More than 20 tall ships from around the world are making their way to Australia for the International Tall Ship Festival in 2013. The first 3 have already arrived in Perth’s port of Fremantle.
Tall Ships docked at Fremantle
The day after they arrived in Perth they were open to the public to view for 1 day only – we jumped at the opportunity to view these traditional sailing vessels.
We chose to make it a fun day trip for our son. The first thing we did was stop and have lunch.
Then we walked up Cappuccino Strip to the Docks. Whilst there were queues to board the ships they moved quite swiftly and we were on board the Oosterschelde vessel in no time. This ship was originally built in 1918 and was fully restored in 1992.
A quick wait before boarding
All the kids thoroughly enjoyed walking the gangplank onto the ship. Making their way down the steep stairs to view the tiny sleeping quarters and seeing where the crew ate and relaxed at the polished dark timber tables and chairs. Then we climbed back up another steep set of stairs and clambered through a hatchway opening onto the wooden deck.
Exploring the tall ships
We made our way up the gangway to the “Wheelhouse” and saw all the modern electronic navigational equipment and the kids took it in turns to “steer” the ship with the traditional helm, before having to disembark the vessel.
I’m steering this ship.
The ships will be making their way around Australia before all 20 converge into Sydney Harbour by October 5. If you get the opportunity to see these ships when they pass through your city’s port – take the kids for a family day trip.