We left Serpentine shortly after two o'clock and proceeded to Fremantle. It was quite an uneventful drive except that it rained a bit just as we were approaching the town. Finding our accommodation proved a bit problematic. Although I had booked our stays in Fremantle and Margaret River through Airbnb, I never did have the time to key in the places into my Garmin. As such, I had problems trying to locate the road on the GPS map. But through trial and error, I did finally manage to locate Holland Road and the house.
Andrea, the house owner, was not in but she had told me where to find the key. Not hidden under the mat but somewhere else. I'm not sure that I would like to disclose where because I'm sure she would normally leave the key there for her house guests. It's her secret and no point revealing it.
I hauled in our luggage and was just preparing to unpack when Andrea returned. Andrea turned out to be a most perfect hostess, telling us where to go for our meals in Freo but more importantly, where to park the car discreetly and indefinitely to avoid parking fees. The next morning upon our checking out of her house, she also recommended to us a cafe just down the road from her place where we would have a nice meal before driving off.
But for our day in Freo - or what was left of the day - we drove to the town centre, left our rented car in an almost deserted private car park and walked into the central business district. The whole area had been closed off to traffic and street performers were all out to entertain the crowds.
We visited the Fremantle Market but couldn't see much as it was almost closing time and vendors and stallowners were packing up for the day. Still, we managed to buy four huge nectarines for an almost ridiculously low price of five Australian Dollars.
For dinner, we went to the Kailis Fish Market Cafe on the waterfront in the fishing boat harbour. The place was packed. We had been here once before and had found the scallops and lobsters very nice. This time, while my wife still selected her scallops, I plumbed for something else: grilled fish and chips. We also had a bowl of seafood chowder. Although it was a pleasant dining experience, somehow we agreed that there was something missing from dinner this time, but we couldn't figure out what.
That done, we went back to collect the car, drove around for a while and then decided to go back to Andrea's place. Luckily, I had saved Holland Road in the GPS unit, which facilitated my driving quite a bit. Truth be told, I was very tired at that point and after a quick bath, fell asleep very soon afterwards.
Perhaps I should give a word of advice to would-be vacationers. If you intend to drive around on your own, it would be preferable if one does not fly using an airline's red-eye service. Because, if you cannot sleep in the aeroplane - I could not sleep because i was too fascinated with the movies showing on board the aircraft - you are sure to arrive at your destination all tired and sleepy. I can assure you, driving around in an unfamiliar place while sleepy isn't the cleverest thing to do.
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