Fremantle Prison Tunnel Tour

Rosemary organised a tunnel prison tour for us last Saturday. Alicia, her daughter was our guide. The tour was very interesting as we learned about the history of Fremantle Prison, Western Australia in regards to the convicts and prisoners doing hard labour digging through the limstone to make "aqua ducts" tunnels to supply fresh drinkable water to the colony and the prison itself.

We were decked with safety harnesses, fall arresters, boots, helmets and overalls climbing up and down ladders, going to labyrinths of tunnels 20m beneath the Prison on foot and boat. When we kept really quiet we can actually hear traffic above us outside the Prison compound.

The boat ride was very interesting. There was a caravan of boats and Rosemary & I were the last in the group and somehow being on the back of the boat and not familiar with the oars I was making the boat hitting the wall left and right. It turned out that I was trying to 'kayak' rather than 'canoeing' with the oar. When rectified, we finally cruised nicely along enjoying and letting the history sink in. There were 'solution ducts' where tree roots had barrowed into the limestone. Very interesting indeed. This is so far my second tour to the Fremantle Prison, the first was the Night Tour laast year. I highly recommend making a visit to the prison and learning more about the history of WA. Check out their website on http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/.