Having left
Broome, we headed for our next port of call, Exmouth. We arrived on time on Monday, but the wind
and the waves were so high the Captain decided launching the tenders was too
risky, so immediately set sail for Geraldton.
Last year a passenger on the Massdam died stepping from the tender to
the ship, as she fell between them. So,
wisely the Captain exercised his prerogative to keep us all safe!
As you see,
the seas were heavy and the winds were upwards of 30 knots (55 km/h or 35 mph),
so one understands why we sailed on.
After docking
in Geraldton, we joined a tour of the Greenough Wildlife and Bird Park. This is a privately-run park that rescues and
rehabilitates Australian Wildlife, and has done so for the past 30 years.
This was
one of the Roos. One wonders what is
going through this fella’s mind. Given
that we were all given a small bag of feed, I expect it was something like,
“Ahhh, here comes mid-morning snack!”
And, as you
can see, he would be right! Not content
to let this fellow get all the action,
one of his
mates got his nose and paws into the fray.
Take it easy guys, there is enough for you all!
Kangaroos,
wallaroos, and wallabies all belong to a species called macropods. This is a Greek work for big foot, which is appropriate
when you think about it. There are about
71 different types of macropods in Australia.
All are marsupial, meaning that their babies are born before they are
fully developed and continue to grow in their mother’s pouch. Marsupials can have up to three offspring at
different stages and the female can be in a constant state of pregnancy. She
can have a fertilized egg ready to go, a baby growing in utero, and a third joey
that exits the pouch, but comes back for feeding. When food is abundant, she is
a baby making machine, but when food is scarce, she can pause the development
of the animals in her uterus until conditions improve. Given the extremes of the Australian climate,
this no doubt comes in handy.
OK, onto
other animals. This gal, Priscilla,
was giving
Sonya the once over as you can see. The
ostrich is not native to Australia but we didn’t catch the story as to how it
got here.
For
comparative purposes, here is an emu:
And a full
shot of the ostrich from above.
The ostrich
is the world’s largest bird, while the emu is the second largest. Emus are native to Australia and ostriches
native to Africa.
After we
arrived in Fremantle, we toured the Fremantle Prison Tunnels. Yes, the tunnels are beneath the prison –
and are not escape tunnels as you may be thinking.
But first a
bit of background on the prison is in order, and perhaps a bit of the
background on Perth and Fremantle.
Perth was originally known as the Swan River Colony for the black swans
that lived on the river. The Swan River Colony
was originally intended to be settled only by free settlers – not convicts. However,
the challenges of daily life and building infrastructure proved to be too much and
more costly than anticipated.
So, the
governor petitioned England to send convicts to provide free labour to build
some infrastructure. The colonialists
were particular about the character of convicts that they wanted, so in their
petition to the King, they asked that there be no women, no political prisoners
and none convicted of serious crimes. The first convicts came in 1850 and arrived
unannounced because the convict ship overtook the ship with the news that the
King had granted their request.
As there
was no advance notice, the only place available to house the convicts was a
wool warehouse owned by the harbour master.
The convicts stayed in that warehouse until they constructed their own
place – the Fremantle Convict Establishment, now known as the Fremantle Prison.
Between
1850 and 1868, more than 9,500 convicts were sent from England to Fremantle. During their sentence they spent much of
their time constructing local buildings such as the Fremantle School, the Perth
Town Hall, Government House and some of the roads.
Oh yes, and
they also excavated the tunnels under the Fremantle Prison. In the beginning, the wells beneath the
prison were dug to supply water to the prison. However, increasing shipping activity and the
population growth put a great deal of stress on the existing water wells.
So, the
prison started supplying water to the jetty to supply incoming ships. The water was pumped up from the depths of
the prison (30 metres) manually by the convicts. This was very demanding work, but the
authorities had little sympathy, and the pumps were manually worked until 1889,
when two steam driven pumps were finally installed.
As demand
for water increased, the wells under the prison were expanded by excavating
tunnels in a grid pattern under the prison. These tunnels, close to a kilometer
in length, were hand carved by inmates out of solid rock.
So, as we prepared to go down, we learned that
we had to wear helmets, head lamps, rubber boots and fall protection equipment.
We even had
to take a breathalyzer test. When you look at our way down (and up for that
matter),
you get an
appreciation for the fall protection equipment required! We were not allowed to
bring anything down with us, particularly cameras.
I found a
short video from Youtube that gives you a brief overview of the adventure
through the tunnels. (Click the video to
play)
In the
evening we went to an Aboriginal Corroboree.
The word corroboree was coined by the European settlers of Australia in
imitation of an east coast Aboriginal Australian word “caribberie”. From AboriginalArt.Com.Au,
Aboriginal ceremonies (known to most people as corroborees) are dramatic
representations, in mime and song, of the mythical history of the tribe. A group of adult men, seated around a small
fire, will chant the ancient songs, while others, their bodies decorated with
symbols, portray, in a series of spectacular dances, the incidents in the myth.
The dancers
were the Wadumbah Aboriginal Dance Group. Sonya captured several shots of the
dancers. Here are a few for your enjoyment.
And here are
both of us with the entire troupe of dancers.
If you are
interested, here is a one-minute video of one of the dances that the group
performed. Click on the video if you
want to play it.
Our next
port of call was Albany. You will recall
that we spent some time in Albany during the Western Wildflowers tour seeing
the whaling museum and the National Anzac Centre dedicated to the memory of World
War I Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought side by side.
On this part
of the journey, we joined a walking tour of a small portion of the Bibbulmun
Track. From the website, “The Bibbulmun
Track is one of the world’s great long distance walk trails, stretching 1,000 km
from Kalamunda in the Perth Hills, to Albany on the south coast, winding
through the heart of the scenic South West of Western Australia.” Only 100 people
a year attempt the entire track and only 30 actually succeed in finishing. Our guide, a sturdy gal from Luxembourg,
completed it in 7 weeks! We only did 5 km
but took 3 hours because of all the picture taking! I don’t think she held out
much hope any of us could tackle the entire track!
Continuing
from their site, “The Bibbulmun were a sub-group of the Nyungar or Nyoongar
people, whose country extended for many hundreds of square miles, comprising
the triangle of land from what is now Jurien Bay to Esperance.”
When it
came time to name the track, Bibbulmun was suggested because it was known that
the Bibbulmun people walked long distances through the forests for ceremonial
gatherings, and although those precise travel routes were unknown, the name was
adopted as being unique and appropriate for a trail on which it was hoped
walkers would adopt the same feeling of oneness with nature.
The portion
of the track that we walked was adjacent to the Albany Wind Farm.
The wind farm
has 18 turbines like this one.
Because these
turbines sit atop an escarpment that is windy every week of the year, they can
generate up to 35.4 Megawatts of electricity.
This is 80% of Albany’s power needs year-round. Pretty
impressive!
This
section of the track follows the coastline.
We have previously blogged about Wild Coast Australia. Well, here we are again.
The flora
along the way are many and varied. The
banksia
grow here
prolifically. This is a species that is
native to Western Australia. Their seeds
are inside that cone-like flower that you see.
They are so tough that they only open when subjected to fire. As much of Western Australia uses controlled
burns to manage wildfire risk, the banksia trees have good opportunity to reproduce.
Still, they are one tough nut!
The Bibbulmun
track in this area is so popular that sections near the wind turbines are
covered in a boardwalk in order to protect the flora and fauna in the area.
After a
great afternoon hike, it was back aboard the ship for a two-and one-half-day
sail to Adelaide – we are headed to the renowned Barossa Valley for a wine
tasting! Woo-hoo!
See you there,
SnP
