In prison

In mid 19th century roughly 5000 Europeans were settled in Western Australia. Not enough hands to build streets and other infrastructures, so what did the government? Yes, they asked Homeland Britain to send them some prisoners. They were convicted for minor crimes like stealing food for their starving families and then sent overseas with a 10 year sentence. When they arrived in Freo, then called Swan River colony, they first had to build their own prison. The living conditions were horrendous, the cells being 1x2m small, in summer it heated up until 55 degrees and they were isolated. So when they were released, they underwent 6 month of resocialization in a big room with other men. Probably the most human act those prisoners got in there before leaving. Since water was rare the convicted had to dig a tunnel system to ensure clean water. That was around 1900. The prison was closed 1991. It is a museum since. So today I visited this historic place where Oli is working as a curator. I did a tour through the prison and later on I went into the tunnel. We were a small group of seven with our guide Tristan. He was my boat buddy and my highlight. I had such a good time, Tristan telling us one bad joke after another (How is a earthquake called here? A Perthquake. What does the Swiss drive mostly? Neutral).
After that I took a long walk home. I can stay in an apartment next to the house of Oli and Tom and at the moment it smells yummy because I have a Züpfe in the oven for breakfast.Read more