Fremantle lies at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia. Perth is a bit upriver from there. It was founded in 1829 by Captain James Sterling. It is one of the most isolated cities on earth, second only to Honolulu, Hawaii. Perth is actually closer to Singapore and Indonesia than to Sydney or Brisbane.
We docked in Fremantle, a large port. We had a HAL excursion in the morning so met in the Queen's Lounge for our bus stickers. The bus ride to Caversham Wildlife Park was about 40 minutes. It gave us the opportunity to see some of the countryside. There are a lot of wineries in the area.
Once at the park, we were assigned a guide who took us directly to the koala enclosure. Those cute little guys sleep 18 to 20 hours a day, so all they need is a tree to hold on to! The enclosure had about 5 upright logs, connected by more logs so they could move from one to another. Each log has a bucket attached to it to put the eucalyptus branches in to keep them fresh. We were allowed to go in to touch, photograph and pet for about half an hour. There must have been 20 koalas in there, all pretty much asleep among the eucalyptus branches. Someone would hold a branch back so we could get good pictures. It was pretty surprising that they just let us loose in the enclosure like that.
Next was the kangaroo enclosure. We were given food to give them. There were many! There were even 2 or 3 albino kangaroos. They take the food so gently, very soft and cute animals. After that we had photo ops with some kind of blue tongued lizard, a wombat and a cockatoo. The ranger holding the wombat had been holding him for over an hour. Wait until you see the picture! That guy is FAT, and he had him on his lap like a giant stuffed animal. It was pretty funny. There were many other Australian animals and birds to see, then yet another koala enclosure. In this one we were told not to touch the leaves because the koalas eat them. Makes sense, wonder why they didn't tell us in the last place!
Back on the bus, the local guide mentioned that he does tours on his own with his van. I asked if the van was parked in the port and if he was available that afternoon. Turns out there was yet another animal park that I'd found on the internet that allows you to hold a koala. We met up with Kelly, the internet manager on the ship, and she wanted to join us. Mel and I raced upstairs to grab a bite for lunch before going. I wanted to take a sandwich or something to our guide but we were not allowed to take food into the country. We were in such a rush that I ate my fresh pineapple as I was walking thru the line at the Lido. My last bite of bread was swallowed as we were disembarking the ship.
About 50 minutes later we were pulling into what looked like a construction site! The Cahunu Wildlife Park had relocated to it's current location just 8 weeks ago. There were still mesh wire fences around enclosures and sidewalks that started and ended in sand. There was a sign that said entrance so we headed in that direction. The office/store/ticket booth were in an un-air conditioned warehouse like structure. HOT! Out the side door was a patio which allowed us to look into the koala enclosure. They said they'd just been fed so most of them were wide awake. There were probably 15 of them, SO cute. Unfortunately the lighting was such that pictures didn't turn out very well. We had paid our holding fee, so a gal brought one of the koalas into the patio area. We were asked to use wipes to clean our hands. I was put into a bright red padded vest, then given the koala. This one was about 1/2 the size of the one I'd held in Adelaide. SOOO cute. They weren't as formal at this park, so I was able to cuddle it a bit, sticking my face into his fur just like I do our cat, Koda. Many pictures later, I relinquished him to Mel. I insisted we pay the fee for each of us to hold him. Mel's face lit up just like mine had...as did Kelly's. There's something about being able to actually hold one of the cutest animals on the planet that makes you really, really happy. Kelly had never had the experience before, and was thrilled.
Next was the kangaroo enclosure, although I think they were all wallabies, which are much smaller. They were little guys, very cute. They seemed much shyer than the other kangaroos we had encountered, but once they figured out we had food, became friendlier. Mel made friends w/a spotted deer. Not sure the species. That guy followed him all around the enclosure. Several of the wallabies had babies, so all 3 of us were snapping like crazy, trying to get a picture of a tiny one while his head was out of the mother's pouch. Our food gone, we headed back to the van and back to the ship.
Our itinerary said we were to leave Perth at 5 a.m., but the Captain changed it to 9:30 a.m. so we could see sail away. Because of the next day departure, we were able to go out and enjoy an evening on shore. We cleaned up and headed out to see a bit of Fremantle with Kelly. The streets were pretty deserted as all the stores were closed. The stores looked like they were all geared toward teens and twentys, very young looking attire. We turned a corner and there was an entire street of coffee shops and restaurants with outdoor seating. We sat at a table on the street and watched people walk by. There were young guys cruising the street in their cars and lots of young women in 4" heels and tight skirts walking around. There were also a lot of tourists...from our ship! By the time we headed back at about 9, the street was packed with diners. Very nice town.
Sail away in the morning was fun. Bloody Mary's and mimosas free on the aft deck. That was packed too. The Captain turned the ship totally around in a very small area, then headed out. There were a number of cargo ships anchored in the harbor with no goods to carry. We've been seeing a lot of that due to the economy. We were on our way to Indonesia.
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