Bushwalk/Beachwalk

Last Sunday was the last of the bush walks in the hills. Today was the first beach walk of the year. Both days were very hot, almost too hot for walking. Bush walks start at 10.00 am; beach walks at 7.30 am. 

The bush walk was an old favourite: John Forrest National Park, along the line of an old railway track. I’ve done it many times, but I had never seen it so popular. Everybody is holidaying at home, because they have to.

Normally I take the path around the tunnel, but this time I went through it just to cool off. In the middle it gets really dark. I tried to instruct Siri to turn on my torch, but she couldn’t respond through the rock walls. A small Chinese boy came to my aid and then boasted to the rest of his family how clever he was!

The wildflowers were almost over, but I did see a few fringe lilies, one of my favourites:

This is the type of terrain the tunnel builders had to get through:



There is a picnic area which makes a nice lunch spot. A “28” parrot joined in:

Now for the beach walk: this was a new one for me. We went northwards along Shoalwater Bay towards Point Perron. It was lovely and cool by the water’s edge in the early morning, but we knew we were beating the clock as 27 degrees were forecast:

A structure made from old driftwood made a good morning tea spot. We received a phone call from Lutz and Nell, who had mis-read the email and thought it was a 10.00 am start. He doesn’t like to get things wrong, but the time had been written in red, so there was no excuse.

The final pics were taken near the turn round point at Point Peron. I was longing for a swim by this time, so I drove on to Mandurah to my favourite beach at Dolphin Cove.

Added later: I forgot to say, halfway along this walk we passed a quirky and upmarket B and B named Manuel Towers. Manuel built this himself in Spanish style and intended it as a restaurant. He could not get planning permission for this: the authorities said there wasn’t enough parking, even though there was a large public carpark across the road. Most people would relate to the character of Manuel in “Fawlty Towers”. It really is his name: one of our group knew him in a previous life. He seems to be prospering now.

Coogee Common

Coogee Common is an offshoot of one of our favourite Fremantle restaurants, Bread in Common. It’s situated on the coast in the old Coogee Hotel, a heritage building, dating back to1899, when it became popular with honeymooners wanting to stay near the beach. The owners of Bread in Common saw its potential, especially as it had land attached where they could grow their own vegetables. Their website states:

“Over the past two years our team of gardeners have tirelessly rehabilitated the land, cultivating our terraced gardens. We rescued olive trees from Gingin, fig trees from Scarborough and Shiraz vines from Margaret River. The gardens, pollinated by our resident bees, will supply both Bread in Common, and Coogee Common, as well as our Common Farm Shop.”

The old hotel now stands on a busy road. The beach was behind me when I took the photo. The terraced gardens were to the left of the hotel and looked very prolific. C and E were keen to try the vegetarian meals on offer.

A lot of work in the kitchen goes into presentation of interesting ingredients.

This is my tortellini with lamb shoulder

This is C's red cabbage with a spicy dressing

All in all, we thought that meals at Bread in Common in Freo were slightly superior - but it made an interesting outing. We also had lovely starters of house baked bread and scallops, and those two who don't need to watch their weight had some chocolatey desserts.