Day 1: Hiking Around City of Joondalup Parks

After visiting the Sculptures by the Sea, I wanted to get out and about. Since I lived in the City of Joondalup a while back, I thought I would see what I missed and spend 4 days visiting landmarks and places I was suggested around the city. Below is a small promotional video of the City of Joondalup.

Yellagonga Regional Park Trail

Nestled on the boarders of the City of Joondalup and Wanneroo is the picturesque Yellagonga Regional Park. Covering about 1,400 hectares of land and 550 hectares of wetlands, including Lake Joondalup, the park was named in 1990 to honour the indigenous leader during the European settlement. For the local Aboriginies, this area forms part of their Dreaming, which explains the creation of life, people and animals. The trail takes you around some of the most picturesque landscape, parks and lookouts the park has to offer.

I started my trail off at Neil Hawking Park, which is close to the Joondalup Library. The park is used by the community and tourists alike. There are toilets, barbecues, seating and a playground for the children. If you are going to walk the trail, I would suggest a weekend as there are parking restrictions of 4 hours during working hours.

The Park is well signed with information about wildilfe and what is around the park.

As soon as I started on the trail, I felt like I had left the hustle and bustle of Joondalup and returned back to the countryside. The trail is long and I would suggest being prepared with sun protection, water and a camera.

If you are not keen on walking the whole trail, there are various spots you can stop off and see some of the scenery. Woodvale is a good place to see the likes of the cottages and the lookout, or if you prefer a lake view, picnic facilities and entertainment for the children, then Neil Hawkins Park is your spot.

Shepherds Bush Reserve

Hidden in a Kingsley is a great walking reserve called Shepherds Bush. Unlike Shepherds Bush in London, this is peaceful, tranquil and quiet. I think I saw about two people the whole hour I was wandering around, it could have been more, but I got lost trying to find my way back out to my car. I thought I would take a video of the pleasant walk from one side of the reserve to the other, but I got lost halfway and thought it best to make another video of me wandering around looking for my car. The result is below.

The reserve is clean and tidy and well maintained, with new growth being planted recently, but stick to the paths, as the area does have snake warnings, and keep any dogs on a leash.

If walking is not for you, then on the other side of the reserve is a superb place for kids to take their bikes with a pump and jump bike trail, and for the younger kids, a road with roundabouts, filling station and crosswalks.

The kids seemed to be having fun on the bike trail, I did not take any with the children there (which was hard as there were many many kids there), as I didn't think it was right for a stranger to take pictures of kids in a park :)