For our second day in Fremantle, we stayed in town and did a self-tour. Our morning was spent at the Fremantle prison.

It turns out that for many years, it was a progressive prison with an emphasis on reformation. And also forced labor, but hey you have to do something with your day. The prison had a Church of England Chapel. The belief is that the chapel decoration was originally painted by a prisoner. Here’s a pic of some of the wall art he did in his prison cell.

Whatever the prisoner did, it got plastered over. It can’t be restored without ruining whatever it was. So today we see a more modern wall painting for the chapel.

Our other major outing was the shipwreck museum. Thanks mainly to the coral, Australia was a very dangerous place for early sea farers. There are lots of interesting stories about ships that sank, both for ships that have been found and for those who have not. One of the more interesting efforts is one of the very early purpose-built steam engines for ships. The restoration effort was so effective that you can clearly see what the engine looked like. Most of the parts move as intended. They are even able to turn the crank shaft.

That’s it for Fremantle. Tomorrow is a sea day. I hope this finds everybody doing well.