It was not until this afternoon that we cleared away admin and maintenance issues, and set off for another drive into Greater Perth. We had heard about Joondalup, a modern city to the north of Perth and wanted to see for ourselves how wonderful it really was.
Before the 1970s, the region was a sparsely populated area stretched out along the Pacific Coast, however in the 1980s and the 1990s, the extension of the Mitchell Freeway and the construction of the Joondalup railway line opened up the whole area and population growth took off. In 1998, the area previously simply the periphery of Wanneroo, was established as a separate city and by 2011 the population had swelled to about 152,400.
The Lakeside Joondalup Shopping Centre is quite impressive, one of the largest we have visited and quite impressive with the interesting architectural structure in the centre; the Great Space under white tent-like structures offering a large exhibition area. Today we enjoyed a local art competition hung on a number of temporary partitions. We had noticed the canopy structures some distance from the centre and wondered initially whether Cirque de Soleil had a second show in progress here in West Australia. (Their show Ovo is on down along the esplanade beside the Swan River in the city centre.)
I was keen to see the lake, however this is some distance from the centre; more than six blocks in fact. We set out on foot to discover whether the Swan River swans had relocated to Lake Joondalup; not so, there were only coots, ducks and a few errant seagulls aside from an orange road cone and a toddlers shoe which was kicked off while we stood on the jetty. Fortunately the wind slowly blew it toward the shore and Chris saved the day with a branch from the bank. Mother and four little ones went home happily bearing the soggy sandal and the littlest one hopefully has learned that shoes do not float far.
Lake Joondalup is a freshwater shallow lake surrounded or rather, part of, the Yellagonga Regional Park. It is home to long necked turtles although today they were not in evidence, nor were the snakes despite the many signs about, warning of the same.
We drove toward the coast, to have a look at the Boat Harbour at Ocean Reef. This proved to be accessible only to those about to launch a boat or members of the boat club. We headed back inland threading our way through the suburbs full of very modern housing, none much over thirty years old.
We returned to camp, crossing through the Whiteman State Forest where the sand on which all of Perth seems to be constructed, was very evident. Turning south near the Swan River, we drove down the west bank through copious vineyards and small holdings, where breweries, cafes, tea rooms and wine tastings beckoned our attention. We did not stop even though free tasting of wine and cheese was indeed attractive, however I do have a problem with tasting products when you truly have no intention of buying.
The afternoon’s outing had been interesting and
delightful to venture into the warm sunshine. Hopefully the next few days can
be better utilised; there is still much to see and do and we are only paid up
for another week.
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