Mt Hawthorn has lots of urban art packed into a small area so is ideal for a quick art walk. With loads of cafes and eateries, not to mention the Paddington Ale House, along this strip of Scarborough Beach Road and the fabulous shady Braithwaite Park nature playground a short distance away this is a great option to fill half a day with nature and culture. We parked undercover at the Mezz and then walked out onto Flinders Street passing the colourful mural on the outside.

There are so many ways to explore Fremantle and every which way you do it, you will discover something new. Previously we have explored Fremantle from a history and heritage perspective so this time we chose an Urban Art theme. This tied in nicely with our visit to Sculptures at Bathers. This blog has been updated as we have discovered more murals. I hate paying for parking so parked on Ord Street, alongside Fremantle Park, for free but there are plenty of paid parking st

Oh my it is so hard to choose my 5 favourite walks/hikes for 2020! In the end I chose walks and hikes that were a little off the beaten track and which were a real surprise. These are in no particular order as they were all amazing walks. Of course the time of year can make or break a walk so I have included when I did the walk/hike so you can choose the same time of year. Salter Point to Clontarf This walk was undertaken in June and it was just beautiful walking along th

Discover Subiaco and it's surrounds, including 6 local parks, using the Nature Passport developed in partnership between the City of Subiaco and Nature Play WA. The Nature Passport will have the kids creating, imagining and exploring nature through activities such as inventing a scent, building a muddy sculpture or going on a "wildlife" safari. Suitable for all ages, the Nature Passport is available to collect from all City Facilities (we picked ours up at the Library) or y

After spending the cooler months hiking Perth's amazing trails we decided to opt for an urban "hike" discovering urban art and parks in Armadale. We parked at the Visitor Information Centre, where you can pick up a handy pocket sized map of the Rediscover Urban Art Trail. You can also download the art trail map in PDF form at: https://www.perthhillsarmadale.com.au/sites/default/files/assets/ReDiscover_Armadale_Map.pdf The first mural as we headed west along Jull Street was

The wreck of the Omeo is located about 40 metres off the coast north of Coogee Beach. It lies submerged in about 2-4 metres of water and is clearly visible from Omeo Park. Omeo Park has a viewing platform so you can climb the stairs to look down at the wreck or, if you wish to explore the Coogee Maritime Trail, a 300m dive and snorkel trail in 2-3 metre deep waters, you can access the trail by entering the water from the stairs leading down from the platform. The platform a

We wandered through White Gum Valley on our way to find more street art after discovering all the magical street art in South Fremantle. As we wanted to explore Booyeembara Park as well we parked there and used it as our base. I think this would be a lovely walk for mums and bubs in prams as there are interesting things along the way, including a great little park for toddlers. Starting from the corner of Montreal Street and Stevens Street we headed east along Stevens Stre

Following on from exploring the Urban Art in Fremantle we found plenty of pinned posts for art further south in South Fremantle so headed off to explore. We parked at the South Beach Foreshore opposite the South Beach Cafe, which has very unusual roof architecture and excellent coffee! Sadly the muralled toilet facilities have been replaced with a monochrome modern toilet and change room block. There is a large pirate themed playground, full basketball court and picnic faci

Como Jetty is stunning as it juts out into the Swan River pointing down river towards Heathcote and Blackwall Reach. On this occasion, owing to roadworks, we parked at the South Perth Community Centre and walked from there but you can park closer along Melville Parade or at the Shopping Centre on Preston Street in Como. Wandering through the streets of Como is interesting as the houses are a mix of heritage homes, modern homes and some not so attractive 60s and 70s construc

Maylands has a wide variety of urban art ranging from murals to sidewalk art. The Maylands urban landscape along Guildford Road is not particularly pretty but many of the older commercial buildings have had murals painted on their walls making the streetscape considerably brighter and more interesting. We started from the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple on Guildford Road. The temple is usually open to the general public from Tuesday to Sunday however it was closed due to covid

We started our walk at Point Reserve which was magnificent in the early morning light. Point Reserve lies across from where the Helena River intersects the Swan between Iho Park and Kings Meadow Reserve on the Guildford side. The riverfront properties here own the land all the way to the river so either side of the reserve is private property limiting access. It is a beautiful reserve to visit for a wander along the river's edge. The river is popular with kayakers and it is

Kalamunda is a magical place, but you may not have met the tiny folk who also live here. Fairies! The little fairies who roam Kalamunda have disclosed the entrances to their magical homes. Tiny fairy doors once hidden from view have magically become visible. Take your time, roam around, look closely - there's magic to be found. In the main street, or down a lane, no two fairy doors are the same. Follow the map, come out and play, you may just find a fairy along the way. J

I happened across the Midland Railway Workshop site one day when I got a bit lost. The area captured my interest so I decided to return to explore. We wandered around on a weekend and the area was deserted. During business hours on weekdays there is a little more activity around so choose which you would prefer. Starting from the Midland Hospital site we explored all the way down to Coal Seam Dam weaving in and around the various buildings yet somehow we still missed se

Think Joondalup and Neil Hawkins Park and Yellagonga Regional Park probably come to mind but walking in and around the city centre is full of surprises. Staring from Lakeside (free 4 hours parking as opposed to metered street parking!) cross at the lights at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and Collier Pass and head straight down the path into Central Park. This is a lovely serene and mostly underused park with boardwalks around the lake, windy paths through the bush and

This is another popular walk that pops up on some of the best of lists. Located in Woodlands, Jackadder Lake is another one of the lakes forming the string of wetlands running through Perth. The lake's current name is derived from Jackadup, the Aboriginal name for the lake and its surrounds. It is a small lake and the walk around is 1.3km which will take around 20 minutes to complete. The paved paths are ideal for scooters, bikes or wheelchairs or you can choose to walk alo

The Castaways Sculpture Awards Exhibition is a celebration of sustainability and creativity as artists use a variety of recycled and repurposed materials to create a wide range of sculptures which are exhibited on the Rockingham Beach Foreshore and Boardwalk every year in October. This was a wonderful way to discover the delights of Rockingham Foreshore and Beach! Castaways also includes a maquette and small sculpture exhibition held indoors. Schools are also involve

Wanneroo has many amazing pieces of public art scattered across it's suburbs. Some are located in very public places which you might pass every day without "seeing" the art. Others are tucked away in small pocket parks and you need to be "in the know" to find them. Local residents might be surprised to "find" them in their local park too! The Public Art Safari is divided into three sections: North, Central and South. A map and guide is available from the City of Wanneroo

It had been years since we had visited Rockingham Beach and Foreshore so with news that the area has been recently redeveloped and the extra enticement of the Castaways Sculpture Exhibition being on display we headed down the freeway. The Castaways Sculptures, made from recycled materials, were scattered along the beach with a few on the boardwalk and the school entries on the grassed areas. See separate blog on these unique and inspiring sculptures. It is good to see t

After walking the Railway Reserves Heritage Trail recently between Darlington and Glen Forrest we went back to explore the trail between Darlington and Boya. This section is only 2.1km each way so a round trip of just over 4 km which we completed in an hour. The trail is multi use so beware of cyclists. From Darlington it is downhill to Boya which means you are steadily climbing on the return. You can park at the old Darlington Railway Station which has long since disappear

The Children's Forest situated between Whiteman Village and Mussel Pool in Whiteman Park provides an exciting link between the two main areas of Whiteman Park. The Children's Forest is an easy 200m walk from the Village and 50m from the Mussel Pool area. The Forest itself extends for about 300 metres north to south but because it is made up of a series of zones, each with separate gate entries, the walking trails around the forest possibly extend to several kilometres as th