Leaving Australia: Albany, Freemantle/Perth, but not Geraldton

February 24, 2015

We have now officially left Australia and are sailing toward Bali, Indonesia. We had to skip our last Australian port – Geraldton – due to heavy winds that made it impossible for our ship to get through the channel. But the two ports before that – Albany on the 18^th and Freemantle/Perth on the 20^th and 21^st – were a fitting farewell to a wonderful country that we’d like to visit again.

One thing I’ve noticed in both New Zealand and Australia is that the cities we have visited had no big shopping districts outside the center city so all the downtowns were lively and still the centers of both business and commerce. Going to the mall means going downtown.

Albany was no exception. It’s a smaller port than the others, but due to its relative isolation its center city remains vibrant and busy, and not just with tourists. We strolled the main street, visited two churches (see photos), and shopped at the outdoor market as well as the local grocery store. Albany was the first port in Western Australia before it was usurped by Perth.

Until 1978, Albany was a whaling center. We figure that some of the whaling ships from New Bedford must have stopped here. It is also the place where the annual celebration of ANZAC Day was begun at its historic Church of St. John the Evangelist. ANZAC Day commemorates the day when thousands of Australian and New Zealand service men shipped out to fight in WW I. Most never made it home alive. During WWI, Australia and New Zealand lost more men per capita than any other combatant country. At St. John’s church we met a man whose father had been part of the ANZAC troops. He was one of the few who did make it home, but due to having been gassed while at war he died when his son – the man with whom we spoke – was only seven.

Here are some scenes from Albany - top to bottom -  1 - view of the town from the ship, 2 - the beautiful harbor filled with lots of lovely little rocky islands, 3 - home of the Albany Advertiser, (they weren't hiring ;-)) 4 - raising funds for the endangered Pootaroo, 5 & 6 - Scots Church (possible Australian version of Unitarianism) and its interior, 7 - St. John, 8 - statue of Mo'Kare, who helped the early British settlers. 

We arrived in Freemantle on the 20^th and had an overnight. This is now the busiest port in Western Australia. BTW, Western Australia is the largest state in the country. We were only 12 miles from its capital city, Perth. After a quick walk around Freemantle we took the ferry up the Swan River to Perth. This area is famous for its black swans, and we spotted some on our river journey.

Perth is huge and also the most isolated capital city in the world – surrounded by hundreds of miles of deserts. It is closer to Singapore than to Canberra, the Australia capital. The train between Perth and Sydney runs on the longest stretch of straight track in the world and the trip takes 3 days.

We walked the city center “malls” – really streets blocked to traffic. (Reminded us of the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami.) After lunch at a cool pub we hopped onto the Hop On Hop Off bus for a tour of the city, including Kings Park – a magnificent 404 hectare region with regional flora and views of the city and the river. At the end of the tour we stopped in at another pub (lots of pubs in Perth and Freemantle), and wandered around town some more where we discovered the little “alley” called London Court (see photos) before taking the train back to Freemantle.

Scenes from Perth:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     View of Perth from the ferry.

Sign outside of Perth pub.

Swan Bells tower. Bells were the ones that rang in London at the coronation of Elizabeth I and were a gift to Perth from Elizabeth II. We were told the locals hate the tower, but love the bells.

The second day we spent in Freemantle. It was a Sunday and the streets were filled with lots of families visiting the markets and the many coffee shops and pubs. The Freemantle Markets are lots of small vendors selling everything from t-shirts to chocolates to massages. They are only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. John has started collecting ball caps from our ports of call and this is where we found the Freemantle cap. Although we liked Perth, we loved Freemantle. Lots of history here, including some original “convict built” buildings. See "Round House" below.

This Schooner is used to train and raise money for at-risk youth.

      This "cruise ship" is for sheep - thousands of them!

Now we are sailing the Indian Ocean and will be in Bali on Thursday, the 25^th. Many of the ship’s workers are from Indonesia so many will have short reunions with their families during our stops in Bali, Java and Jakarta. Our stateroom attendant, Bagus, will have his family (wife and two young children) on board in Bali, so we have told him not to bother with our room those two days so he can have more time with his family. Many other passengers have also posted signs on their doors saying they do not require services in Indonesia to give the workers more time with families. We also gave him 500,000 rupiahs (about $60 USD) to take his family out to dinner.