Royalty in Fremantle

A couple Sundays ago, an event that we’ve waited more than a year or more for finally arrived: the visit of Cunard’s Queen Victoria to Fremantle. Lego Lover and I saw the final visit of the Queen Elizabeth 2 a couple years ago and we found it to be a truly majestic ship.Â Last year we went to see the Arcadia. which was quite big, but failed to capture our interest. So we have been counting down for the QV, which arrived on February 28th and also for the Queen Mary 2, which will visit Fremantle on Sunday.

The day finally arrived and the forecast was for yet another scorcher, in the middle of our third heatwave of the season. It was again just Lego Lover and me for the journey. (The Scientist had been to the beach in the morning and saw the ship on its way into Fremantle so he didn’t completely miss out.) We packed a few requirements then headed off to the station to catch the train to Fremantle. We had to change trains in Perth and had our first look at the new underground train station that opened a year or two ago. It felt a bit like a maze finding our way to the old part of the station where our next train was.

The train to Fremantle was fairly crowded and we ended up squeezed in between other people along one side of the train. Lego Lover was pushed up against me the whole time, trying to avoid touch the lady sitting next to him. I wasn’t able to get any photos of the ship as we arrived in Fremantle. We were sitting across the train from the appropriate windows, which were terribly scratched with grafitti, and there was just no way of getting a decent shot of it. Still, it was very exciting to see the ship as we arrived at our destination.

Our first business upon arrival was to buy a couple 1.5 litre bottles of water. Ideally we should have taken our own…although lugging around heavy bottles of water while getting around on public transport wasn’t all that ideal for me…Anyway, there was a grocery store near the station so we got the water, some bananas and a chocolate bar each. We could have done without the chocolate but it was a favorite and heavily reduced… I couldn’t resist. The water was quite heavenly after the short walk to reach the shops.

Our next objective was finding some place to have lunch. Typically, Lego Lover insists on eating fast food wherever we go, making a simple meal into a major undertaking. It’s been something of a sore point for the family for some time. Anyway, I was eager to have something a little less fast food than usual and somehow persuaded him to try something at one of the big fish and chip restaurants. The walk there was pretty excruciating, even with several stops to drink water. It was 40+ C (104F) and our tempers were high. We pretty much limped into the one place that offered chicken strips and chips in addition to all the fish offerings. Lego Lover refuses to eat fish now, so this was the best we could find. For Lego Lover, it wasn’t worth an argument if it meant he had to go back into the heat. I sent him to find a table while I placed our order. When I reached the table he was already feeling a lot better for being able to sit down in a cool place. Our food didn’t take all that long and the portions were large. My grilled fish and salad with chips plate was good and Lego Lover’s chicken strips apparently were quite tasty. We left feeling somewhat revived.

One of first looks at Queen Victoria

The walk back to the quay again seemed to take forever because it was just too hot to move that quickly. We finally reached the Maritime Museum of WA just before closing time. Our membership from last year had expired so I went ahead and renewed that before they closed. We’ll have a proper visit when we return there this weekend. There wasn’t a lot to do at this point so we found a bench along the quay and watched the ship and the harbour. The ship was due to depart around 7pm and we had a couple hours to wait…So we sat and watched and baked…and baked. There was a ferry dock almost next to the main passenger terminal. The ferries were returning with passengers from day trips to Rottnest Island. It got really crowded in the area and the sun seemed like it was searing us.

I suggested we try to find a shady park instead of sticking it out in the sun. We walked off along the pathway parallel to the quay but we never quite reached anywhere appropriate. We did get a few better photos of the ship but eventually turned around. Just in that time, the crankiness level for both of us was on the rise. Lego Lover was resentful that I had dragged him off in the direction we’d gone…and ultimately for no purpose.

I suggested we stop at the E Shed Markets to find some sort of icy cold drink for both of us. The E-Shed Markets still had some food places open so we stopped in there and found a place that sold smoothies and bubble tea to drink. Lego Lover opted for a banana smoothie, which surprised me. Then I chose a strawberry bubble tea. I’d never had it before and though it might be refreshing on a hot day. While I was waiting, Lego Lover informed me the smoothie tasted bitter. I had a taste of it and it was, a litte. I think the bananas were a bit green…I ended up drinking the smoothie because it was too expensive to dump. I didn’t mind the taste of it at all and it was refreshing. I just wish I hadn’t already order my own drink.
Bubble tea

Anyway, once I had my drink we sat down in a quiet area away from all the other people. The bubble tea tastes like fruit syrup mixed with ice and the balls of jelly that are added. It was just so sweet that it was hard to get it down. I should have been forewarned when the lady in front of me at the counter returned soon afterwards to ask hers to be diluted. I still had my water bottle so kept diluting it after every sip I took and it eventualy did taste alright. By the time I’d finished, I was ready to burst.

Lego Lover and I moved to another table and I got him a canned soft drink and left him to find the toilets. What a nasty piece of work that was. It was filthy and there was a small scrap of toilet paper remaining. It was a relief to get out of there and I hope to never need those facilities again. I returned to the table where Lego Lover was enjoying his drink. There was tv showing the local news, which happend to have a story about the Queen Victoria. It was strange to be watching that and almost be able to see the ship as we looked out the window. (We actually had an experience like that in Canada when the they showed the ships getting ready to go off to war on tv (in 2001) and we could see the ships from our townhouse window.)

We finally did get back outside and found a spot on the quay to watch. The temperature had finally dropped a bit and it was much more comfortable although there was no sea breeze. Fremantle is known for its afternoon sea breeze so it was very odd to miss out on the relief it might have offered. It wasn’t too long afterward that we heard the great ship’s horn sounding shortly before it started its journey out of the harbour. Lego Lover and I had had our cameras ready and snapped heaps of photos as the ship moved away from the shore and slowly made its way past us. It was quite a different affair to the QE2, which required assistance from a couple of tug boats to get moving. This was far more efficient but we rather missed the excitement of seeing the tugs at work. Before we knew it, the ship was sailing into the sunset and was soon turning into the Indian Ocean. While it didn’t compared to the QE2, we both agreed it was a pretty awesome sight.

The QV makes its journey out of the harbour

The ship had departed earlier than planned so we got a bit of a head start getting back home. When we got on the train, we managed to get a seat at the end of the long row so that Lego Lover would only have me sitting next to him. That made the journey a lot more comfortable for us. In Perth, we again had to change trains. The new section of the station was a lot less crowded and we were able to to take in a few more of the details as we moved along. We luckily only had to wait about five or six minutes for the next train. There were crowds pushing onto the train so we moved into the next car and the next until we found several empty seats in the car at the front of the train. It was a particularly boisterous crowd of young people on the train, which Lego Lover didn’t particularly like. But the seats were comfortable, it was cool and we were forward facing for a change…and no grafitti on the windows, so Lego Lover managed it rather well. It took no time at all to get to our car once we arrived at the station and then it was a twenty minute drive to reach home. It was definitely home, sweet home after a long and memorable afternoon away.

Fremantle train station at night