Color restoration of a 1972 print - The Galileo Galilei leaving Freamantle

PS Elements 15 and some 'fiddling' around in 'auto' and other modes has done a pretty good job :)

Revisiting the scene...
La nave e in partenza, la nave e in partenza ...

GOOD MEMORIES of an unforgettable journey and daily parties - for glorious four weeks :)

What a great feeling watching the massive boat slowly detaching herself from the ropes and the dock, and be guided by tug boats out onto the ocean again.

1972 print
www.flickr.com/photos/30079014@N03/5894858435/in/album-72...
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WELCOME TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA
The first port of call in Australia - Fremantle (Freo to the locals), WA!

Passengers arriving in Freemantle, Western Australia, by 'boat', were greeted by this large sign WELCOME TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA which gave us new 'boat people' such a warm and fuzzy feeling.

It was a spectacular day, not a cloud in the sky and I knew I was going to stay!

Our 'boat', Lloyd Triestino's SS Galileo Galilei docking at the Fremantle passenger terminal, 28 February, 1972. We met her sister ship, Guglielmo Marconi, which was on the way back to Italy, in the middle of the night between Freemantle and Cape Town to transfer a stow-away from Australia. Everyone was on deck to see the magnificent sight of the Marconi all lit up, and then watching the long operation of taking a small boat with the stow-away from one ship to the other.

The Galileo Galilei has an interesting history. She was repaired, refurbished, changed name, sold several times, until her demise in 1999 when she (now named Sun Vista) sank due to an engine fire, in the Strait of Malacca, Malaysia. Fortunately everyone on board could be rescued.

Kind of sad that this great ship ('boat' as the Australians called it) that brought me to these shores is resting at the bottom of the ocean now. It is almost like losing an old and treasured home. May be ships should not be renamed...

oceanlinersmagazine.com/2020/05/19/sun-vistas-dark-day/

The following were the instructions from the Australian authorities before we could go ashore:

INFORMATION FOR THE ARRIVAL AT FREMANTLE:

On arrival at FREEMANTLE, ALL PASSENGERS will be checked by the Australian Authorities. For the first control TOURIST CLASS are kindly requested to assemble on the "PROMENADE DECK" (port side), when an announcement is given over the loudspeaker.

Passengers holding Australian or British passports have to assemble on the PROMENADE DECK (starboard side) with the PASSPORT and the INCOMING PASSENGER CARD passing through the Lido Bar.

I didn't have an Australian or British passport, but, after four weeks on sea I knew where the Lido Bar was...
Many of us could have found it blindfolded.

The following documents are requested:
1) PASSPORT
2) INCOMING PASSENGER CARD (filled on board)

Permission to go ashore will be broadcast as soon as granted by the Australian Authorities.

Then, further down in a box in capital letters:

BY ORDER OF THE AUSTRALIAN AUTHORITIES, THE BARS WILL BE CLOSED DURING DISEMBARKING AND EMBARKING OPERATIONS. AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMS REGULATIONS REQUEST THAT SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS BE SOLD BY THE NIP AND CIGARETTES BY PACKET ONLY. BAR SALES MAY NOT BE MADE TO VISITORS.

The other thing that I still remember, in ITALIAN (!) is the purser's call just before the boat left a port:
La nave e in partenza! La nave e in partenza! Tutti personi visitori sono pregato d'ascendere a terra! La Nave e in partenza! La nave e in partenza ... a number of times. (Spelling may not be quite correct :-) ... and the excitement of sailing the big wide ocean again.

Translation:
The ship is about to depart! The ship is about to depart! All visitors are requested to go ashore.
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I remember that we had a jolly good time on our first day on Australian shores. Glorious sunshine, not a cloud in the bluest sky that I have ever seen. My first words as I stepped ashore were: "I love this place I am going to stay!" Two of us went to Perth, had a number of beers and caught a bus, full of ladies returning from a shopping trip to Perth, back to Fremantle. We traveled through many suburbs, stopped at too many bus stops, the bus driver, knowing most of them, chatting to all of them before they got off the bus, until we realized we would not make it to the ship on time if this was going on like that. We were getting desperate! The bus driver finally got the idea and let us get off at a crossing and we caught a cab to Fremantle. Some people had alerted the purser that we were missing and one gangway was left open. We entered through a bottom port hole, the gangway was lifted, I took a photo of the gangway as it was lifted away, and the boat left. We had a jolly good time in Perth and, once in Syndey NSW, icy cold KB in a rippled can was my preferred beer for a long time after.
www.flickr.com/photos/30079014@N03/31581255018/in/album-7...

The port area of Fremantle has changed enormously, in fact, I did not recognize the place of my arrival anymore the last time I visited! Next year I will be celebrating 40 years in Australia and I have never regretted coming here, despite the sometimes hard times.

Edit, January 2014:
I was curious about the sign and made inquiries. A kind lady from Fremantle Ports informed me that the sign was probably taken down about 25 years ago because it was in disrepair. Also the immigration era at the terminal had come to an end and people arrived by air. The lady also sent a photo of the terminal when it opened in 1961, without the sign.

Here some history about the terminal:
www.fremantleports.com.au/Visiting/Cruising/Pages/Passeng...

I believe that Galileo Galilei was the last of Lloyd Triestino's ships that carried migrants. The passengers were a mix of people on cruises and migrants. This was Captain Rodolfo Sangulin's last voyage before retiring.
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Taken in: Australia / West Coast / North Fremantle (show map)

Taken on: April 17, 2024

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