We basked in the sun in our onesies that morning as we drank our coffee. Even though the weather report said it was going to rain the whole day, we thought we’d take the risk as we were already enjoying the warm sun rays.
We had a nice breakfast and packed a nice lunch and decided to head 40 minutes north to John Forrest National Park. Going there, we drove through the Zig Zag Scenic Drive, which is a crazy twisting road down Gooseberry Hill, a pretty great lookout point with an awesome view of Perth. Both places are part of the Darling Ranges. The Darling Scarp, as it’s locally referred to, is the low escarpment running north-south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth. John Forrest National Park, the huge piece of conserved land at the edge of the Darling Ranges, was the first national park in Western Australia and the second in the whole continent, having been reserved for conservation and recreation in 1898. It was originally named Greenmount National Park and later on changed to commemorate Sir John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia. It is basically a jarrah forest with a couple of separate bush walking trails going to Hovea Falls and the National Park Falls and the Swan View Tunnel, a part of the Railway Reserves Heritage Trail.
We went exploring through the railway heritage trail passing the National Park Falls and going straight to the old tunnel, which by the way, was the first and only tunnel in Western Australia until 1999.
It was such a great day trip full of history and breathtaking views. Seeing a couple of kangaroos and red-tailed black cockatoos was a major plus, too. By the time we headed back, it started raining hard and we had to slide down the hill from the Jane Brook Bridge to get to the car faster. And of course, that was the funnest part of the trip, the dangerous bit that had to be the time we thought we were recording but totally missed pressing the button.
HAVE LOVE, WILL TRAVEL 