Part 17: Kings Park & Indian Ocean - November 17, 2016

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​After an overnight visit to Alice Springs, I hopped on a pair of afternoon flights to get to Perth with a connection through Adelaide for a couple days in Western Australia. Upon my arrival, I was picked up by friends of my younger sister and her boyfriend who they know through his participation in competitive boomerang (yes, it is an actual thing!). I spent the rest of the evening at their house, then the next morning, Christene and Mama Leony would play tour guide for me with our day starting at Kings Park.

The park itself sits on a hill that is outside of the Central Business District of Perth, and is known for its Botanic Garden. When we arrived, our first stop was to the DNA Tower, which was designed to replicate a stand of DNA and has about 100 steps to reach the top.

At the top of the tower, there is a plaque with a compass rose on it, along with a directional guide to where points of interest and significant places are in relation to the tower. This also made for an excellent viewing spot since the park is already located up on a hill.

After the DNA tower, we headed over towards the main walking trail of the park, and on the way there, we paid a visit to the Anzac Memorial. The obelisk is prominently featured on the top, and there is also a covered area beneath it in which there are several plaques with the names of those who served in the military from Western Australia, and died because of World War II. 

While the memorial serves as a somber reminder of the lives lost because of the war, it also provides a wonderful view of Perth along the
banks of the Swan River. You can even see the area know as Elizabeth Quay, which we would visit a little bit later in the day.

Along the walking trails of the park, there are several garden areas with a wide variety of plant species. Walking through the park also offers ample opportunity to enjoy a variety of bird species. ​There's also some really fascinating sculptures as well to view as well.

A stroll through the park also offers a variety of art work celebrating Aborigines and pioneers, as well as informative signage about the history and culture of the area.

The main trails in the park offer  also features a nice viewing platform for the Swan River and the Central Business District of Perth. This particular platform also features plaques that would tell you what some of the different buildings and places that you can see are.

One of the park's highlights is the Glass Bridge. While I was under the impression that it was going to be like one of those walkways that has you walking on glass panels and you can see down below, the glass is more to do with the sides of the bridge, which gives it a unique design. The placement on the hill really adds to its look, and gives it a feeling of being quite high off of the ground when looking towards the river down the hill.

After having a chance to explore Kings Park, we would head over to the coastal area, and had an opportunity to visit the Indian Ocean. This would be the first time that I had seen the Indian Ocean, just to the North of Fremantle.

Along the shoreline, there were some really cool rock formations that you could see and explore.

Next, we made our way down the road into the heart of the town of Fremantle to explore, including a look at one of Australia's oldest standing prisons.

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Previous: Part 16
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