February 2013

So February hasn't been the kindest month to us! My sponsorship has gone from good to bad, back to good and then to bad again. The final verdict is the visa company in Sydney are useless and the government are stupid! Basically I'm not on the skilled list of workers. Which I don't understand, if a company is willing to spend $4K to keep you, surely that is a good thing? Its not like I'm going to be on benefits, I'm helping the government to spend my taxes on Australians and Abbos who don't want to work!!! That was my dramatic life this month and I know everyone involved feels emotionally drained! But on the plus side the general manager has said to go off and do our three months fruit picking and come back and see if there is another job going etc. So not all bad news.

So my last day at work is the 1st March, seeing as the 4th is a bank holiday! Its sad I can't stay but we have come to terms with the facts and plus it was in our original plan to go fruit picking so we haven't done anything to badly! And we also get to see some more of Australia which we haven't done yet!

Stu has dealt with the car going in and out of the garage 3 or 4 times, I swear it is something he does to it when he drives! But it seems to be ok at the moment, we had a brand new radiator put in, and the last one was blocked. Some sealent to seal the cracks the radiator made to the pipes when it stopped working. Then the radiator gage was misbehaving itself, so a new radiator cap has been put on. So that is the car dramas we have had! We have one last problem which is the airfilter, its not the right size and as it is an 1987 model Nissan don't make them anymore. And its LPG so its even harder, but we are coping!

We are glad to be moving out to be honest, since our friends have left the house it is pretty boring. Everyone works in the evenings and its just the two of us. Plus we have this old couple in the house and the bloke has no hygenic skills and it making me feel ill! Blurgh! We also found out our landlord is of interest of the commerce (people who deal with landlords etc) we knew we had trouble when our bond hadn't been registered with the commerce so we may have some trouble getting it back. But I don't think he realises we know his secert, so when we leave we will mention this and expected our bond back in two weeks or we will be happy to go down legal procedures. What I don't understand if you have been charged $50K for breaking the law, why not follow the law and stop getting fined!!!

We have started packing our room which is a lot harder than it first thought, we seem to have gathered al lot of stuff!!!

After our weekend away in Cairns our friend, Brenton, who we met on the vodka train tour through Russia came over to visit us. Luckily the car was ok again so we went to Fremantle prison after work on the Friday.

Fremantle Prison was built as a convict barracks in the 19th century and remained in continual use until 1991. The Prison was a place of hangings, floggings, dramatic convict escapes and prisoner riots. Inmates included imperial convicts, colonial prisoners, enemy aliens, prisoners of war and maximum-security detainees.

The first convict transport sailed into Fremantle Harbour in 1850. The Convict Establishment, as the prison was first known, was built by convict labour between 1852 and 1859 using limestone quarried on the site. The first prisoners moved into the main cell block in 1855.

The Establishment was renamed Fremantle Prison in 1867. Transportation ceased the following year when the Hougoumont carried the last convicts to Fremantle. Nearly 10,000 convicts passed through the 'establishment' between 1850 and 1868.

At first only imperial convicts were confined at Fremantle Prison. By 1886 less than 60 convicts remained inside a prison built to hold 1,000 men. Perth Gaol closed and Fremantle Prison became the colony's primary place of confinement for men, women and juveniles. With the population boom of the 1890s gold rush, Fremantle Prison became busy once again.

More space had to be found for a burgeoning prison population. After the Rottnest Island Aboriginal Prison closed in 1903, prisoners from Fremantle Prison were sent to the island to carry out public works. New Division was built and opened in 1907. During the Second World War, the Australian Defence Department sequestered part of the prison as a military detention centre. A large number of Italian Australians, identified as 'enemy aliens' were incarcerated at Fremantle during the war.

Following a series of prisoner riots and growing concerns with prison conditions, a royal commission in 1983 recommended the Prison's closure. Female prisoners had already been transferred to a new facility at Bandyup Women's Prison in 1970. Fremantle was decommissioned on 8 November 1991 and its prisoners transferred to Casuarina Prison, replacing Fremantle Prison as the state's main maximum-security prison.

It was an intresting day, we looked at the different prison cells through the years and looked at the exercise yards and kitchen. I don't think I could deal with prison life though it would be pretty boring and hard!

We also learnt about the famous escapee Moondyne Joes, he was actually English but was transported to Australia in 1853, along with the other convicts that arrived in Australia, for good behaviour he was 'set' free. But was back in prison in 1861. He then got ticket of leave in 1864 and back in prison in 1865, although pleading his innocence and escaped in November of that year. He commited a small number robberies and was caught a month later in York and adopted the name as Moondyne Joe.

