Well, yesterday was Australia Day, the aussie version of our Fourth of July, and we walked over to the park to see the fireworks show, called "skyworks" here. I have to say we were impressed, definitely the best display we've ever seen. The entire 30 minute show was comparable to a typical finale in the US, just lots of fireworks going off at the same time. They were shot off over the Swan River, and to top it off, there were also fireworks going off from the tops of 5 of the downtown buildings, very close to the river, so there was never a break. The next morning my dentist asked if I'd ever seen the fireworks over the Sydney harbor, and he said they make the Perth show here look like a backyard event.
We took advantage of the holiday to drive down to the Fremantle Prison, to take the tunnels tour. We had to wear coveralls, high boots, a hard hat with a light and a safety harness to go up and down the ladders. Since it was a holiday, we expected it to be crowded, but we almost had a private tour, since there was only one other person there. The guide seemed to know everything there was to know about the prison, which was still in operation until 1991. It was built by convicts brought over from England in 1850, so it's old and spooky. There are lots of tunnels running beneath the prison, with several feet of water in them, and years ago the tunnels supplied all the water for the town of Fremantle. After hitting my head on the ceiling several times, (thank goodness for the helmet) I wished I was a whole lot shorter, since there were only a few places where you could stand up straight. After walking around a while we got into boats and paddled through, and at certain times you could hear the traffic up above. Apparently they filmed a segment of the T.V. show, "The Great Race" down in the tunnels. Anyway, here we are in all our gear.
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