AmiexExchange 07: Perth Day 1 - Fremantle Monument and Quirky Shops

Sea and the sun, long stretches of beach. What do you do to get a panoramic view of the whole place? At Fremantle, your vantage point would be the Fremantle Monument right beside the Bathers Beach.

 

Follow these tracks till you come to the Fremantle Monument Hill (corner of High Street and Bateman Street), where you'd climb a bit of stairs (probably about two-storeys worth). These tracks are still in use, but it stretches out straight some distance away; you'd be able to scramble away in time if a train were to come.

 

Australia has a lot of structures and places set aside to commemorate their war heroes, this is one of them. This is established to remember the soldiers and sailors who have perished in the line of duty during the World War I. It was extremely sunny and the floors/walls were white, so essentially I couldn't really keep my eyes open without potentially incurring photokeratitis. Sunglasses are extreme essentials around Perth in summer! 

I quote my favourite author, Murakami - "The ocean changed its colour and shape and expression according to time and place and weather." That day, the Indian Ocean was a curious shade of dark azulene blue and generally calm. It faded out at the horizon and fused with the sky, it was so breathtaking.

Here are some more shots I took along Fremantle streets: they have a lot of surprises at every turn to be discovered, so make sure you walk around the area thoroughly to fully experience everything. For example, a life-sized chess display and table tennis tables for the public to start playing! How creative, and a smart solution to get kids away from computer screens and into the outdoors.

 

One of the shops we spent a more substantial amount of time in was the Elizabeth's Secondhand Bookshop which had a lot of books sorted into different genres. I delved into the psychology and sociology ones because of my personal interests. I love the creativity sparks that sit quietly without much broadcasting, you need to really look carefully or you'd miss it. For example, the bookshop was organizing this mystery book exchange for Valentine's day, with only its synopsis written on the brown paper. It's such a cute idea.

Another one of those shops is the Chart and Map Shop (I love how literal they are with the names). I didn't take much photos in there because I was busy looking at the maps... but it's a really good place to start finding the perfect map for your room decor! I always wanted one to put up in my room wall but well, it's going to get crumpled if I had to carry it for another six months... so I gave it a miss. The prices are pretty reasonable for maps, I forgot how much but I remember it's not the exorbitant sort of place.

 

 

 

And then we saw this crazy dude which has an endless stream of jokes and humour that incited more snorty than hearty laughs, who performed how to escape from chains and cling wraps. Even though he was entertaining, it was such a waste of cling wrap. But I like how their buskers are amazingly good at what they do - being incredibly thick-skinned to attract attention and making sure everyone has a good time watching him as well. They do this for a living, so we are supposed to give some change to encourage him, but I'm a poor student as well... so I kinda walked away after his performance was over. And then that was that! In the next post, I will be talking more about Bathers Beach Sunset Market which you mustn't miss in summer!