The Main Street of York is full of history, cafes, books and lollies
Growing up in a country town, the main street was a great place to walk down on a Saturday morning to see who else was out and about.
Main Streets of Western Australia continue to define the life of their communities. It might just be to go to the butcher or grocer, pick up the newspaper (maybe a copy of Have A Go News!) or some rope from the trading post. Or it might be that you’re on a road trip and want to buy the best sausage roll in town or look through a local museum.
Main streets are great reasons to get out and explore regional communities at any time of year.
Below is a story I recently had published about some of the best main streets in WA, and the best reasons for a walk down them:
One of the ways we really get on a roll is when we talk about a topic that includes a roadtrip. We both love a roadtrip and a reason to see something that requires time spent driving is good time spent.
Some of the stories we’ve done that have been linked to roadtrips include hometowns and lakes, country destinations including Dryandra and the Avon Valley and where you can find Aboriginal tourism experiences.
We’ve also sought to slow you down and ask you to explore a suburb. Rather than just race through on your way to work, come back on a weekend and make it your destination. Explore Mount Hawthorn or Bull Creek, Karrinyup or Bassendean.
The Main Street of Bassendean
Tips for a good roadtrip:
Make it about what’s on the way, not just what’s at the end. Be prepared to stop if anyone in the car wants to.
With the point above in mind, plan your trip based on time for stops not the kilometres you’re travelling. By distance it should always take me less than two hours to get to Narrogin but we stop to climb up Sullivan Rock, stop at Williams Woolshed for a sausage roll and if we go through Wandering we stop to look at bulls and sometimes horses. It’s a 2-3 hour trip.
Do a bit of research. You may have a clear destination but what’s around the corner from your destination?
Find something to buy. Local jams, local art, find something that is a reminder of a great day out … like a talc rock from Three Springs!
Who’s on the bench? If something is closed, how are you going to use your time without heading straight back home. Who’s coming off the bench to save the day?
Road travels are hidden treasures because they can be easily planned, easily budgeted for, can be any length you want and is the best reason you’ll ever have to create a new playlist.
Ro indulged me recently in a show about hometowns. I was allowed to talk about Narrogin in great detail and we only heard a little bit about Ro’s hometowns. So, I set out on a secret roadtrip to visit one of her hometowns and then turn it into a Hidden Treasures story.
What is it that drives us to drive? What is it that makes us want to hit the road less travelled? For me it might be that I’ve never been there before. It might be because my daughter needs to log some hours on her L plates. Or it might be because it’s come up in conversation and it’s sparked a curiosity to see it for yourself. So here is Three Springs.
Three Springs is north of Perth, north of Moora, north of Coorow and Carnamah and east of Eneabba. It’s a good day trip. Not for the faint hearted who struggle to get over the escarpment on a road trip. It’s over three hours away and a bit longer if the L Plater doesn’t want to get above 80, which isn’t for the faint hearted either.
Here’s a few things you’ll see all year long, not just when the wildflowers make this one of the great destinations in Western Australia:
Yarra Yarra Lake Conservation Park is a shimmering salt lake in summer but the Lakes Lookout has amazing views that is pink in summer and deep blue through the wet months and filled as far as the eye can see with birds!
Dookanooka Nature Reserve is brilliant for wildflowers but even in summer is a great expanse of mallee against blue skies.
The Historic Well is one of the original three springs that give the town its name.
The historic well, one of Three Springs original spring water wells
The Talc Mine started in 1948 and digs out 250,000 tonnes of talc a year. From white to dark green talc, this mine has a wonderful lookout that shows off the mine and the surrounding landscape.
Talc!
Take a look at the pink lakes on the Perenjori-Three Springs Road on the way to the talc mine.
The dominant wheat silos in the middle of the town are emblematic of the reason for the towns existence, surrounded by wheat.
Time for a mural on these silo’s I think
The main street is broad and straight with most of the towns services lined up for you.
Rossiter & Co Butchers is where Glen still makes his famous sausages.
The Commercial Hotel is a big old pub on the main street.
One of our callers to the show, Simon, told us about his visits from the farm to the town as a kid growing up near Eneabba. He remarked that coming to Three Springs was like a metropolis and a great day out to play at the wheat silos and hang out at the shops in the main street.
Three Springs is a Hidden Treasure because it’s on the road less travelled if you want to explore the north on a roadtrip from Perth. It’s also a great destination outside the wildflower season because it’s a town that’s small enough to discover quickly, surrounded by land that’s big enough to take your breath away. Importantly, you can also imagine little Ro standing outside the butchers on the main street munching on her slice of polony.
As we grow up and find our way in our street, in our town and our state, there are experiences we have that aren’t connected to bucket lists or wish lists. They might be things that our parents have done and now think we’re old enough for, or places they took you to that you now take your kids to.
Let’s start with the jousting knights in the clock at London Court. This was the thrill in my day of coming to the city. The following day at school, my hand would shoot up to tell my news to the class and I’d describe how the knights would pass each other as the clock bells rang out and then one of the jousting poles would knock a knight backwards on his horse.
This for me is a rite of passage. It’s something that might not have Lara Bingle in front of it asking where you are, but it means something to you. I want to be clear that this isn’t the rite of passage experience like going overseas and visiting Gallipoli or sitting on Cable Beach at sunset or riding a bike on Rottnest for the first time.
Our rites of passage might be defined as unknown to anyone outside your family, or maybe even outside your town. One of my rites of passage was the ride in the trailer from the Narrogin tip back to the main road. It might not be appropriate these days but when we were old enough to hang on, it was a great adventure. ABC legend Brad McCahon was just as inappropriate as me, sharing his Boulder and Kalgoorlie rite of passage that involved a pub crawl up the length of Hannan Street.
Inspiration for rites of passage can be seen in our discussion a few weeks ago about exercise spots. I was surprised that Ro and Ebonnie had never climbed the DNA Tower because I think it qualifies as a rite of passage as exercise or even a date destination.
Rites of passage that are hidden treasures you can be inspired by to make your own include:
Climbing the DNA Tower
Safely walking the sandbar to Penguin Island
Swimming to the Cottesloe Pylon and maybe even diving off it
Riding a train
When did you first catch a train?
Picnic at Kings Park and Fish & Chips on the beach
Roadtrips to anywhere
Swan River Ferry from Elizabeth Quay to Mends Street Jetty
Crabbing with a scoop net in your oldest sneakers
Were you scared when you caught your first big blue manna crab?
Catching gilgies from a creek or, with permission, a farmers dam.
Have you ever caught a gilgy?
Do a bombie off Palm Beach Jetty, Coogee Jetty or jumping off Blackwall Reach (be careful, be safe).
I love rites of passage as a hidden treasure because they sit alongside bucket lists as an inspiration or motivation for a travel experience but may not be as flashy. A bucket list item might be wading in the Dead Sea but a rite of passage might be wading in the Mandurah Estuary with a scoop net. One is worthy of a slide night, the other is worthy of family stories for years to come about nipped toes, stingray terror and dropped torches.
Hidden Treasures has been a journey of local discoveries that has led us to urban art trails, suburban museums, jetties, lakes, parks and so much more.
In this penultimate edition of Hidden Treasures for 2021, we’re doing a year in review, we’re naming names, we’re handing out gongs and we’re doing it quicker than the Brownlow. Listen to the audio file below or keep reading, or do both!
What I’ve loved about Hidden Treasures is more than making the discovery, it’s been about sharing the discovery. Just like returning from those overseas destinations, I have found joy in describing for you Bull Creek and Mirrabooka, Two Rocks and Kwinana and many more of our suburbs. My Top Ten Hidden Treasures for 2021:
Best Suburban Museum:
2nd Bassendean Railway Museum: Tells a great story of the railways in WA.
1st Bull Creek Aviation Heritage Museum: Spitfires, Lancasters, rockets and roaring engines.
Spitfires, Lancasters, Catalina’s and more, at the Bull Creek Aviation Heritage Museum
Best Sport:
2nd WAFL: Great standard of suburban tribalism in sport and community.
1st Padel: Never heard of it before we did Hidden Sports Treasures.
Come for a Padel, stay for a tapas
Best Food:
A tie for 2nd – Cray Dog at the Lane Café on Wadjemup and Curry Puff at Bull Creek Oriental Supplies.
1st – Fish Burger at Preston Beach General Store.
Best fish burger in the world
Best Aboriginal Experience:
2nd Deadly Divas – Wildflower Walkabout and Campfire Stories run by ladies for the ladies.
1st Yagan Square Nyumbi – Friday evenings, hopefully back for 2022.
Best View:
2nd Kwinana Chalk Hill – a worthy winner of hidden treasure views.
1st HALO at Perth Stadium – Don’t just be a spectator, have an adventure.
Best Main Street:
2nd North Fremantle – a great street to walk and mooch
1st Bassendean – a main street that in the best traditions of main streets, reminds me of all the country towns I’ve lived in and driven through.
Best Walk:
2nd Hike Collective – making a good walk as much about mental health as physical health.
1st West Perth – a middle of the city walk that gives you a great park (Harold Boas), the seat of government, a seat on sliding grass and jaffles.
Best Urban Art:
2nd Joondalup Urban Art Trail – Including a sculpture that’s a love shack for moths and the worlds biggest periodic table
1st Mirrabooka Mural – Shaping the Future is about loving the diversity in the place you live by showing local faces from many backgrounds.
Urban art is one of Perth’s great hidden treasures
Best Free Tour:
2nd Coogee Common Garden Tour – feel like Peter Rabbit in Mr McGregors garden (without the terror).
1st Sunset Coast Explorer – Feel like a tourist as you sit back in a double decker bus up the coast from Scarborough.
Best Surprise:
2nd Community Gardens – Discover where communities come together to grow vegetables, make compost, look after chickens, teach sustainability and just relax while you potter about.
1st Staycations – You really can relax just 15 minutes from home.
The pandemic might have been the inspiration for Hidden Treasures but don’t let travel restrictions be the reason to turn your gaze towards exploration at home, make exploration at home a part of your travel life, a regular outing or roadtrip or staycation somewhere in your city that you haven’t been to.
It’s there and it always will be if we support it.
For ABC Saturday Breakfast, Hidden Treasures often finds itself in the job of discovering suburbs we normally just drive through on the way to somewhere else, or suburbs that just seem to be too suburban to be of interest.
Our next Hidden Treasure is a lot more. Our next Hidden Treasure challenges a perception that’s been around since the 1970’s. Our next Hidden Treasure challenges you to stop awhile in a part of Perth that’s far from suburbia but still part of the metropolitan area.
When I was a kid, I’d listen to the stories my dad and his mates would tell on the veranda of our little holiday house in Shoalwater Bay. From Japanese Army Helmets found on the end of Garden Island to giant sharks off Woodman Point, these stories always seemed to be something they’d overheard on the boat ramp.
Fun Fact: Boat ramps were the internet of the day.
One of the stories I remember hearing, when I was dragging a Jatz cracker through the French Onion dip, was how fish caught in Cockburn Sound would arc when cooked in microwave ovens because of the metal content caused by industry pollutants.
Irrespective of the truth and accuracy of this story, it’s a bit metaphoric for how we felt about Cockburn Sound in the 1970’s, and the area we know as … Kwinana.
Well, most of the industry is still there but there’s also a lot more in Kwinana, including a strong sense of community that is proud of new facilities, old heritage and even older culture.
Let’s start with a remarkable wetland and bush walk experience that is ridiculously close to the Kwinana Freeway but you wouldn’t know it.
The Spectacles Wetlands is named for its aerial view which shows two circular lakes joined by a narrow drain, making it look like a pair of spectacles.
The Spectacles are spectacular
The Spectacles is 360 hectares and part of the wider Beeliar Regional Park and has great Noongar interpretative signage along a 5km heritage walk trail and explains the perspective and special importance of the area to Noongar Elder Joe Walley.
As well as the Aboriginal Heritage Walk Trail, there’s a boardwalk over the wetlands which feature a paperbark forest and lead you to the Biara Lookout which is the perfect location to sit quietly and watch the lakes resident birdlife.
Aboriginal Heritage Walk Trail signage
This is the reason why I’d do a day out in Kwinana. Come to the Spectacles and then do the other things we’re going to talk about but come for the trails and boardwalk, the wetlands, Aboriginal stories and big spiders in big webs and a paperbark forest partly submerged in wetlands that provide amazing reflections from the still water.
Chalk Hill has a panoramic view to Rockingham, Wadjemup and the Darling Escarpment. It’s also where local Aboriginal people who worked at the nearby refineries used to live because prior to the 1967 Referendum, Aboriginal people didn’t qualify for housing. Going further back in time the hill was used by local Aboriginal groups to light signal fires. It’s a nice steep walk up a sealed path and short dirt track.
Sitting at the bottom of Chalk Hill is Smirk Cottage. This small, two bedroom cottage built in the 1900’s, cared for by the Kwinana Heritage Group and around the grounds are lots of examples of old agricultural machinery and equipment and who doesn’t love sitting on an old tractor.
Just four years ago the Adventure Park won best park in Australia. It’s got boardwalks, flying foxes, climbing nets, a tree maze, water play, squirting pelicans, great birthday party facilities that you can hire, including one with a kitchen! If you’ve got a kid that is too cool for playgrounds there’s a huge skate park next door.
Adventure Park, Kwinana
For walkers and cyclists and with multiple entry and exit points along the 21 kilometre route try the Kwinana Loop Trail. Look for the Aboriginal heritage signs along the route to get a better understanding and connection with the bushland you’re travelling through.
Amongst the smoke stacks, desalination plant and refineries is a pristine beach for horses. In summer there can be dozens of good looking horses splashing about, lying back on a blanket reading the form guide or playing volleyball like Tom Cruise in Top Gun. On my visit I met a champion of WA trotting, Mighty Conqueror. It may sound like an ambitious name but he’s got the wins and the prize money to make him worthy of the name.
Kwinana Horse Beach, where all the good looking horses hang out
The SS Kwinana shipwreck is a big cargo and passenger steamship that ran aground in the 1920’s onto what we now call Kwinana Beach. In the 1960’s, inspired by South Fremantle Oval, it was filled with concrete. It’s good to walk the length of an old ship and imagine where the bow was and the bridge and the boilers, and on the sides you can still see rusty steel plates and rivets.
For a day trip feast, whether you like it greasy by the beach or grilled at a table there are plenty of great fish and chip shops in Kwinana.
Kwinana is a hidden treasure not because it’s reinvented itself but because its learned to live with itself and tell a bigger, better story.
The industry is still there but look closer and you’ll find ancient stories, wetlands, views, shipwrecks, beaches for long legged champions and adventure parks for little legged champions.
Lots of adventures to be found and enjoyed in Kwinana
For Hidden Treasures on ABC Perth Saturday Breakfast, Ro and I were joined by my good mate Tom, who coincidentally is my son. Tom gave some wonderful descriptions about his favourite showbags, rides and why reggae bananas aren’t a very good prize.
Listen to our chat in the link below and read below about the things we love most about regional shows in the notes below:
Whether you follow the traditional seasons or the cultural seasons, it’s nice to know that we’re headed for some sunshine. But there is another season upon us and it’s one that should have us checking our tyre pressures, making a new roadtrip playlist and filling up the tank for a big day out or maybe even a weekend away.
This is the season for regional agricultural shows. The smell of hot donuts is in the air! It’s time for a showcation!
Could there be a better reason to go for a drive?
Could there be a better reason to visit a town you haven’t explored?
Could there be a better reason to go down the road less travelled?
Could there be a better reason to make up a new Spotify playlist that caters for all ages in the car as long as they like Lindsay Buckingham’s Holiday Road and John Denver’s Country Roads.
Have a look at the Agricultural Society website and you can search by date or town and see what’s coming up. We can’t mention every show but let’s give a shout out to a great little bunch of shows coming up that are just a couple of hours away:
YORK 4 September
MOORA 18 September
TOODYAY 9 October
KATANNING 23 October
NARROGIN 16 OCTOBER – Best poultry shed in the southern hemisphere.
GIDGEGANNUP 30 October – 75th Anniversary and Gordon the Show President says that all his volunteers live with the creed, “Put a country show on the city doorstep.” This year the Gidgy Show will feature a sheep dog guiding sheep through the actual show pavilions and stalls. Not a paddock, but through the actual show.
Agricultural shows are really important to country communities. It’s a time for volunteers, it’s a time to show off local art and crafts, jams and chutneys, biscuits and cakes and collections of bottles and barbed wire and for Mayors to award blue ribbons. There are deals to be made over the purchase of a new tractor and decisions to be made over which rooster has the plumiest feathers and which ram has the biggest marble bag.
Make an offer at a regional show.
There are also some other important decisions to be made and that’s why I need the help of Tom who fills me with joy and empties my wallet.
The season of agricultural shows brings together at least two of Tom’s loves …. Roadtrips and the Narrogin Show.
There is no better indicator of character type … what showbag do you buy and when do you buy it, at the start of the show or the end?
Showbag memories … Mills and Ware suitcase, Schweppes Bicep Challenge and the best ‘In my day’ reference you can make ….. the Bertie Beetle.
Lost Dad Tents are proof that everyone is catered for.
Miracle Gadgets! A new way of peeling, grating, slicing and dicing vegetables or a magic cloth that washes and dries your car all by itself!
Enjoy the spruikers and their calls to get your participation to drop a ping pong ball down a clowns mouth. Calls like;
“Every player wins a prize!” and “Don’t be bashful! Don’t be shy! Step on up and have a try!
And the bumper car calls accompanied by a Bon Jovi soundtrack, “Left hand down! Left hand only!” and “One way ‘round drivers, one way only!”
Left hand down drivers! Left hand down only!
Regional agricultural shows are hidden treasures because they provide the lure to get you out there. To see a town you love or have never been to. To see a community come together. To see big tractors and big sheep. To self-proclaim yourself the best bumper car driver and eat food that is good for you, as long as it’s only once a year.
For me it’s about spending time with my best mate. The Royal Show is just 20 minutes drive from my house but the Narrogin Show, The Gidgy Show and so many others, are a bit further away and that time together is real treasure.
Every player wins a prize….even if it’s just a reggae banana
For Hidden Treasures, Ro sent me to get salty and explore an area that hasn’t changed, thanks to sliding door moments and big roads. Let’s hit the road and travel south. Not ‘down south’. Just ‘south’.
The first thing you need to know about Lake Clifton and Preston Beach is that they’re not backwaters. Just like the thrombolites that lie by the lake, it looks like they’re not doing much but they’ve successfully survived by not doing much and they do it very well.
Let’s start with the Lake Clifton Caravan Park which if you’re looking to have a quick getaway that includes your dog then this is perfect. There are a few permanent onsite residents and while most of them are kangaroos and emus there’s a few people who call the park their permanent home.
I love that their website asks you to make a booking but if you’ve made a last-minute decision as you’re driving past they’ll help fit you in. It’s that sort of place … very laid back and very welcoming.
The 10th Light Horse Bridal Trail is 45 kilometres long and starts at the Harvey River Bridge alongside Yalgorup National Park and just south of the Harvey Estuary and Kooljerrenup nature reserve. There are no real hills and if you love your walking and camping, particularly with kids, this would be a good way to spend a long weekend.
The Harvey River
Lake Clifton is a long thin lake that starts just south of Dawesville and ends at Myalup just to the north of Australind.
This is where you’ll find the Thrombolite reef.
Science says Thrombolites are fragile rock like structures that are the work of microorganisms and represent one of the earliest forms of life on Earth. But the oldest living culture on earth says they are Waggyaals Noorook, eggs left behind by the creator spirit.
Lake Clifton Thrombolite site
For bush walks the Lakeside Loop is around 5 kilometres and there’s kangaroos everywhere and little blue wrens flitting along the path to make you feel you’re in some sort of nursery rhyme – they’re just magical little birds.
There are several wineries to stop at and taste some local wines and ginger rum.
One of the wineries is even brewing some fierce ales and stouts as well. Ed, from the Thorny Devil Brewery, points out the flavour notes of his stout, slightly less eloquently than maybe Matt Preston would, “You can almost taste your sandshoes in it.” You know I love a good word and a hint to Ed’s age is his use of the word ‘sandshoes’.
There are a couple of great tour operators covering this area: Mandurah Dreaming is an accredited Aboriginal tour operator and have a tour of the Thrombolites every Saturday from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
Salt & Bush run a Wildlife Nocturnal Tour through Yalgorup National Park that takes in the Lake Clifton and Preston Beach area, including the lakes.
Lime Kilns located in bush next to Lake Clifton are a really interesting example of a sliding door moment for the area. While dredging and transporting shells from the lake had been going on for a number of years over a hundred years ago, the kiln only operated for two days before they realised the quality wasn’t what was expected when making lime onsite. So the industry folded and with it much of the settlement, leaving the environment to slowly recover and be seen for what it is today.
Old Lime Kilns
As you pull into the Preston Beach General Store you’ll notice a couple of signs proclaiming how good their burgers and fish and chips are. This is a general store where I was lucky enough to be looked up and down by a couple of locals sitting out the front and a couple more standing at the counter when I walked in.
It was assumed I was after bait as I have that rugged, salty fisherman look about me. A nod of the head indicated where the bait fridge was but I quickly explained I was after a fish burger. As I waited for the burger, I wandered the store, looking at the range of squid jigs, poppers and burley cages.
I looked at the thong rack, ready for travellers who need a pair for the beach. There were sandcastle buckets, jumper leads, crossword books, stubby holders and pocket knives.
This is the General of general stores. There was even flotsam and jetsam adorning the front veranda of the store!
Preston Beach General Store. Putting the ‘General’ in ‘general’.
Preston Beach is about 12 kilometres long and perfect to sit and eat the best fish burger in the world. It’s accessible for 4WDs or you can park in the carpark and walk through the dunes to the beach which is great for swimming and more often than not, good for losing your thong in the soft sand – good thing the general store is just up the road.
It can be soft even on the track to the beach so make sure you’re prepared to lower your tyre pressures or the only place you’re going is deep into the sand.
Eat the best fish burger in the world on a beach, from the bonnet of your car, looking out to sea. Perfect.
Lake Clifton and Preston Beach are Hidden Treasures because nothing has changed from when they were both popular, it’s just that a fast road was built that takes you past it.
They’re still great spots for camping, bushwalking, beach driving and fishing, looking at ancient living things, sipping some very good local wine and brews and eating the very best fish burger in WA from the best general store in WA with a bait fridge bigger than the drinks fridge and the best sign in WA that boldly says “Bloody Good Fish & Chips”.
Gosnells … like peeling an orange, the segments of a vibrant and historic community are revealed.
There is a public art sculpture in the heart of Gosnells. The heart of Gosnells is very busy and as traffic belts along Albany Highway and the shops on its edges clamour for your attention, stop and look at this sculpture and watch it reveal itself and in so doing, reveal the suburb it represents.
It’s called ‘The Pioneers – The Peeled Orange’, and as the orange is peeled away the segments reveal the people who worked in the orchards which were so abundant in the area upon settlement as part of the Swan River Colony.
It’s an accurate reflection of the workers in the orchard but it’s also an accurate reflection of the many segments in Gosnells that come together to make it whole.
For Hidden Treasures let’s explore another of our suburbs that get driven through quickly and see if we can find some reasons to stop a while in a community that is enjoying the fruit of its labours in creating new spaces and places to sit a while.
Let’s start with a brisk walk through the Ellis Brook Valley Reserve where you’ll find yourself in the richest, most diverse wildflower location in the metropolitan area. There are a range of wilderness trails of varying difficulty and the Easy Walk Trail has very good wheelchair access and a great view of Perth. Just make sure you take enough water as there aren’t any water facilities in the Reserve.
The Mills Park Nature Play Space is the only play space in Perth where if a child, parent or carer, falls off the log path you’ll fall into wetlands. It’s a remarkable space that has a slightly elevated pathway over a wetland that is full of paperbark trees. With flying foxes, opportunities to make cubbies and lots of ways to get really dirty it’s a park with a real sense of adventure and activity.
Mills Park Nature Play … enjoy falling in!
For a bit of settler history and a great look at some old agricultural machinery and vintage motor cars have a look at the Wilkinson Homestead. When I was out there, local volunteers were dressed for the part for a visiting school group and the homestead, built in 1912, is fitted out with period furniture and displays that reflect the rural settler life of Gosnells. There’s even an outside dunny to scare the kids.
Wilkinson Homestead
With the hustle and bustle of Albany Highway giving us most of our impression of Gosnells you might be surprised to learn there is a very quiet and most splendid wetland that is home and refuge to waterbirds, frogs and turtles.
The Mary Carroll Wetlands has walking trails alongside the two lake systems and is ringed by pristine bushland. It’s a great spot to enjoy a bit of nature and you can get involved with its protection by joining the Friends of Mary Carroll Wetlands and do some seed collection and revegetation activities.
Mary Carroll Wetlands
The Centennial Pioneer Park sits between the Gosnells cbd and the Canning River, which is flowing like the Avon at the moment.
This park is overlooked by the impressive Spinning a Yarn sculpture and Aboriginal mosaic mural and the park features a tree top walk and an amphitheatre and playground. It is also where the naughty and noisy birds from the peaceful Mary Carroll wetlands are sent to. These are the birds who love to sing loudly and over the top of every other bird.
Hidden Treasures loves urban art. In the heart of Gosnells is a self-guided 40-minute walking tour of public artworks, including murals in little laneways and sculptures on street corners and overlooking the Canning River. Two of my favourites aren’t the biggest on the trail but they’re the two that made me smile the most, and pull out my camera.
The Peeled Orange
Firstly, the Peeled Orange, that we’ve already mentioned, is a tip of the hat to the historical European settlement days when orange groves were seen throughout the area. The sculpture shows different people in the segments of the orange, including the farmer, his wife and the labourers who worked in the orchards. My second favourite is just a couple of big strides down the street where you’ll find a possum, turtle and lizard peeking from underneath a manhole cover and about to make a run for it along the footpath. It’s about the hope of the community for nature to live within the community.
The Gosnells Railway Markets are a regular weekend market so there’s no need to look up when they’re on next. There’s a steam train and diesel train to look at and lots of stalls selling local produce, including cheesecakes and cookies and a great stall that is full of one of life’s essentials, Russian dolls.
Lots of colour to be found at the Gosnells Markets
Now is probably a good time to duck into the most prominent building in Gosnells and home to lots of local events and celebrations or just a night out for good counter meal. The Gosnells Hotel is the only pub I’ve found in Perth that does a brisket sandwich. Brisket. It’s meat like my Nana used to cook and it’s glorious.
Inside … there is a brisket sandwich. Brisket.
Do you like a bit of fright in your night? I don’t even like my motion sensor light going on outside. The Gosnells Ghost Walk is a tour that requires sturdy shoes and bravery. Now a little disclaimer, I haven’t done the tour yet but I’ve heard all about it from Miranda at the City of Gosnells who coordinates it and I’m booked and ready to go when they commence their next season under a full moon from February to April next year.
It’s a short season, the spirits can get a bit restless and it’s getting harder to find supernatural insurance cover. With local support and paranormal participants, the tour explores the old timber mill and railway bridge and discovers deadly love triangles.
Are you up for the Gosnells Ghost Walk?
Gosnells is a hidden treasure because it’s about discovering wetlands and flowing rivers you didn’t know were there, discovering tree top walks and singing birds, finding a brisket sandwich and finding culture and history through public art, historic homesteads and night time walks to encounter the spirits from our colonial past.
With Jo Trilling on Hidden Treasures for ABC Perth Saturday Breakfast, we took what used to be a trek but is now a hop and a skip up the road to Joondalup. Have a listen to the link below, or read on, or do both:
While you would never admit it to your kids or grandkids, there’s something that happens when your first-born child or grandchild arrives. It just seems to be imprinted on the memory a bit more. You remember every detail about their birth and those that come after aren’t remembered less fondly, they’re just not as well remembered.
Joondalup is Perth’s first planned city, built from scratch, born from the bush.
We can remember when we first travelled there. To be honest, we probably made sure we filled up the petrol tank.
When you arrived, you wondered why there were such wide streets and fancy paving. Who was ever going to love this baby and look after it and nurture it?
Joondalup is a big local government area but let’s focus on our traditional Hidden Treasure objective, exploring a suburb.
