Fremantle Tour

Had brunch in a little cafe across from the hotel then picked up the tram for a guided tour of Fremantle. Our very lively guide explained how the first convicts arrived in 1850 and much of the town was built using convict labour. The Scottish connection was also explained. The guards who came across with them were retired soldiers from the Crimea. They were essentially in poverty in the UK as their war pension was not enough to live on. They were given the chance to reform their old units and come across as prison guards for double the wage. These Pensioner Guards were mainly from Scotland. In the early 1900s the town boomed off the back of mineral and gold finds and much of the infrastructure, hotels and public buildings are from that time. Fremantle is also a major port. Initially as the centre of the Australian wool trade, then as a major submarine base in WW2. Only Pearl Harbour had more submarines than Fremantle. The war memorial commemorates American submariners as well as those from Australia.Read more