Hiking around Perth
After the Yanchep Yaberoo Budjara Heritage Trail, I was keen to see more of Yanchep. It’s under an hour from Perth, yet I never had it on my radar as a hiking getaway – in contrast to places like the Perth Hills or the Swan Valley.
As soon as group gatherings were allowed again in April this year, we checked out another beautiful hike in Yanchep: The Yanchep Rose Trail. This 14 km loop trail takes hikers through coastal plain vegetation, passing historic bunkers and offering panoramic views.
At the beginning of the hike near Mc Ness House and close to the car parks, we came across Cabaret Cave, which was used in the 1930’s to provide a secret dinner and dance location for Perth’s rich and famous. It’s also Perth’s only ‘venue cave’ for hire, sitting 120 guest and accommodating 200 guests cocktail-style.
After a while of walking the flat track through bushland, we came across a couple of bunkers from World War II, which make for an unexpected sight in this scenery. A bit further, a rocky elevation provides great views of the area.
We didn’t encounter much wildlife for most of the hike, until we got closer to the end where a large flock of black cockatoos rose up from the trees as we came along. However when we finished the hike, the real magic happened: On the patches of grass around the McNess House Visitor Centre, countless kangaroos were flocking the ground, picking on the grass, relaxing or moving forward slowly to get to a greener patch.
Another beautiful surprise for me, Yanchep hosts a 240-metre koala boardwalk from which we could see the little animals dozing and munching on the eucalyptus trees.