In 1865 he managed to escape again from his cell, he then realised that he couldn't escape the law in Western Australia, so was going to travel to South Australia (which is pretty long and needs to be well planned these days). He performed his biggest robbery stealing supplies and equipement for his journey. He was captured in September of that year about 300 km from Perth.

Moondyne received a 5 year hard labour sentence for escaping (again!) and his robberies, he was transfered into a 'escape proof' cell which was built from stone line with jarrah sleepers and over 1,000 nails.

He was set to work breaking stone, but rather than permit him to leave the prison, the stone was brought in and dumped in a corner of the prison yard, where Johns worked under the constant supervision of a warder. Governor John Hampton was so confident of the arrangements, he was heard to say to Johns: "If you get out again, I'll forgive you". However, the rock broken by Joe was not removed regularly, and eventually a pile grew up until it obscured the guard's view of Joe below the waist. Partially hidden behind the pile of rocks, he occasionally swung his sledgehammer at the limestone wall of the prison. On 7 March 1867, Moondyne Joe escaped through a hole he had made in the prison wall. Despite an extensive manhunt, no sign of him was found, and he would not be recaptured for nearly two years. He did not return to any of his old haunts, and he committed no crimes, so the authorities received very little information about him. Also, many convicts were encouraged by Moondyne Joe's audacious escape, and a number of escapes were attempted in the following months, so that he was quickly forgotten.

A few days before the second anniversary of his escape, Moondyne Joe tried to steal some wine from the cellars at Houghton Winery. By chance, the owner had been helping with a police search, and afterwards invited a group of police back to the vineyard for refreshments. When the owner entered the cellar, Joe assumed that he was discovered, and made a dash for the door into the arms of the police. He was returned to prison, and on 22 March 1869 was sentenced to an additional four years in irons. He made at least one more attempt to escape, but was unsuccessful. Eventually, Governor Weld heard of his predecessor Hampton's promise, and decided that further punishment would be unfair. Moondyne Joe was given a ticket of leave in April 1871.

The remainder of John's life consisted of periods of good behaviour punctuated by occasional minor misdemeanors and brief jail terms. In January 1879, he married a widow named Louisa Hearn, and they spent some time prospecting for gold near Southern Cross. In 1881, while exploring the countryside aroundKarridale, he discovered Moondyne Cave. In his later years, he began acting strangely, and was eventually found to be mentally ill. He died of senile dementia in the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum (now the Fremantle Arts Centre building) on 13 August 1900, and was buried in Fremantle Cemetery.

It was a very good tour and highly enjoyable, we returned back home and went out for some pizza which is always good!!

On the Saturday we went on a road trip up North to see the Pinnacles, it was a long drive 300km round trip, me going to Norwich and back again in one day! We stopped off in Lancelin which is a tiny seaside town which was beautiful, the sea was a beautiful bluey-green and just gorgeous.

It was my turn to drive, so I turned the key, as you do, and it started and it appeared that I stalled it! So I started it again and nothing...! Ooops. Luckily we signed up to RAC break down cover! Stu was totally stressing out worrying how he will get to work on Monday, let alone how to get home!! The RAC guy came out, it turns out, one of us had touched the switch to switch between petrol and LPG! The LPG is not connected, so the car had no fuel to start!!!! Panic over! It was bloody funny!!!

We continued to head to the pinnacles, the lunar-like Pinnacles form one of Australia's most unique and fascinating natural landscapes. Formed over millions of years, thousands of tall limestone spires rise eerily out of the yellow desert sands of Nambung National Park, just outside the coastal town of Cervantes.

It was very random, they were the pinnacles, and then normal landscape! How bizarre! We had a little walk around the site for 30 minutes before we headed back to the car. It was getting late and we wanted to head back home before the 'roos came out! We did see a lot of dead 'roos on the road. Poor things!

On the Sunday we had a tour round Perth, we went to the art museum as there was an exhibition on that Brenton was interested in. After we had a walk around the city centre, and headed to Kings Park. It was a beautiful day and the view from the top of Perth was stunning!

We then headed to the basketball game which was brilliant! Perth Wildcats won which was good all round!

We went to Caversham Park the weekend after which was fun! We fed, petted the kangaroos which was great fun!! We also stroked a koala too! It was a great morning and we had great fun!

We also headed to see the Perth Mint museum as well as this was the only thing left that we wanted to see. It was intresting to hear about the biggest gold nuggets found in the world in Australia. We also saw how they melted down gold and make gold blocks! It was pretty cool to see! The gold was literally glowing in liquid form and cooled down so quickly! It was pretty cool!

We had an enjoyable last few days in Perth and we are both sad the be leaving, but excited for our next adventure on the road!