The less glamourous side of being an 19th century WA jailbird

All together now: Let's thank God we were never British convicts shipped off to Western Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Because, as I found out at the Fremantle Prison, it really sucked.

Here's the deal: Fremantle Prison was actually built by convict laborers in the 1850s and originally served as a convict establishment. It was basic, temporary accommodation for the convicts. Basic is a good word, I think. I'm trying to not sound too pampered. I'm sure a mid-19th century criminal would actually feel right at home in this dump.

Anyways, the Fremantle Convict Establishment became Fremantle Prison in 1886. And incredibly, this place was running until 1991. I was alive then. I could add and subtract. And this prison was in operation. Amazing.

We saw the gallows (which was apparently the only legal execution site in WA from the 1880s until 1984), an Anglican church in the prison, the solitary confinement rooms (er, rooms probably isn't the correct term. I've seen larger tanning beds.), and the yard where the prisoners received their lashings.

I think I uttered the phrase, "That would totally suck," more in that hour than I ever did in my entire life. I'll spare you the disgusting bits. This place was rough--you could just feel all the awful things that happened right where you were standing. And now it's on the Australian National Heritage List. Funny how that happens.

Either way, if I ever had the urge to kill, then this tour killed it.