The Extraordinary Tourist
Trains, Perth and Fremantle.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Road Trip Day 24: 15th June 2007
The one thing I wanted to do whilst visiting Perth was spend a day on my own, riding the train to visit the Perth CBD and Fremantle. Today was that day.
When I head out on my own I don't really do much except walk and observe. I enjoy walking and I like to get out and see how places have changed from when I was there last.
My morning started with a fairly long walk to the train station. On the way I passed through , what I imagine, is one of the largest Westfield Shopping Malls in the country. It's nearly big enough to have its own postcode. The Westfield was built before I left Perth. Apart from looking a little more lived in, it looked pretty much the same. Maybe a different shop here and there but that's about all.
I was a little worried that the trains ticketing system might be all different and I'd have to spend some time relearning it, however the basic system was unchanged. Put your money in a machine on the platform to buy your ticket. There is a new system called 'Smart Cards' which I guess are prepaid, multi trip tickets. On every station there is a reminder for you to 'tag on' and 'tag off' if you have one of these and gates have been built with the machines to do this placed as conveniently as possible.
Checking of tickets has become much tighter too. With gates having been installed across all exits at major stations so that guards can ensure you're not trying to fare evade. There's still a few ways you can get through the cracks. Traveling in off peak times they tend not to watch the exits and you can walk straight through unchecked.
My train arrived in the Perth CBD around 11am and I spent about an hour walking around. I was going to climb the Bell Tower on the foreshore of the Swan river but it was $10 to get in. I'd seen the museum inside the tower and the view from the top on an earlier trip so $10 for a quick look seemed a tad expensive.
Not a lot has changed in Perth. One very large building that used to be the home of the Myer shopping centre had been leveled to make way for Perth's new below ground railway station however it was early stages so really all you could see was the gap where the building used to be.
I reboarded the train and headed for the port city of Fremantle, a place I one day may choose to live should the opportunity arise. I like Fremantle because it is a very historical city with a great number of heritage buildings, plus it is by the beach. Whilst I'm not much of a swimmer I do like living right next to the coast where the sea disappears to the horizon. It has a feeling of possibility and opportunity about it that appeals to me.
Fremantle is very much a working port so you can see everything from cargo ships to ocean liners and naval ships coming and going. Heading out and disappearing over the horizon.
There is one particular spot in Fremantle that I always visit, a lookout located next to the Round House (an old convict prison). From here you can see out over the boat marina and the waders beach. It's a fantastic view at sunset and one that I once started to paint. You can observe so much activity. People doing all sorts of things. On this particular day I observed a girl taking photographs.
Not your usual holiday snaps. I first noticed her because she was fully dressed in jeans but wading up to just above her knees in the water on the beach below. Her camera was pointed straight down in such a way that she could only be taking a photo of the surface of the water and whatever could be seen below.
When she had done that she moved out onto the beach and started holding dried sea weed up to her lense and taking extreme close ups of that. I figured she had to be some kind of 'arty' type person.
She eventually made her way up to the look out where I was, taking some photos of the view before heading off. I last saw her when I left, laying flat out on the steps I had to use, taking photos of the ground. Strange but only at this look out are your chances of seeing this kind of odd activity greatly increased.
Fremantle hasn't changed a great deal. In my walking I went through the famous Fremantle Markets - busy as always - and the not so famous, E-Shed markets - not so busy as the stall holders would like. I was going to have some lunch at the E-Shed but all the outdoor tables were in full sunlight and I didn't particularly like the atmosphere in the indoor section of the food hall.
In the end, I boarded the train back to Perth CBD and had a late lunch in the Foodhall at the Carillion Centre. Nothing special just a roast meat roll with chips. During my meal a girl sat at a table directly opposite me. She was eating chips and gravy with a boost juice... I guess you'd call that a balanced meal, healthy and unhealthy!
That was pretty much my day. I caught the train home shortly after I'd eaten because by the time I got home it would be starting to get dark. Not exactly thrill a minute but it is nice to get out on your own sometimes.Labels: Fremantle, market, Perth, photography, places, road trip 2007, train, travel
Has Perth become prefabricated?
Road Trip Day 23: 14th June 2007
Today I accompanied my Dad as he drove around the suburbs, just south of the Perth CBD, between jobs as a general home maintanance person. Through the course of the day we covered a fair bit of ground.
