For some reason, my mum is always really keen on river cruises... my wife and I don't really get it, you are stuck on the water in a boat... travelling somewhere, and then coming back... and you can only look at stuff from a distance, and you can't go a see and do things!
But, my mum enjoys them...
Thankfully, the earlier boat isn't what we were going to go on... a much larger and fancier looking boat pulled up and discharged a large batch of travellers. I think these were the lunch time ones... where you could also include a buffet lunch along with your trip up and down the river.
So, where were we going? We were departing from the Perth CBD, the Barrack Street jetties and travelling along the Swan River all the way out to Fremantle and back. We had made a similar trip the other year, but had continued past Fremantle out into the ocean to Rottnest Island on a much faster boat. This was a going to be a slower cruise!
There was no reserved seating in the bookings... and you could just choose to sit anywhere... the boat is more set up for a buffet or function rather than a commuter ferry... and there were spaces outside (brrrr....) or inside on two different levels.
We chose inside on the top level!
Even though it was a decent enough autumn day, we didn't really want to sit outside... it gets windy especially when the boat gets moving, and after an hour or two... it is going to feel chillier than when first start!
... and looking back, we see the receding skyline of the modern Perth CBD.
And on the other side, the newer areas of South Perth... over the bridge.
Naturally, most of the most affluent suburbs are clustered around the riverfront... so, a good chunk of the tour consisted of pointing out some notable mansions that have sold for multi-millions or are owned by notable people. A touch on the sickening side of things...
... but thankfully, not all of the riverfront is developed... leaving some untouched areas for the plebs who can't afford the multi-million private waterfronts to enjoy.
Pulling into the Fremantle area, the riverfront changes quite dramatically from the residential through to a much more industrial style. Fremantle is the major industrial port for the West of Australia, with lots of goods and materials passing in and out of the busy port.
Here, you see a whole parking lot of cars that have just been recently unloaded... ready to distribute out to the car yards to sell to consumers.
No warships this time, but some pretty damn huge cargo vessels that dwarfed our not tiny ferry boat!
... and quite honestly, I'm much more interested in the workings of these cargo ships and the activity that surround them than the gawking at the public show of wealth at the other end of the trip.
... but we have to return back to the Perth CBD. And of course, we have to pass by those suburbs again. Apparently this waterfront row is known as Millionaire's Row...
... and here is the iconic Swan Brewery... no longer operating as a Brewery, but I think it is now a hotel of some sort? And behind it, the famed King's Park, a huge swath of nature reserve and parklands in the CBD area that will hopefully forever resist development.
We did end up coming up to the front of the ferry to see the return back to the CBD jetties. It was windy, but sunny... and it was standing room only on this part. Unfortunately, no dolphins this time...
Yep... Perth has changed so much since I was a child! Mining wealth...