Finding Much To Treasure In Fremantle

Kelly's Sunburnt Kids by Ken Rasmussen

Detail from Kelly’s Sunburnt Kids by Ken Rasmussen (ships off Rottnest)

I love Fremantle. I particularly love climbing up to the Roundhouse. It’s just a little hill with a little fort and a little cannon. I used to have so much fun taking my children there when they were small. Once a day the cannon is fired off with a boom and that is really something.

At the bottom of the Roundhouse there’s a tunnel through to a perfectly usable little beach.  It feels like someone’s secret. The beach is snuggled into a cove just below the cliffs. It is the perfect place for smugglers and buried treasure.

From parts of the Roundhouse, the beach and the street corners you can sometimes catch the surprise of huge ships coming and going from the port. They are so imposing with their foreign flags, strange names and grand stretches of rusty paintwork. Sometimes a particularly big ship will appear quite suddenly and dwarf all the buildings near the docks. Then it’s gone and you’re left wondering where it’s heading to and what it would be like to be a sailor.

Down near the wharf, the streets are lined with old buildings and several of them were once charming hotels. I’m fond of the way people use these old places and bring a new life to them. These ventures drift in and out on their own mysterious tides, failing or succeeding, coming and going.

A friend’s young daughter just returned from a trip to Europe. She told her mother that everywhere she went she was looking for Fremantle. I can understand that. It is a gentle and charming place. It has great coffee. It’s not polluted. It’s not dangerous. It’s not fenced off. You can walk up and down and look at the views. You can get in the water.  You can hop on a ferry and go across to Rottnest Island.

I’m wondering whether you’ve been to Fremantle recently. I’m wondering whether you know these places and whether you love them too. One day I hope to have a grandchild. I’ll take them to Fremantle to see the ships and hear that cannon. Perhaps I might see you there.

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