Fremantle Prison

One of our favourite spots in the Perth region is the southern suburb of Fremantle. It is at the mouth of the Swan River and is home to Western Australia's oldest port. The first British settlers (convicts) to arrive throughout the 19th century would have first set foot on Western Australia's soil via the Fremantle port. Consequently, it is rich with history. The streets are littered with beautiful limestone buildings, cobblestone roads, a boardwalk along the waterfront, and a friendly and lively atmosphere.

In the mid-nineteenth century the state of Western Australia was grim. The first free settlers from Britain did not have the manpower to sustain the building of roads and infrastructure or cope with droughts that hampered the state's agricultural industry. As a result, they petitioned for convict labour from Britain. A year later the first convicts arrived.

A prevailing issue in Western Australian history is the lack of access to fresh water. In the present day, Western Australia's fresh water sources comes in three forms: (1) groundwater, (2) dammed water, and (3) desalination plants. Many of the dams are dry and the carbon emissions from desalination plants are cause for concern. There are quota restrictions pertaining to water use and fines are handed out to those who abuse their water usage. Elections have been won and lost depending on a politician's stance on the water issue. There have even been a number of alternative solutions proposed. Everything from melting icebergs from Antarctica to building long pipelines connecting Perth to the Northern regions of Western Australia where fresh water is more accessible. It comes as no surprise that back in the 1850's fresh water was very much a matter of life and death. Without clean water disease could threaten the existence of civilization in the area.

The convict's first order of business upon arriving in Perth (a.k.a. the Swan River Colony) was to construct the Convict Establishment (i.e. the Fremantle Prison). During the construction several tunnels were dug beneath the prison grounds to provide the prisoners with fresh water via a limestone aquifer. The quality of the water proved to be better than that of the town's supply. Subsequently, the waters from the prison were hand pumped to supply water for the residents of Perth and the ships in the harbour.

The Fremantle Prison was operational until 1991 and still employed the bucket system. The bucket system refers to the prison's plumbing system or, more accurately, the lack thereof. In 1992, a tourist operator was granted permissions to offer tours to the paying public. The tours offered are the Doing Time Tour, the Great Escapes Tour, the Tunnels Tour, and the Torchlight Tour. This past Saturday, Steph and I made a booking for the Tunnel Tour (a tour of the underground water tunnels). We were suited in protective safety gear and ventured down a 20m shaft to explore the tunnels dug by pickax over a century ago. It was a damp and eerily silent environment. Part of our tour required us to navigate the tunnels by boat as the water levels were so high. At times, to heighten the experience, our guide would cut the lights and let us have a crack at navigating the tunnels in utter darkness. This was an especially neat feature of the tour as we could only rely on our tactile senses to direct our boat through the tunnels. It was an absolutely terrific adventure that gave us an intimate perspective and new found appreciation for Western Australia's history! Normally cameras are not allowed on the tours, but our guide made an exception as we were the only visitors for our tour time. The following is a short slideshow of our weekend excursion.