Hamilton Hill bushwalk

Sunday’s bushwalk was around the former Manning Estate south of Fremantle. This area originally belonged to one of the early pioneer farming families in W.A.  We met outside the Azelia Ley Homestead and proceeded to do a roundabout route with many up and down stretches on crumbling limestone tracks. I really wish I’d taken my poles! We had a good turnout of about 20 people; I think the idea of it being a shorter than usual walk attracted more participants (such as myself).

There were some panoramic lookouts, including the former South Fremantle Power Station. It has been decommissioned, but is now listed on the Western Australian State Register of Heritage Places with its Art Deco Industrial Design.

It has stood empty since 1985 “home only to urban explores and street artists”. One of our group said the graffiti paintings were excellent.

These are some of the wildflowers we saw:

No-one had ever seen this one before and we wondered if it was an introduced weed:

We passed by the ruins of another of the original farm buildings, quite spacious and luxurious for its time, but it was burned down in a fire that swept through the area:

Over lunch, Lutz entertained us by describing his grandmother’s method of making sauerkraut in order to preserve cabbage throughout the winter, when no fresh vegetables were available. She had a special pot to ferment the mixture and kept it in the cellar, where it was cold but not too cold. This story reminded me of my own grandfather who was a POW in Germany in the First World War. He said they all had to live on cabbage and potatoes and furthermore the guards were on the same diet.