Little Taste of Freedom

It's a sunny day and the luggage is safely locked away in a cabin, so Dave and I hoon around Fremantle on our suddenly nimble bikes. It's fantastic to lose the weight of the bags; the bikes handle so much better. I think for my next holiday I'll hire a roadie to drive my luggage around.

We stop in at the Fremantle Prison, one of the top attractions of Fremantle. We don hard hats, life vests, and start with a tour of the tunnels that are hidden 20 metres underneath the prison. The history of the tunnels is kind of boring although the tunnels themselves are nifty. Nineteenth century Fremantle had insufficient supplies of clean water. They discovered they'd built the prison above a natural aquifier, so they set their prisoners to work building an extensive array of tunnels to collect the water. We get to paddle canoes around in the waist deep water. To be accurate, Dave does all of the paddling while I make splashing noises and enjoy the free ride.

The second tour is above ground and we get to see the conditions the prisoners were forced to endure. I comment that the place reminds me of my primary school in Sydney; the bitumen "playground", the high stone walls, the depressing and utilitarian concrete corridors. Dave thinks I'm exaggerating but later the tour guide says exactly the same thing. The Australian government obviously modeled the public schools after the federal prisons. Says it all, really.

The tours take all day and it's soon dinner time. We stop for a beer in one of Fremantle's worst kept secrets; the Little Creatures Brewery. My impression, stepping through the front door, is like Charlie entering the Chocolate Factory. There are hundreds of people, pumping dance music, crazy trick lighting, and two-storey stainless steel vats of beer lurking in the shadows. The whole place has an industrial feel and it's jumping with activity. Pinch me, I must be dreaming. They serve the best food I've eaten so far on this trip, and also the best beer. What an awesome brewery.