Fremantle

My friends invited me out to participate in a photography shoot for a project called Walk Over October. The project aims to raise awareness of the transport, health, recreational and environmental benefits of regular walking. 

The photo shoot was recruiting people to be in the photo with their car or bike, or to be a pedestrian. My friends and I registered to be pedestrians in the photo along with about 70 other people.  The photo involved us standing in a group in the middle of High St in Fremantle alongside a bus.

I look forward to seeing how the photos all turn out. If I see the photo around Perth in the next couple of weeks, I'll post up the picture on the blog :)

The pedestrians were asked to arrive in Freo at 8am, and after we got our names ticked off we were given vouchers for a free hot drink from the cafe Moore & Moore on Henry St. This is a very indie hipster little place and from what I gathered, it was attached to an art gallery. It's a great place to check out, and very friendly staff too. Make your next coffee catch up here if you're in the area.

The photoshoot took place around 9 in the morning, and we were finished within an hour. We decided to explore Fremantle for the rest of the afternoon, and we ended up doing a lot of new things I've never done before. 

One of the lovely buildings around Freo.

We decided to have lunch in Freo, but it was still too early so we decided to check out the Round House which overlooks the coast. I never really knew about the Round House until just recently when my friend told me the story of how he proposed to this wife there, and even more recently when I found out that it was used to house people diagnosed with insanity back in the 1800s.

It was such a lovely view from the cliff that the Round House is situated. On one side was an amazing view of High St, and the other was a beautiful view of the coast. Just breath taking. 

The clouds were also beautiful today too, so it made for some lovely photos. 

The Round House.

A view of High st from The Round House.

When lunch time came around we decided to eat at a place called Breaks Fremantle. I really like the menu here! The place does an all day breakfast as well as burgers, pasta, seafood and some Asian dishes. They do freshly squeezed juices too!

I am such a burger lover and I really loved the variety in their burger menu. I had the Flaming Greeny which had a spiced lentil patty, grilled aubergine (eggplant), mushrooms, avocado, tomato, rocquet, chilli jam and chilli mayonnaise (all you vegans out there will have to hold the mayo). This amazing burger is the best I've eaten in Perth thus far since going vegan. I am such a fan of spicy burgers, and this one was just so tasty. I will have fond memories of eating that burger for months to come...until I find something better that is. 

The prices on the menu were what you'd expect for a Perth restaurant so I'm not really complaining. The cafe itself is quite nice and it's what you'd expect from Fremantle. Very indie. There is outside and inside dining, and a lovely little area out the back too. The icing on the cake however, was the live entertainment :) There was a little set up near the entrance of the cafe where a guy played his guitar. A very talented performer. 

Apple, pear, lemon and rockmelon

The cute dining area out the back.

We also had a quick look at the record store next door to Breaks Fremantle. A very cool little shop with lots of vintage records. 

I love Freo. There's so much I've yet to discover. I'm looking forward to my next trip down to this lovely town by the coast.

The Attic, Fremantle

My friend and I made our way out to Fremantle today for some business and we decided to stay out there for breakfast. I had read about a place called Run Amuk Hotdogs Unleashed on the website Urbanspoon and I thought that today would be a perfect opportunity to check the place out.

My friend Naomi was more than happy to have hot dogs for breakfast but when we got there we found out that it wasn't open until 11.30am. I guess not everyone is keen on hot dogs for breakfast. Alas, I will go back there during opening hours and help myself to a nice vegan hot dog. Yeah, they do vegan hotdogs!

So our problem was that we were two hungry girls with no where to go. The answer of course, was to hop onto Urbanspoon and just find somewhere else to eat. This time we refined our search to breakfast/brunch places in Fremantle. 

We found a place close by called The Attic which was said to be vegan friendly. The place was a very cosy little cafe with the kitchen and counter downstairs and a dining area upstairs...in what felt like an attic.

I enjoyed the cosy vibe that this place had. It wasn't over crowded so the noise level was low (but then Naomi and I start talking and the noise level increases ten-fold) and the lighting was nice and dim. There were suitcases on display to give it that attic kind of feel. All the furniture was wooden and there were some couches up there too. 

What we really liked was the screen that was hanging from the wall. Projected onto the screen was an old-school black and white film. I've never seen anything like it and so it was quite refreshing to see something so unique. 

