Wednesday, October 18, 2017

DAY 103 - GROCERY SHOPPING AND KINGS PARK – PERTH


Now that our cupboards and fridges had been cleaned out, it was time to do a grocery shop, so my job this morning whilst Steve reinstalled the microwave was to go and fill our cupboards and fridge with food.  


Fortunately, there is a large shopping centre at Forrestfield, which is only a couple of kms down the road from the caravan park.  Kathy came with me, and we managed to get our shopping done fairly quickly.  We did managed to find a fresh fruit and vegetable shop that had some really awesome fruit and very well priced, a lot cheaper than the supermarkets.  A lot of their produce came straight from the farms and was super fresh, and had lots of flavour.  We stocked up there.  

By the time we got home and got unpacked and put away our groceries, it was close to lunch time.  Steve had almost finished his little job so we had a quick bite to eat and then decided to drive into Perth and check out Kings Park Botanical Gardens. 

Views of Perth from Kings Park


Kings Park is a 4.06-square-kilometre (1,003-acre) park located on the western edge of the  central business district in Perth. The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with two-thirds of the grounds conserved as native bushland.  

It is the largest inner city park in the world and the most popular visitor destination in Western Australia, being visited by over five million people each year. The park is larger than New York's Central Park which is 3.41 km².

The Western Australian Botanic Garden in Kings Park showcases over 3,000 varieties of the State’s unique flora, including many rare and threatened species. 


It is also where Western Australia’s memories are made with more memorials than any other park in Australia. Visitors can honour servicemen at the State War Memorial, journey down the Kokoda Track Walk and view thousands of dedications along the Honour Avenues.


 Kings Park is also renowned for its spectacular views.  It is situated in a prime position on Mt Eliza overlooking Perth City and the Swan River.

Western Australian Botanical Gardens
Views of Perth

 It is a great place to visit as there really is something for everyone at this park with a walk among the treetops on the Lotterywest Federation Walkway,  a chance to reflect at the State War Memorial, enjoy natural fun at Rio Tinto Naturescape Kings Park or play in the footprints of dinosaurs at May Drive Parkland and then to finish it off you can climb the DNA Tower for some stunning views of the district.  
 We spent a really enjoyable afternoon there walking around the different regions of Western Australia, which showcased the natural fauna from that particular area.  Mind you,  by the time we got back to the car my feet were aching but it was so worth the walk. 

They have also transport a rather large old Boab Tree from the Kimberlys into the Gardens and it was really interesting to read about it’s over 3000km journey to it’s new home. 
  
Going on the tree top walk.
Views from the tree top walk

The tree top walk was stunning and it gave you an appreciation of just how tall a lot of these trees grow in WA, but the bonus was also the stunning views overlooking Perth.  

 We ended our time at King’s Park by going for a climb up the DNA Tower. The tower towers 15 metres skywards, the staircase is a 202 step (return trip) adventure above the tree tops.  The whole tower resembles the double helix of deoxyribonucliec acid.  Hence it was named the DNA Tower.  The design was inspired by a double staircase in a Chateau at Blois in France, that just happened to also look like the DNA double helix molecule.
Constructed in 1966, the staircase provides climbers with a spectacular view over Kings Park.   To incorporate something uniquely Australian into the design, the paving and wall surrounding the staircase, is made of stones gathered from all the fa flung corners of Western Australia.  For those technically minded, the stones were sourced from 11 towns and 80 different shires within Western Australia.

Our visit here this afternoon has been a great introduction to Perth and we are looking forward to more exploring tomorrow.

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