Freshwater Bay Claremont to Perth

The weather this Saturday we better than last Saturday. The weather was so good it would be difficult to see how it could be any better. I caught the train from Thornlie to Claremont. Kathryn was not joining me for a coffee at the end of this walk. I walked from the Claremont station to Claremont Jetty in Freshwater Bay. After walking out to the end of the Jetty I made my way up the river. There wasn’t a path, but the beach sand was very easy to walk on, and was as good as a path.  Freshwater Bay sweeps around to a limestone headland. This was not too difficult to get around, although I did have to take my shoes off to wade through a small section of water. From here I continued walking through several small bays before making my way around another major headland in the Dalkieth area. There was no footpath and I did have a small section in which I had to take off my shoes and scramble though some fallen branches that were right on the water edge. Fortunately the tide was out, otherwise the walk would have been a little more difficult.

It was not until you started to get towards Nedlands area that an easy path appeared on the foreshore. This path has lights, it would make a pleasant night walk in the evenings – summer time. On the Nedlands foreshore there was a large model plane being flown, very interesting. The river up to this point was very interesting, but from here on there is more seawalls, which detract from the natural feel of the riverscape, starts to give the river a feel of being a drain. Just before Crawley there is Pelican point, one of the few river reserves for migrating and local birds to find sanctuary. Crawley Bay is a very beautiful location. I stopped off at the Crawley Bay Tea Rooms for a coffee. I’m noticing on this walk that my knees are not hurting anymore and I’m handling the walk quite well, so maybe getting into better condition. After the Old Brewery site I

made my way up to Kings Park. A steep walk, but not too difficult. Kings Park has been greatly improved by making the road run run behind the restaurant area, and creating grass between the War Memorial and the shops. I walked to the end of Fraser Avenue and then went down Cliff Street to Jacob’s Ladder, a series of steps that take you back down to Mounts Bay Road. I headed into the CBD as wanted to ask a question at the Apple Supper Store. On the way there I had a look at Bishop House. I noticed the gardens can be accessed, but this must be only on weekdays, as the gates were locked. I obtained some photos of the back of the house.

After having a late Subway lunch and  making my way to the train station I noticed that there was a large number of people peering over the balcony looking down Wellington Street. There was a man the police were after and the streets were closed. This also meant they couldn’t move the trains out of Perth, but they were operating from McIver Station. They recommended that we walk to McIver Station as it could be a long wait. On my way there I went past a Dick Smith store that had wireless printers for $39, a great price. I’m sure they will get there money from the inks. The train from McIver did not go to Thornlie so from Cannington they supplied a bus to Thornlie. So instead of getting home around 3.30pm, it was 5.00pm.