Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

The QE II is not here yet

I drove alone into Fremantle in the dark this morning to see the arrival of the liner Queen Elizabeth II on its final voyage before it's converted into a crass floating hotel by the Arabs in Dubai.

The Fremantle Port Authority prides itself on its efficiency and so it never gives the arrival times of ships correctly in case there are terrorists concocting some nefarious scheme.

It was dark on the Fremantle War Memorial hill at 6am and I could see that there was not a ship in sight, but when is comes to electricity consumption on the Fremantle wharves, using too much is never enough. I took a photo for a folder in my Picasa web site titled 'Fremantle port.'

It was a beautiful morning up on the war memorial hill - a light warm breeze from the south east. However, with no action impending I decided to go to the North Mole. That's the breakwater on the northern side of the entrance to the harbour.

The Fremantle Port Authority control the mole area and I'm sure would like to ban public access, but there would be too much of an outcry. Nevertheless they have the gates erected and ready to slam at a moment's notice.

There were a couple of dozen cars there when I arrived - a few anglers and the rest comprising QE II watchers. I talked to a few people and was told a variety of expected arrival times - all later than 6am.

It was still dark when group of kayakers paddled into the harbour from the ocean side. Yes, kayakers in the dark, from the ocean. They could have been terrorists, but the water police must still have been in bed. Fingers crossed.

I had my trusty binoculars with me and scanned the horizon for the liner. There was not a sausage. Then as the darkness began to lift about ten minutes later I was able to pick out a ship. It had to be the QE II. A ripple of excitement spread through the small crowd of what seemed to mostly be expatriate Poms.

However it was not the QE II. It was a container ship. I took a fuzzy photo with my longest lens. There was nothing else to photograph. No sign at all of the QE II at all. It was at the small south coast port of Albany yesterday. That would have been a major event for them. Maybe the first passenger liner in living memory. They'll still be reminiscing in fifty years time.

I decided to leave the North Mole and come home. I could be there for hours at the rate things were going. I suppose the ship steamed over the horizon as soon as I departed.

No matter. We live very close to the port. I'll wander down later today and take some photos to put on Picasa this afternoon. This story will just have to be continued tomorrow.

© MMVIII Paul R. Weaver.

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Original still photographs are stored online in a cache at my Panoramio website or my Picasa site. Most of them have a brief description and a link back to a relevant essay. Images on Panoramio can usually be enlarged several times by clicking them.

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Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write at least couple of million words. Zzzzzzzz!