Freemantle Jail

Perth is beeeautiful. The weather is hot and the beaches are lovely - this morning Sam and Will went surfing and Sam had a great time catching a few waves which is rilliant because he had started to lose his confidence over the past few weeks. Sam and Will currently have no hair as we took the clippers to them and got rid of the worst of the mop top.

This afternoon me and Sam and Will went to Freemantle where we went around the prison. It was really good to see the Australian History and to find out how the colonies started. We found out the difference between a convict and a prisoner. A convict was a prisoner brought from overseas (usually England) to help build the roads, prisons etc and a prisoner is just an Aussie prisoner. Once the convicts had served their sentences they were free to go and build houses and make a life in Australia and their families were also brought over for free. Better than a spell in a UK prison cell that's for sure. But actually life in the prison was pretty horendous. The cells were 7ft x 4ft and actually they had to make the cells larger as people suffocated. We also saw the solitary confinement cells, the gallows and the area where people were flogged, it was pretty grim and the crazy thing is that it was a working prison until 1991!!! and there were no toilets or water in the cells so the prisoners were still using a bucket for a toilet!!!

We are now back at the house and tomorrow we are due to set off in our whizzy van up the coast which will be brilliant. I'm also starting to plan the Bali leg of the trip which looks like loads of fun. Everyone is telling us how amazing Bali is so now we can't wait.