We really wanted to stop in Freo itself for a few days but when we phoned the caravan park they told us that all their grassed sites were closed for renovation and that they couldn’t accommodate us. Instead we opted for the most central park in Perth and drove down to Freo for a couple of day trips.

The Cappucino Strip

The ‘Cappucino Strip’ is a vibrant street, home to many cafes, juice bars, pubs and even a micro brewery. We had breakfast here on a quiet weekday morning. Returning on the weekend provided a much better people watching experience.

Following breakfast we walked around a bit checking things out before heading up to the old prison.

Fremantle Prison

This was the longest operating prison in Australia and we still home to WA’s criminals until closing in 1991. The primary reason for closure was health and safety due to the lack of sanitation, however it was the prisoner riot in 1988 that brought about the review which lead to the recommendation for closure.

We joined both the ‘doing time’ tour and the ‘escape artists’ tour. Both were informative and entertaining and well worth the visit.

The art work created by the inmates during their incarceration is owned by the state and there are regular exhibits on display.

Freemantle Prison

The Round House

The roundhouse is the oldest building in WA. Entrance is by a gold coin donation. Originally designed as a goal, there were initially 8 cells and the prison guard quarters. Some of the rooms were removed when there were plans to demolish the whole building. The building was saved and now exhibits are displayed in the remaining jail rooms.

Markets

The Fremantle Market

Our second visit to Freo was on a Sunday as we wanted to check out the market. There is amazing array of stalls here and we enjoyed wandering around and looking at it all.

E Shed Market

We also checked out the E Shed Market down harbor side. Although there are a number of stalls here we felt it was mainly tourist souvenir tatt so didn’t spend too long perusing the goods.