Ferry to Fremantle

It was another sunny and warm day but the evenings were becoming chillier as I travelled south.
After breakfast at the hotel and having checked out and left my holdall in the storeroom, I took a taxi to the Royal Perth Hospital to check a cyst which had appeared just above my left ankle. After an hour's wait, an Irish nurse in A&E told me that it was a ganglin and nothing to worry about. There was nothing to pay due to the reciprocal arrangement with the UK although a check is a made afterwards from the passport details to ensure that the patient is legitimately entitled to free treatment.
After retrieving my holdall, I walked to the ferry jetty past people wearing their medals having participated in the City to Surf 12km run for charity.
I also passed an anti-immigration demonstration in the park outside the Supreme Court with lots of Aussie flags being carried. The police were keeping them away from a smaller pro-Palestine demonstration.
There was noticeable Vietnamese influence in Perth in the cafes and massage parlours. There also appeared to be more mixed partnerships than you see in the UK, e.g. Asians with non-Asian partners.
After lunch at a cafe by the jetty, I boarded a 75-minute Sealink cruise which I used as a ferry service down the Swan River to Fremantle. From the stern on the upper deck, there were good views of the Perth skyline, the smart houses on the riverbank, and pockets of parkland. There were many yachts on the river plus surfers using the wake of the boat.
At Fremantle, there were some large container vessels on the quays, and the boat passed the impressive Western Australian Maritime Museum.
A short walk from the quay was the Hougoumont Hotel. My room was in the New Haus across the road from the main building which was constructed from containers. The bedrooms were smaller than those in the New Haus.
There was excellent security with access through three key-coded doors.
Unfortunately, the smart TV was useless unless you had a Netflix or another subscription, the same as at MOM in Darwin.
After a walk around town, I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant.Läs mer