Something I noticed is that Perth seems to have really embraced 'prefabricated architecture'. Designing all shapes of building variations from your basic concrete box i.e. all the walls are made from prefabricated concrete slabs made to order. Everything from multi-storey apartments to huge commercial premises, all with unique styling, just to break up the expanse of concrete wall slabs.
Some buildings actually looked quite good whilst others displayed limited imagination beyond four walls. The only thing that lets these buildings down is that they are so obviously prefabricated. Which says something about the building not being quite so 'hand made' as they used to be, where a brickie would literally build a house brick by brick.
Perhaps it's just a sign of the times. Everything these days is mass produced. Why should buildings be any different. If they can be built quicker back at the factory with less time actually on site then why not? Cookie cutter buildings.
I guess the question is, where these days we try to preserve our heritage buildings, will these prefabricated buildings ever last that long? Will we try to preserve them or will we not care? Will modern, prefabricated architecture be forgotten except in photos?Labels: architecture, building, Perth, prefabricated, road trip 2007
Gosnells, Murals and the Agonis.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Road Trip Day 21: 12th June 2007
My Mum wanted to show me around the town centre of Gosnells (the main suburb of Perth that I grew up in) so Rose and I spent the day with her, walking around the shopping precinct.
I was last here in 2004. Back then there was a lot of development work getting under way. Three years later much of the work has been finished for some time.
There is a brand new railway/bus station right in the middle of town - much less out of the way than the old platform. One of the old shopping complexes, where we used to buy groceries, looks nothing like it used to. It's been renovated to the point where you wouldn't even know that the underlying base structure was built more than forty years ago. You'd swear the whole thing was built within the last couple of years. The changes are a real improvement too.
 The centre piece of the town is the 'Agonis' centre. This was being built in 2003. Now it is open and is home to the 'Knowledge Centre' (library to us less posh types), a very affordable but trendy cafe, hall space to hire, a history of Gosnells interpretive centre and a very striking tower clock.
Surrounding the Agonis is a massively upgraded town square (where art markets are held in the summer) as well as highly cared for park lands that were just a step above bushland when I left seven years ago. There's even a 'tree top walk' that was officially opened a few months ago but strangely remains closed whilst they finish it.
 Gosnells has also recognised the value of public art in enhancing the city environment. There are several specially commissioned sculptures that aren't some abstract notion that no one understands. Instead they represent links to themes that represent Gosnells either past, present or future. The sculpture you see in my photo (right) is a spinners spool. Although I'm not entirely sure of how this links to Gosnells I can say it does make for a visually interesting piece of public art.
Speaking of Art, one thing I happened to notice was still there, after seven years, is this mural at 'Pages Park'. Murals tend to have a short life span due to graffiti bandits but I noticed that this mural has been continually touched up to cover any graffiti damage.
 You might wonder why I care about this mural until you look at the bigger version of the photo and notice that it was designed and painted by me with assistance from Rose. I've painted a few public murals around Gosnells when I lived there. As far as I know this is the only one that has survived time. Not particularly because it's great but because it links Pages Park to the history of the people who used to live at that very spot.
The Pages Park Mural links me to Gosnells through my art. I kind of like that.Labels: art, Gosnells, mural, Perth, road trip 2007, Sculpture
It's not over until I go home.
Road Trip Day 19: 10th June 2007
I guess, at this point my road trip is officially over. The big drive from Gawler, via Broken Hill then across to Perth is finished. It's been quite an interesting journey - well for me it has been anyway. I've seen a lot more of the country I live in than at any other time in my life.
That said, the trip its self isn't over until I jump on a plane and fly back to Gawler, Adelaide in about a weeks time. So I'll continue to post articles about my experiences until then, after which this blog will resume it's eclectic mix of whatever happens to be interesting me at the time.
At the moment I'm catching up with relatives. Today my younger brother came for a visit. Then I went to visit my Dad and after that my Mother. All of them live independent lives from each other which means you rarely see my family all in the one place at the same time.
I'm not doing a great deal of tourist type things whilst in Perth because I lived here for just over twenty years. I'm sure there is plenty I haven't seen but really I'm just here to catch up with family and maybe take a bit of time to see how the places I used to visit frequently have changed in seven years.Labels: Perth, relatives, road trip 2007
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