleep ok in the bed they have to make every day. Then we changed into our swimming gear and walked to the beach (just 700m away) and jumped straight into the waves.
We decided to stay one more day in Fremantle to give my parents a day rest and to explore more sights – the visit of the Fremantle Prison was our plan. The Fremantle Prison
is a tourist attraction since 1992 – just one year after its decommission. The prison was built (in 1850) by the first convicts of the Swan River Colony. They had to built their own home. It was later used as a prison and served for 136 years – in the end even as a maximum security prison. They hardly changed anything in the prison – no air-con installed or bigger cells. The electricity was installed quite late (if I remember correctly at around 1975). They offer some guided tours; Doing Time, Great Escapes,
Tunnels and Torchlight tours. The great escapes tour provides an insight about the attempted escapes (not sure how many were successful), for the tunnels tour you have to get underground and change into overalls. You even have to paddle your kayak 20m underground – the tunnels were constructed in 1894 to sustain the water supply for Fremantle. The torchlight tour runs only on Friday and Wednesday nights; you probably hear stories about the loneliness, pain and suffering 
of the inmates including the 45 people who were hanged. Don’t try it if you’re faint hearted. We opted for the doing time tour. Although the tour was in English my parents enjoyed it (Tom and I did our best to translate) – the guide even used his hands and other signs for his explanations. We had a look at the entrance and received the information that the prisoner had to change clothes and stand naked before the officers and only one shower per week was allowed. The next
stop were the cells itself and what the morning routine was like. The cells are really small not to call them tiny. We also saw the exercise yard and the little hut for the guard. During the prison time some people were on death roll and executed. We saw the cells for their last days and even the death chamber where they were hanged. There is also a church in the prison which is still used as a real church. Our guide mentioned that people got married and used the exercise yard as reception. What a weird place but it should be a life-long sentence… lol
Good bye,
Cheers, MaPa, Tom and Anja
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