The Fremantle Doctor is in.

The sea breeze on a warm summer's day

cannot compare to the passion

of his mistress

the winter gale

on a dark winter's solstice

in the treacherous high seas

when the lighthouse beams 

are hidden by the tumultuous waves

sailors cringe in fear

when they hear her howls

of wild abandon as she craves

for might

on that cold,cold night

a night of passion

in that Indian Ocean

of transcendent emotion.

my submission for Poetry Potluck Week #48

Can you see the Fremantle Doctor blowing in from the sea? Well , we could not actually see him, but we felt him blowing ...yes, the Fremantle Doctor is the name that has been given to the sea breeze as it gives you relief from the summer sun! We not only met up with that good doctor, we also met up frequently with his colleague who also cools you from the sun; I've named her Mistress Shower as she keeps showering us every half hour or so! My photographs of Fremantle were all taken on one same day, but you can see a mixture of sunny skies, and threatening clouds , and also totally wet scenes...beautiful weather!





The Indian Ocean! Yes, you are looking at the Indian Ocean. The Swan River actually flows into the Indian Ocean here in Freo (that's how you refer to Fremantle when you are there long enough to be familiar with her). This is how the sea looked when we got there in between the showers.




It got darker after a while, but it didn't rain , so I had the good fortune of spotting this perfect outcrop of white rocks behind which I could take a shot of the contrasting dark blue sea. That hole where the wild flowers were positioned was just too, too lovely. A nice touch to the composition, don't you think?




The sea was getting darker, making the white boats at Fishing Boat Harbour look vividly picturesque.







The waves were gentle, and not a threat to anyone who would venture in for a swim.







This is where you could make your way to the beach known as Bather's Beach. There weren't any bathers there that day...guess the intermittent showers kept them away. Besides, this was winter time.







This photograph of the same area as the one before this, was taken only about 20 minutes apart. This was taken when we arrived at the beach, when it was sunny. Mark the difference.





We took a walk to the Fishing Boat Harbour in search of food. Well, you can't go to Freo without sampling their famous fish and chips, oysters and mussels, can you?!







See how the sky has darkened? We strolled along the boardwalk, looking for somewhere to have our lunch. There are many popular eateries at this deep water harbour. We chose to eat at Kaili's Fish Market Cafe, favourite alfresco dining spot of the native population of seagulls, I believe.







There's one satisfied customer after a heavy meal on top of the umbrella. Do you see him? 
By the way, it rained just after we finished our meal.

I'm glad you visited this post, and that I could share the joy of my visit to Freo with you.
More Freo sights  to come in the following posts.


Linking to:
Watery Wednesday
Outdoor Wednesday
Share The Joy Thursday
Skywatch Friday
Poetry Potluck

Bell Tower Skies

 For Haiku Height's (Week 55) prompt on Friendship:

ring the bells, proclaim

friendships e'er shall remain

dusk's constant light beams

I had been told by a friend of mine that I should not forget to visit Perth's Bell Tower as this is a must-see icon of Perth. I decided to do some reading up to find out why the Bell Tower is an icon not only of Perth, but also of Western Australia. This is what I found out. Well, first of all, the building has a distinctive design. It is an award-winning architectural masterpiece. Secondly this building houses the Swan Bells, which were presented to the people of Western Australia by the London diocese of the Church of England to commemorate Australia's bicentenary celebrations in 1988. The bells included the twelve bells of St Martin-in-the-Fields. And thirdly, the Bell Tower is a giant musical instrument that has a bellringing chamber which is renowned for its excellence in refining the art of English bell-ringing. 


I had the pleasure of photographing the iconic Bell Tower of Perth at dusk. It was 5.30pm and the day was drawing to a close. It was lovely to walk along Riverside Road to watch the winding down activities of the day. There was only one person sitting on a bench at the end of the Main Jetty; only one solitary worker was left cleaning the Captain Cook  Swan River Cruise boat, whistling an unfamiliar tune; a group of ladies in the park were doing the last few minutes of their Pilates exercise led by a  trainer. There was a young man trying to get a full shot of the tower by placing his camera on the grass and searching for a good angle. As you can see from the photo below, I hadn't quite got the whole structure in my frame.






Here's the second half of the picture! Well, it wasn't that I couldn't get the whole picture...of course I did. These two photographs are the close-ups. The following picture of the spire points upwards to the sky...see how the colours of the clouds are beginning to change.




Don't you just love the tall palm trees that line the streets in the photographs above? There will be more of such majestic trees in my upcoming posts on Perth. I just can't have enough of them in my photographs.


As the sun was setting, the shadows on the Bell Tower were getting more stunning. See what I mean about the palm trees... they are just everywhere!




As promised...the regal structure from the base to the top, under Perth's  evening sky.



I looked around to see even more spectacular colours that painted the already picturesque Swan River panorama. 

And as I walked away, I could hear the bells ringing, telling me it was time to join the rest of my friends back at the hotel, for dinner.

Linking to
Skywatch Friday
Haiku Heights
Haiku My Heart
Scenic Sunday
Shadow Shot
SOOC Sunday
Weekend Reflections