The staff were very helpful in pointing out what dishes on the menu could be made vegan and the food itself was quite tasty. The tea here was really good too. I had the rooibos chai which was brewed with soy milk and served in a little pot with a strainer. Chai tea always tastes better when it's brewed in the milk as opposed to water and then having the milk on the side. 

Fremantle has yet to disappoint me, and today was definitely no different. This place is a really great spot to go if you want to have a nice close catch up with someone. 

Coming here would be a great way to start your morning. 

Photo taken by Naomi

Photo taken and Instagrammed by Naomi

My night of new experiences

It's very rare to come by true friends. I can't remember if I've said it before in a past blog post, but I'm not one of those people who have hundreds of friends. I am however, one of the lucky few to have just a handful of really close friends. I think I prefer it that way. Quality over quantity right?

Although I never need to be reminded of how wonderful my close friends are (and how lucky I am to have found them), tonight the reminder was as big and bright as the sun itself. 

On my way home from uni, my friend Ruth called me and told me to "get my ass home". When I got there, a group of my friends jumped out and surprised me. And so began my night of one new thing after the other :)

My friends got me into the car and all I knew was that where ever it was we were going, we were late and so we gunned it down the freeway :P We were driving in the Fremantle area when I saw a big sign for Fremantle Prison. I had spoken to Ruth before about how I wanted to do a tour of Fremantle Prison when she saw my Day Zero Project list.

The tour was amazing! We did the Torchlight Tour which runs Wednesday and Friday nights. It was an hour and thirty minutes of pure spooky. The prison grounds was larger than I thought, and yet the prison cells were tiny and claustrophobic. I could hardly imagine what it would be like to be a prisoner there. Some of the stories that the tour guide told us were just horrendous. Prison life was anything but pleasant. We were told that the youngest prisoner was 8 years old. It's just too insane to imagine, and yet who knows how bad it currently is in other countries around the world. 

Fremantle prison was officially closed in 1991, the year that I was born. We just couldn't believe that some of the awful things that went on in that prison were going on up until only 22 years ago. I don't want to spoil too much of the tour, but if you are keen to go, then I highly recommend it. There are lots of different tours to choose from so I'm sure there will be something for everyone.

The next leg of the Friday night adventure was yet another surprise. My friends took me to a place in Frementle called Little Creatures Brewery. I had heard so much about it and mentioned it to Ruth and Nhi in passing many times so I was so excited to be finally going in. 

Little Creatures is a huge place. It is a two storey warehouse setting with a large stainless steel cylinder tanks. There are just so many great quirky things about this place that I just don't have enough blog space to explain. I just really liked the atmosphere of the place. On the way in, my friend heard some people say that they had been there for 6 hours, and after being inside I can see why. It's got a very relaxed feel to the place and the serving sizes are made to share. 

Some of the lovely art work on display...up on the walls of the corridor leading to the toilet

The menu was great and they were very good to make some of our orders vegan friendly. We shared between us a pearl couscous salad, roast pumpkin almond dukkha and sage oil pizza, mushroom and olive pizza and fries with aoli (the menu has it as "frites"...pronounced "frits"). My friend also got the barramundi which he said was good. 

None of us had ever had pearl couscous before, but this was one good salad! It had almonds and raisins too which is always a good addition to a salad. The pearl couscous was cooked perfectly. Not too firm and not too soft. It has a lovely starchy taste but nowhere near as heavy as pasta or anything like that. 

To summarise, Little Creatures is a great place to eat and catch up with friends. 8/10! :) 
Note: it is a little bit pricey though so make sure you're not broke.

Our last leg of the journey was dessert at my friends new apartment. Ruth made amazing vegan carrot cake muffins with raspberry sauce. She got the recipe from the website Oh She Glows, which I totally recommend you to have a look at if you're feeling like something vegan. The carrot cake muffins were so lovely and moist and tasted like caramel...**drool** They were very delicious and make for a really yummy anytime-of-the-day-sweet-treat :)

Every minute of my surprise Friday night adventure was forever memorable. By the end of the night my face muscles hurt from all the smiling and laughing and I was filled with such an intense feeling of love. One of the things I really love most about my friends is they they know how important this 'doing something new' project is to me and they all got in on it and gave me not only one something new for the day, but a whole night full of them. Ruth once told me that she prefers to have experiences over material things and tonight was a perfect example of how a new and fun experience wins over material gifts any day.