Mosman bushwalk

We tried another new walk this morning, in the leafy suburb of Mosman Park. This area is the most expensive real estate in Perth, with houses right on the river front looking across towards Point Walter, where we have walked many times. We started at the northern end of Rule St and walked from Rocky Bay to Chidley Point and back. Robyn and Chris had researched the route and provided us with snippets of local history as we went along. In the early days, there were some industrial enterprises such as a sugar factory and a fertiliser factory - now replaced by million dollar residences.

We parked near this building, which was built by Arthur and Robert Bunning, founders of the huge hardware business. They had migrated from London in 1886 and started off in sawmilling in the south-west. Bunnings now has a market share of 50% of the DIY business in Australia.

We stopped to admire this beautiful Yellow Flowering Gum, with its bright red operculum:

Eucalyptus erythrocorys – Illyarrie.

There was a lot of river traffic down below us, including this dragon boat:

I was fascinated by the luxurious residences and their immaculate gardens. Some had tried to claim ownership of the river frontage, but there had to be a public footpath going along. One place had imported a Balinese-style doorway (modelled here by Jack):

There were two gazebos whose copper sheets had been stolen from the roof:

The trees were lush, all the way along:

On the way back, we came across an enormous female spider. She had woven a long and intricate silken web, with some of her prey trussed up in it (including her tiny male partner who had come to a sad end!):

It was a lovely walk: I want to do it again!

P.S. The spider has now been identified as an Australian Golden Orbweaver (Trichonephila edulis) on iNaturalist, together with some interesting facts about it on Wikipedia.