North Queensland
Parks and Gardens
A sizeable reserve of natural bushland close to the heart of Perth. Being situated on My Eliza overlooking the Swan River and the Perth city foreshore, King Park offers both picture-postcard view over Perth Water to the city as well as the opportunity to experience the natural flora of the Perth region without leaving the city. Walking trails link the many gardens, lookouts, children’s playgrounds and open spaces dotted throughout the park.
Western Australia’s wildflowers are in full bloom and on show in the Botanical Gardens each Spring (Sept-Nov). The Lotterywest Federation Walkway extends 620 metres through the Botanic Gardens. It is a combination of on-ground pathways and a spectacular elevated 52 metre glass and steel arched bridge that is suspended among the canopy of tall eucalypt trees. The park’s restaurant, situated opposite the war memorial, is a popular spot where locals take visitors to Perth out for a meal and show off their city. Free entry to Park.
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These beautifully kept gardens, which feature massive shade trees and attractive flower beds, is a favourite lunchtime meeting place in the centre of Perth. The land was set aside in 1829 for use by colonial botanist James Drummond as a place to introduce and acclimatise plants from Britain. By 1845 it was proclaimed a public garden. The Norfolk Pines were planted in 1867, the lamps at the entrance to the gardens were erected in 1878 and ran on oil. They were converted to gas in 1886.
Looking like a giant kebab stick, the Harmony of Minerals Obelisk aka The Ore Obelisk is a monument to mineral development in Western Australia. Erected beside Council House in 1971, it consists of a 15 metre oil drill pipe on which has been threaded fifteen ore samples, representing the main mineral deposits found in Western Australia. The Kangaroo Sculptures (1997), a water feature, and the fabled May Gibbs’ creations Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are some of the other interesting features in the gardens.
Location: Cnr Barrack Street & St. Georges Terrace, Perth
Shady gardens in the Perth Central Business District. Lying to the south of Stirling Gardens near the Swan River foreshore, Supreme Court Gardens surround the city’s original Court House (built in 1836). Now restored, complete with wood shingled roof, it is today the home of the WA Law Society.
An orchestral shell in the Gardens is a popular venue for outdoor concerts, including the well supported ‘Carols by Candlelight’ each Christmas.
Location: Cnr Riverside Dve. and Governors Ave., Perth CBD. Walk down Barrack St to Riverside Dve. Entry from Riverside Dve.
An open public square on the foreshore of Perth Water on the Swan River at the foot of Barrack Street, it has has also been known as Union Jack Square (because the paths are laid out to form a Union Jack flag), Flagstaff Square and Harper Square. The Swan Bells are located at Barrack Square, as well as cafes, restaurants and jetties. There are six jetties, referred to as the Barrack Street Jetties, which serve river cruise vessels and the Rottnest Island ferries. The South Perth ferry leaves from nearby Elizabeth Quays.
The lakes in Hyde Park were originally called Third Swamp. It was being regularly used as a campsite for local aborigines when the first white settlers founded the Swan River Colony in 1829. The establishment of a path around the lake and other modifications took place in 1899. Since then it has been a popular for wedding photographs, family picnics and a tranquil place to take a walk, read a book under the trees, or watch the ducks swimming on the lakes.
Location: William Street, North Perth
John Oldham Park, nestled around the freeway interchange on Mounts Bay, was part of landscape architect John Oldham’s 1960s vision for a series of botanic gardens encircling Perth Water from the University of WA around the riverfront to the South Perth Zoo. Oldham was one of the first landscape architects in Perth and he was initially not interested in being involved in the freeway interchange, but he came onboard to produce a landscape scheme that would at least try and soften it. He was promised that if he got involved in the freeway interchange other things would happen, but the park named in his honour is the only part of the vast urban forest he envisaged to become a reality.
Location: Mounts Bay Road, Perth.
Like nearby John Oldham Park, David Carr Memorial Park is nestled within the tangle of freeway on and off ramps at the foot of Mt Eliza (Kings Park) that comprise the Narrow Interchange. Created between 1973 and 1988, the two parks were originally known as Narrows Interchange Park and amazingly are Heritage Listed. The parks are linked to each other by a walkway under the Narrows Bridge, and to Elizabeth Quay by an extension of that pathway alongside Perth Water. They feature walking and cycle paths, a waterfall, lakes, plenty of seating, playground, BBQs, toilets, exercise station and more.
Location: via Mounts Bay Road, Perth.
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This park was originally a swampland. It was drained and established as a public reserve in the 1830’s, providing an ideal open space to train and exercise horses stabled in the area. In 1898 two cricket pitches were installed and the ground was cleared to make a cricket field. It was formally named in honour of the Duke of Wellington, the British Prime Minister when the Swan River Colony was founded. Among locals though, it became popularly known as ‘The Rec.’.
The park is still very much a recreation ground today. The Perth Cricket Association, as well as the schools in the inner city, make use of the facility all year round. This square is situated on Wellington Street. It is surrounded by Bennett, Wittenoom, and Hill Streets, in East Perth.
