Monday 12 December 2011

Playing Tourist

We've been living in Perth now 11 months and haven't visited the Perth tourist attractions that are on the agenda for most visitors, so we had a weekend of playing tourist.

Perth Mint is located in the centre of Perth CBD and was established in 1899 to refine the gold found in the eastern areas of Western Australia, it is the oldest operating mint in Australia.  Our experience of the mint was all the more richer having previously visited Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie where gold was first found in 1892.


It was then down to Fremantle to visit the Maritime Museum and the Fremantle Prison; the museum was interesting but the prison was very sobering and memorable in many ways.  The prison was built by convicts in the 1850's and was still operating as a prison until it was decommissioned in 1992. Prisoners spent 16 hours a day in their cells, which were very small, bare and primitive; prior to it being decommissioned there was no running water and only a bucket for a toilet in each cell, electricity was only installed in the 1980's.



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