Submarines

We’ve been watching the series Das Boot on TV. It’s about German submarines in the Atlantic during WW2, with a sub-plot following the activities of the Gestapo vs. the French Resistance in La Rochelle.

I knew there was a submarine at the Maritime Museum in Fremantle, and I wanted to go inside to see the real thing. Unfortunately it’s closed to the public at present, because it’s impossible to keep social distance in the cramped conditions of a sub.

I was lucky in finding there were guided tours of the outside, led by an ex-submariner who had actually served on the boat:

This is the HMAS Ovens. It was decommissioned in 1969, and the 6 subs were replaced by the Collins class in 1970. Collins are now to be replaced by French-built subs, partly to be built in France and partly in South Australia.

During WW2 there were 168 subs operating out of the Fremantle base, mainly American and Dutch. Australia had only 2 old subs from WW1 at the time. If the Japanese had known about this, they would certainly have bombed Fremantle as they did Darwin, but it was a closely guarded secret.

There were three torpedo tubes that opened inwards (bottom left). The full scale model shows how it all worked, so that they could be fired in a straight line from the pointy end of the boat:

Modern torpedoes are worth $3m each because of all the technology they contain. The defence budget for hardware is enormous. They are rarely fired now as subs are mostly used for reconnaissance. 

HMAS  Ovens had 448 batteries which were replaced every 5 years.  The batteries were used for “silent running” and they were charged from the noisy Diesel engines when the sub was at or near the surface. There was a crew of 63 including 2 chefs and they typically spent 70 days at sea.

Australia at present has 6 submarines only, and they are not fully operational because of the lack of crew. Recruiting and training is ongoing at the Garden Island Naval Base off Fremantle. Submariners earn approximately twice as much as normal servicemen. There are currently 50 women on the subs.

I hope I got all this information right! Afterwards I had a quick lunch at Bread in Common, a trendy restaurant in the town centre. I had anchovy toast with egg yolk:

Bold Park

We had a lovely bushwalk today, with an abundance of wildflowers to photograph. 

V brought her greyhound. The dog didn’t like the metal boardwalk up to the lookout on Riebold Hill. It hurt her feet and when the time came to walk back down again, she flatly refused to go. Lutz the hero picked her up and carried her down - all 30 kilos!

Donkey orchids

Yellow Leschenaultia: normally they are blue

Spider orchids

Pink fairy orchids

Lots of pink fairies

Zamia Palm

Bracket fungi round a tree stump

Very strange fungus high up on a tree

We walked about 9 kilometres in total. It was a good day out. My legs are tired now so I’m rewarding myself with an Aperol Spritz.

We ate our lunch sitting on some tree stumps. Unfortunately they were exuding sap which stuck to the backside of our pants.

This was AFTER a wash, but then I discovered the surprising remedy on YouTube: rub on hand sanitizer and the sticky stain is instantly dissolved.

... and dine

The herb garden crew meet from time to time to discuss the next season’s plantings. A dinner was held last night at 23 The Circus, our local cafe. It was very lively and noisy, with no thought for social distancing - though W.A. has only 5 cases, all returned travellers in hotel quarantine. However, it still felt strange and risky to be in such a packed venue.

Only one revelation this time about problem partners. Some years ago M’s husband deserted her and decamped to the Philippines, where women are more compliant. Now he thinks he’d like to come back, but even if he can get a flight, he will have to pay for two weeks quarantine and then where would he go? M in the meantime has found another boy friend, whose main attraction is that he owns a luxurious caravan and they go on trips. I find him rather uncouth; he once sold me a Seiko watch that had fallen off the back of a lorry. (I don’t think M reads this blog!)

The main attraction on Friday night is the oyster shucker. There is a big demand as people feel safe in ordering the oysters when they are absolutely fresh. They come in by air every day and the airport is on our side of town. The shucker collects them himself and is contracted by several restaurants on many nights of the week.. He makes a living by shucking. He wears a smart black overall, rather Japanese in style and looks as if he enjoys his job:

I only had three last night, but I’ll go again for more!

Ladies who lunch

Four of us went out for lunch at The Partisan, Claisebrook. We left our problems behind.

A’s husband is in an Aged Care Home with Dementia. He doesn’t know her, but she goes in every few days to feed him as he eats so slowly. During lunch she received a phone call from the Home, asking her to bring him some larger clothes as they are finding it hard to dress him in clothes that are too tight.

B’s husband is in and out of different hospitals with a variety of ailments, including out-of-control Diabetes and Depression. She spends her days driving him to medical appointments. This has been going on for years. She used to be a nurse.

V’s husband has Parkinson’s. They have a Carer to help him shower three times a week, paid for privately but government subsidised. Sometimes she doesn’t arrive till 10.30 by which time he is getting cross and stressed. Their children live in Darwin and Albany, too far away to be of any help.

My partner JL had his hip fracture repaired 6 weeks ago and the Rehabilitation in the Home package, provided free by Royal Perth Hospital has now come to an end. He moves around the house slowly with a walking frame. I have booked some private physio sessions twice a week at a nearby clinic where I used to go for a group exercise class before the pandemic. I had seen the girl in action and was impressed. 

We had a nice lunch together with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc:

Trip to the beach

A lovely sunny day was forecast, so another trip to South Beach Fremantle was decided upon. After a coffee at the cafe, I left JL sitting on his walker and went south towards the C Y O’Connor beach. There had been a lot of erosion after recent storms:

I spoke to two employees of Cockburn Council who were doing maintenance work on TV cameras which take photos every hour and send them to their computer at HQ.  This has been going on for a year in order to check on the state of the coastline. The cameras are mounted on a high flagpole and take photos in both directions:

I walked out on the breakwater and took photos, looking north and south:

South, showing where most of the erosion has been and plantings have been done.

North, looking towards Fremantle.

JL would be interested in all this because there have been similar problems near his old house at Quinn’s Rocks. Going back, I found him looking out to sea at the ships waiting to enter Fremantle Port, including a monster container ship with two tugs helping it to find its way in:

Lovely sea grass beside the path:

Then we went home and I made a vegetarian quiche for dinner: