Minim Cove
Most people who have heard of Minim Cove know it as one of Western Australia's most sought-after residential estates, created on the site of the former State Engineerring Works in the Perth suburb of Mosman Park. What most don't know is about of the secluded little beach on Blackwall Reach after which it is named.
The cove, located near the Vlamingh Parklands off Faulkner Circle is believed to have been a camping ground and a fishing site for Nyoongars who stayed in the area while waiting for low tide to cross the river. A freshwater spring near the shore proveded drinking water all year round. Many tools made from small chips of quartz and chert, dated to around 10,000 years old, have been found there.
During early European settlement, travellers disembarked by ship in Fremantle. They then rode to Preston Point and crossed the river to Minim Cove, exactly as the Aboriginal people did, before following a sandy bush track to Perth. Up until 1863, a horse ferry assisted passage across the river. At the foot of the cliff beside the Minim Cove jetty was a cave excavated and squared out as a room.
On the shore rocks emerge from the small sandy beach and the shape of the beach appears to be quite natural compared to the surrounding areas. That is because the overhanging cliffs on either side of the Cove were much higher than they are now. The shoreline was very much like Rocky Bay in its cliff formations, vegetation and scenery. The cliffs rose straight from the waterline to a height of 30 metres, in places overhanging it. The water at the base of these cliffs was very deep. Quarrying of the rock face, initially to create North and South Mole at the entrance to Fremantle Harbour began around 1890, and continued into the late 1920s.
View from the walkway, North Frementle
It is thought that on 5th January 1697 Dutchman William de Vlamingh with 85 crew of the ships Geelvinck, Nijpangh and Weseltje came ashore somewhere near the northern extremity of Mosman Beach (current location of the Vlamingh Memorial). He crossed the narrow peninsula and became the first European to view the Swan River from a point in the vicinity of the parklands that are now named in his honour. This reserve is one of a number of linked parklands on the high ground above Minim Cove and Point Roe. Using local streets and pathways through these reserves, it is possible to follow this scenic stretch of the river from Chdley Reserve passed Point Rose, Minim Cove Park, Vlamingh Parklands and Garungup Park all the way around Rocky Bay to North Fremantle. The path finished at the end of Rule Street not far from North Fremantle railway station.