Visiting The Gardens at Bishops See provides an opportunity to experience one of Perth s hidden gems. Bishop Hale poured as much attention into the gardens as into the house. Amongst other trees, Bishop Hale planted willow trees from slips from the trees at Napoleon s tomb on St Helena. These willow trees are located on the western side of spring Street. The other willow trees found in the garden are from later periods.
Queens Gardens is located on a former brickworks and clay pit site in the eastern end of the Perth, near The Causeway. The site of Queen’s Gardens was initially part of the commonage which was used for recreation purposes including horse racing and later as a clay pit and brickworks. Bricks were produced from the site between 1860 and 1890, and featured in many of Perth’s prominent buildings constructed at that time, including the Town Hall, The Cloisters and The Barracks.
Opened to the public on 9 October 1898, the park features numerous outdoor works including a replica of the statue of Peter Pan, that is found in Kensington Gardens in London. The park is bounded by Hay Street to the south, Plain Street to the west, Nelson Crescent to the north and Hale Street to the east.
A little know fact is that the park bench from the movie Notting Hill was donated to the City of Perth and is located in the center of the park. The bench is inscribed “To June who loved this garden from Joseph who always sat beside her”. The anonymous donor purchased the seat to propose to his girlfriend. She declined his hand in marriage and he then donated the seat to the city of Perth. This inscription is carved into the back of the bench.
One of a number of riverside reserves on the Swan River upstream from the city of Perth. This park, with a pair of jetties that form the old Bassendean swimming baths, is situated immediately opposite the confluence of the Swan and Helena Rivers. It is a popular spor for fishing, kyaking and swimming in summer.
Location: North Street, Bassendean.
Banks Reserve is a pleasant, shady recreational area on the banks of the Swan River just a few kilometres upstream from the city. It’s a great place to go relax, exercise of have a family picnic. Walters Brook, which flows into the Swan River at Banks Reserve, originally floswed from a swamp on the site of Forrest Park on Walcott Street, Highgate. The brook still flows today, but is mostly underground until it reaches Banks Reserve.
Charming, secluded, these tiered gardens on Wellington Street, West Perth, are hidden away on the outskirts of the city. The Gardens are a popular spot for wedding photography, with plenty of opportunities for romantic photographs including a waterfall, several ponds, bridges and a beautiful array of overhanging trees. Other facilities available at Harold Boas Gardens include a children’s playground, 24 hour public toilets, parking on Delhi Street and drinking water. The gardens are named after architect and former City of Perth Councillor, Harold Boas, who resided at Mount Street, Perth.
With over fifteen kilometres of bushland walking and bridle trails and ten different lookouts with expansive city and coastal views, Bold Park offers a memorable experience any time of year. Bold Park occupies Reabold Hill, which at 93 metres above sea level, is the highest natural point on the Swan Coastal Plain in the metropolitan area.
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Burswood Park, located on the doorstep of the city beside the Burswood Casino complex and a short walk from The Causeway, is one of Perth’s most popular recreation areas, where families are encouraged to relax and enjoy the jogging and cycling trails, riverside walks and many picnic spots within the attractive parks and gardens.
Rising 43 metres above sea level to the east of the city centre, Monument Hill is one of the best vantage points in Fremantle. The hill overlooks Fremantle Harbour, Garden Island, and Rottnest Island to the west, and the Darling Ranges to the east, and is the highest natural point of elevation between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Ranges.
Having toilets, grassed areas, picnic facilities and walking paths around it, Jackadder Lake, in the suburb of Woodlands, is a popular recreational area for local residents. In the 1960s, when Woodlands was first being subdivided, it was referred to as Woodlands Swamp or Woodlands Lake.
Less than five kilometres from the city of Perth and situated alongside the Mitchell Freeway, the wetland and Lake Monger are surrounded by parklands known as the Lake Monger Reserve. The lake consists of 70 hectares of mainly open shallow water with an island of 1.3 hectares in the south-west corner.
Perry Lakes Reserve which is located 7km west of Perth’s CBD in the suburb of Floreat, consists of a 57 hectare regional recreation reserve around the Perry Lakes. Used as the venue for Perth’s Annual Garden Show, the reserve encompasses a 13 hectare conservation wetland, which is a drought refuge for a range of fauna, and 10 hectares for Alderbury Sportsground which caters for formal club sports including cricket and hockey.
Wanneroo Botanical Gardens is the realisation of a Dutch couple’s dream to convert two hectares of sandy scrubland north of Perth into a magical mini golf garden playground. With incredible vision, they embarked on a planned two-year project back in 1974, which eventually took seven years to complete.
Whiteman Park is a 4,000-hectare bushland area located 22 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The park was developed around a popular swimming hole on Bennett Brook named mussel Pool. Whiteman Park is known for its biodiversity, including over 450 endemic plants and more than 120 vertebrate animals (some of which are rare and endangered). Over 17% of Western Australian bird species occur in Whiteman Park, including migratory birds attracted to the habitat provided by Bennett Brook and associated wetlands including Grogan’s Swamp, a Conservation Category Wetland.
