Kings Park

When I saw pictures of Perth from Kings Park before I imagined them taken from the top of a steep rolling hill not from the cliff edge it actually is. At over 1000 acres it is one of the largest inner city parks in the world. Still mostly made up from natural bush it is also home to the lush Western Australian Botanic Garden and a number of city memorials including that of both World Wars.

The walk along Fraser Avenue is not one easily forgotten as the senses are regaled from the lemon scented gum lined street. Originally planted with red flowering gums to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1898, these were replaced in 1929 to celebrate the centenary of Western Australia. When those too failed to take and were stricken with disease, the lemon scented gums replaced them in 1939. Most of these are still going strong today but it is obvious there are some that have been replaced. The 1929 commemorative plaques still reside at their bases.

After a spot of breakfast it was time to go exploring. I decided first on the Law track, a 2.5km circuit bush trail. Supposedly it should only take around 45mins to complete. Poppycock! ;-) The trail concludes at the base of the botanical gardens. Although the gardens are named for the state it is full of flora from all over the country with individual gardens dedicated to each state and even regions within them. G, we'd have had to have pulled you kicking and screaming from the gardens. They were beautiful. Even I was taken enough with some of the plants to photograph them. My extra is a nice wee red thing. No idea what it is though. There were plaques but in a mass of plant life with masses of plaques who knows what was what. Whatever happens to putting a name tag on the plant itself. Anyway, it also came in a lovely deep purple variety but I did like the way the striking red offsets all the green. I even managed to catch a group in various stages of unfurling. Percy Thrower eat yer heart out!

Not much else to report today. I picked up a few souvenirs for the folks back home at Kings Park and then in town before heading back to the hotel and out again for dinner. Heh, deciding where to go for some reason turned into a bit of a chore and it was after 9m before I left. Worth the indecision though as the Indian restaurant I finally visited was fab.