The Swan River

The river was named by Captain James Stirling in 1827 apparently because of the number of black swans he saw.  We found only two.  However, we did see quite a lot of the sights that adorn the riverbanks.  Firstly, just inside the narrow dredged entrance  is Fremantle, Western Australia’s  largest and busiest general cargo port used for the export of wheat, petroleum, LPG, alumina, mineral sands, fertilisers, sulphur and other bulk commodities.  Not bad really as the river is so shallow it requires dredging to get the ships in.  Further upstream the river opens out until it resembles a lake.  The tidal range is small, about a metre, and the flow correspondingly slow which results in a lot of silt.  It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a river dredged across its width to permit the ferry access to both banks.

But there is a lot to see.  The marine museum at Fremantle, apart from housing exhibits on pearling,  whaling and the history of immigration to Australia, is the home of Australia 2, the yacht with the strange winged keel that won the Americas Cup in 1983, much to the chagrin of the Americans.

In Perth there’s a bell tower that is home to the bells originally hung in St Martins in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London.  Some extra bells have been added to create an installation of eighteen bells, quite an impressive sight, and a great deal of sound.  The tower also exhibits time pieces from all over the world.  A fascinating display.

Kim never misses an opportunity to look at flowers and so a walk through the Kings Park was ‘de rigour’.  In spring splendour we were amongst the thousands of people strolling through the grounds.  With the river in the background the view was beautiful.

We met up with Jeff, who we’d met earlier in our travels.  He’s a resident and enthusiastic promoter of the city, and somehow managed to wangle us aboard the Duyfken, a replica of the Dutch vessel captained by Dirk Hartog's that made landfall in 1616 near Sharks Bay.  The replica was built in Perth and is used mainly for training young people to sail.  It must be quite a shock to them to find out first hand just how primitive the conditions were for the sailors of the time.

We enjoyed our time in Perth.  It’s a clean, tidy city that seems to have bypassed some of the more unpleasant aspects of large conurbations.  Perhaps we’ll come back for a more leisurely visit sometime.

But the clock is ticking and we’re aware that we’ve been on the road for getting on for four months – and we still have quite a way to go.  The wine producing area around Margaret River beckons and we must move on.