Australia Adventures #7

We arrived at Fremantle Prison right as a tour was starting.  Woot for not having to wait 30 minutes for the next one!  We quickly bought tickets, and by quickly that is a relative term because I started chatting with the ticket lady about something.  To the point that I almost forgot my card!  Oops.  Anyways, with the nudging of my travel companion, we went off to find the group.  The tour guide had already started, but I wasn't worried.

Note: when travelling to different countries, no matter how well you can communicate the locals, it will always be hard to understand them when you want to hear what they are saying.  Example:  A Northerner travelling to the South.  Point made.

I was able to catch most of what the tour guide was saying, but sometimes he'd lose me.  At which point I'd start shooting photos.  YAY, pictures!! 

Fremantle Prison was built from convict labor in the 1850's and started being used as a prison in 1886.  At the end of 1991, the prison finally closed.  This prison used buckets for business, aka number 1 and number 2, aka peein and poopin... until it closed.  Let me repeat that for you: Prisoners were using a BUCKET as a toilet until 1991.  Seriously.  Might have been part of the reason the prison was shut down.  /shrug.

Warning:  This post is extremely photo heavy.  54 photos to be exact.  I considered breaking this up into 2 posts, but I figured my Gentle Readers have waited long enough... (since the 22nd to be exact).

We were going the right way.  This was a good sign.
Pun intended.  :)

The first room prisoners are taken to when they arrive at the prison.

Uniform of the day...  forever.

Built entirely from convict labor.

Dear Tour Guide, You were great.  Thanks, Teh Megan

The lines you can see on the wall are where the hill actually went up to, but prisoners dug it out to make it level.

The white stripe around the bottom of the walls are to be able to better see people.

Entering Division 1.

Plan of the day....  forever.

Hello, you're lookin' like a mighty fine toilet...  FOREVER.

I don't remember what blue forms are either..

I don't remember what C 63s were.

Only in the kitchen.

The temperature gauges on the fridge and freezer.

Turn stiles were added after the 1988 revolt.

Looking out into the yard.

Uh oh, they all escaped!

The chapel was the only place where the male and female prisoners could see each other, but females sat in the balcony.

Since Australia was a British colony, you have the Church of England.

Muzacks, retro style.

Probably one of my favorite pics from the prison.  

Prisoners were locked IN the Chapel.  Ya know, just in case.

Freedom is so close.

These lights are on.

A prisoners room when the prison was opened.

The sick room, with the push button if you required assistance.

Solitary confinement in a division.  They had their own yard to "play" in.

Read this to understand the next few photos.

Stuff could be purchased if prisoners had jobs.  They were only allowed to make $35 a week when the prison closed.  Stuff included cigarettes and paint and TVs.

#3 Division caught fire during the 1988 revolt.  It was reconstructed.

This channel is boring!

Where to get water in the "yard"

The yard was a concrete wall enclosed concrete area.  Prisoners who didn't work spent 8 hours a day, no matter the weather in the "yard" every.single.day.  The covered areas weren't added until the mid-1900s.  The guard would stand in the turnstile box and the bathrooms (there were actual toilets added in the late 1900s) were along the farthest wall from the guard, which is where most incidents between prisoners would take place.  

The blue was thought to be calming.  This area was where floggings occurred.

For the worst of the worst, solitary confinement.
I was standing at the door.

Literal barred door.

"Enter at own risk!"
Touche considering the crazies were often kept here.

Guard tower.

The long walk that 43 men and 1 woman took to be hanged (the only legal form of a death sentence in Australia).

Office space.

Contact visits..............

Visitor room/Non-contact visits

Australia!

After the prison we walked around Fremantle, literally.  I got us on the "wrong side of the tracks" and we had to find a place to cross.  Definitely got our exercise that day!



Want to catch up on the Australia Adventures???1st day off in Australia (summary)
2nd day off in Australia (summary)
San Francisco (photos)
Perth Zoo a, b, c (photos)
The Indian Ocean and downtown Perth at night (photos)
Caversham Wildlife Park a, b, c (photos)
Fremantle Prison (photos)
walking around Fremantle (the city) (photos)
Perth from King's Park (photos)
HMAS Ovens (submarine) (photos)
Sydney at night (photos and a story)
Sydney in the morning (photos and a story)
Australia Panoramics (photos)