I’ve mentioned in the past the longing to get back to Bali. I’m really missing a swim that isn’t really a swim, just walking slowing through the middle of a big resort pool with a big hat on. Well you can do that in the suburbs, at the Joondalup Resort. It’s got a big resort pool that would completely remind you of being in Asia if it wasn’t for the singing of the magpies and laughing of the kookaburras as someone slices badly on the fairway of the resort golf course. Maybe the golfer was put off by the kangaroos that lie around the fairways. Currently the resort occupants are only visiting AFL teams. For the ladies, keep on eye on the resort calendar because in August they host a Ladies Night Market full of stuff…for ladies.
Time to move into the heartland of the suburb and take a look at Edith Cowan University. When I attended the campus you could look out the window and see kangaroos boxing in the bush. You still see the kangaroos but they’re now hopping through a very established campus, including hopping past the biggest periodic table in the world on the Science Building. It reminded me of the great pick-up lines for elements, “Forget Hydrogen, you’re my number one element.” and “Are you carbon because I’d like to date you?”
The biggest Periodic Table in the world
I think Edith Cowan herself would have wanted a mural of those pick-up lines on the science building somewhere.
Next up the road is the HBF Arena, home to the Cardi’s. I’m not going to say they’re mighty but they have put down very strong WAFL roots into the ground and like all WAFL grounds, it’s close to the heart of the suburb and easy to get to and watch some great footy.
Let’s head to the top of the suburb to Nanika Park to check out a mural. Murals and other public art are important to Joondalup because it doesn’t have an architecture yet that reflects the culture of its community, it’s simply not old enough yet.
Together is a Beautiful Place to Be
So public art is a standout feature in this suburb because local artists are used and they consult with local schools and community groups to visually create what is important to them. The mural at Nanika Park is a great example of this. Local artist Hayley Welsh worked with Joondalup Primary School to create the whimsical, ‘Together is a Beautiful Place to Be’.
Let’s duck across to Yellagonga Regional Park which is a great stretch of wetland and pristine bush, full of walking trails and opportunities to sit quietly and watch an amazing assortment of birds that live in the area and migrate to the area. There’s even a jetty!
Lake Joondalup
There’s a walk trail that starts at Lake Joondalup and makes its way for 28 kms up to Yanchep National Park called the Yaberoo Budjara Heritage Trail. It follows the movement track of the local Aboriginal people and was later used by settlers as a stock route.
The track starts at Neil Hawkins park which is nestled against Lake Joondalup and features some more examples of Joondalup public art that acknowledge the Aboriginal contribution and connection to the land through the Bibbulmun Yorga sculpture and the very cool Flight of the Black Cockatoo Table Tennis Table, available to play on all year long.
Flight of the Black Cockatoo in Neil Hawkins Park
Next to the war memorial is the Two Up Brewery, a brilliant spot to try local onsite brews and they’re building a great reputation for creating products that also tell wonderful wartime stories about the role of service men and women, children and families.
Great beers, great service and great stories at the Two Up Brewery
Making our way into the cbd streets of Joondalup, there are murals and sculptures including the bizarre ‘Interlace’ that senses your presence and squirts water.
Joondalup’s love of public art continues into the evening with visual light display murals on the library and a remarkable sculpture called ‘Love Motels for Insects’ that lights up at night to attract horny insects who want a big night out on the town. Dirty bugs!
There are 1000 ceramic medallions with depictions by community groups, laid into the paving so watch where you’re walking because there’s a lot to see, including the Walk of Fame!
The Walk of Fame features name plaques of famous locals. There is a problem however because the Walk of Fame is missing Joondalup’s own hidden treasure, an 80’s and 90’s Perth rock god, now employed in the heart of Joondalup at the City of Joondalup. The lead singer of The Marigolds and The Neptunes, the one and only Jamie Parry, my big brother.
It’s a Hidden Treasure because you can enjoy getting there, particularly by train, and you can enjoy the luxury of a resort, parks, bushland and lakes, the tribalism of local footy and the defining of a maturing and connected community through its telling of stories in artwork on the ground and on the walls throughout the day and the night.
Joondalup is a hidden treasure because just like that first born, you’re always just a bit more interested to see what it becomes. You want to tell it, “I remember when you were just a twinkle in an Urban Planner’s eye!”
Chris Parry Writes For Us 