Parks & Beaches
Araluen Botanical Park
362 Croyden Road
Roleystone
Telephone: 94961171
Araluen is located in the Darling Range, 35 kms south east of Perth. Follow the signs from the junction of Albany and Brookton highways. Entry fees are applicable and they are open daily from 9am to 6pm. The main entrance has two Acrod parking bays and is wheelchair accessible, but drive on a further several hundred metres and there is a special needs entrance where you can drive in to drop off and park. I traveled the sloping and winding paths with moderate ease in my electric wheelchair, but I would hate to be pushing a manual wheelchair. Electric ride on gophers are available for hire.
The parks vision is “To create a unique world-class botanic park of great natural beauty and tranquility which is accessible to and remembered by all who visit”, and this is a most accurate description. Nestled in the valley with a babbling brook, winding paths bordering tendered gardens with a vast array of plant life, and surrounded by natural bush land – well worth a visit, especially during the tulip festival in spring.
There are three disabled toilets in the park – at the main entrance, in the central garden and in the café. All were adequately roomy with rails. The café does a three inch step to the inside to access the toilet. The café, which is located on the hillside, did have a parking area with a wheelchair bay. The café veranda with views over the valley is a great venue for a coffee and did have an accessible ramp.
Bibra Lake Reserve
Progress Drive
Bibra Lake
The reserve is situated on the west side of the lake and comprises children playgrounds, picnic tables & chairs and lots of shady spots. The two carparks each have two Acrod parking bays and there is wheelchair friendly footpaths throughout the reserve, and around the lake. The footpath next to the lake edge should be used with some caution as it slobs in places and there is no safety railing.
The reserve and the outlook over the lake are very picturesque, and there is a vast array of birdlife right at the lake edge, including the black swan. A jetty, which is wheelchair accessible, allows further viewing of the site.
The public toilets have a dedicated unisex disabled toilet.
Kings Park and Botanic Garden
Bordered by Thomas Street
and Kings Park Road
West Perth
Kings Park and Botanic Garden is 400 hectares in area and is located overlooking the Swan River, approximately 1.5 km from the Central Business District of Perth. It is a popular place for picnics, pleasant walks, cultural and ceremonial events. The State War Memorial was erected in 1929.
Nearly two thirds of the Park is natural bush containing 319 species of native plants and around 80 bird species. The balance of the Park is made up of cultivated gardens and open recreational areas.
The main entrance off Kings Pk Rd, Fraser Ave, takes you to the main carpark where there is ample Acrod parking. The Acrod parking is on a sideways slope so just be careful not to do what this goose did and be watching the birds instead of driving down the vehicle ramp allowing for the slant. Adjacent is the café and restaurant, and a unisex disabled toilet. From here you can walk to the War Memorial and to the Kaarta Lookout where there are sweeping views of the city and the river. Wheelchair access is good with a friendly gradient all the way. If you go the opposite direction you will go to the botanical garden and the federation walkway. Be warned that while wheelchair access is good there is a deceiving gradual downhill gradient on the way and some steep gradients further on past the walkway. My electric wheelchair handled with ease, but it would require a keen and fit pusher of a manual wheelchair. There is another unisex disabled toilet on the way to the walkway.
The Federation Walkway extends through the Botanic Garden along a combination of paths and an elevated 52 m glass and steel arched bridge suspended amongst a canopy of tall eucalypts. Wheelchair access is good. With panoramic views of the river and an up close view of the treetops it is most enjoyable. If you turn right after the bridge the path meanders to a pond and gazebo, which is the base of a babbling brook. Following the entwining path and brook uphill you find at the top the Pioneer Women’s Memorial fountain where the water gushes metres into the air. It is a very beautiful and worthwhile walk in an electric wheelchair, but be prepared for the effort if in a manual.
Another area in the park is the Synergy Parkland, which is located on May Avenue on the other side of the park. The area comprises of a small lake surrounded by picnic areas with gas barbecues, children’s playgrounds and overlooked by the Zamia café. Wheelchair friendly pathways wind amongst the areas and there is four Acrod parking bays at the rear of the café. Also at the rear of the café is a unisex disabled toilet, which has rails, friendly fittings and enough room. The café is best entered from the veranda at the other end of the café to the loo where there is more room for wheelchairs, but if the weather dictates moving into the cramped indoors the staff are quickly willing to fit you in, which they did for me. A great location to enjoy a cappuccino while watching nature and families at play.
Lake Monger Reserve
Lake Monger Drive
Wembley
Lake Monger Reserve is located 5 km north of Perth’s central business district and has long been a popular tourist and recreational venue. The reserve is spacious and level – ideal for wheelchairs. There is several carparks off Lake Monger Drive and while there was no Acrod parking marked there appears to be adequate room. There is also a dedicated unisex disabled toilet in the public facilities here. At the other end of the lake, off Harbourne Street –Dodd Street, is another carpark and toilet block. However, I would recommend using Lake Monger Drive as the carpark off Harbourne is not as good and the facilities don’t have a unisex disabled toilet – they were actually locked the day I visited.
The lake’s shoreline incorporates a recreational pedestrian path, measuring 3.5 km in length. The path is all wheelchair accessible, including the wetland conservation diversion on the freeway side, where there are a couple of viewing jetties. There are also three playgrounds in the parkland around the Lake; two are off Lake Monger Drive on the southern side of the Lake – one colossal shaded one , the third at the north end off Dodd Road and this playground also has gas BBQ's.
The Reserve covers an area of 113 hectares, (parkland 43ha, lake 70ha). The Lake is an important feeding and breeding habitat for water birds, migratory birds, tortoises and is a drought refuge when other wetland areas dry up in the summer months. There is an abundance of birds’ right on the shoreline for easy viewing. Well worth a visit.
Mettams Pool
West Coast Highway
Trigg
This small beach is located on the beautiful sunset coast. It is also located on a very popular cycle track that connects Sorrento Beach and Trigg Island, which is also wheelchair friendly and offers panoramic views.
It is an ideal area for dry and wet reef exploration, while the sheltered rock pool is ideal for families and elderly swimmers. This sheltered pool also has a dedicated wheelchair path down to the waters edge where there are a couple of tables and benches under the shade of a large gazebo. Although swimming was not an option I found it refreshing to be down so close to the sea and sand.
To get to the toilets you have to go back to the road and up the footpath 100 metres, and down a sloped path to the changerooms, which have a toilet cubicle in each respective block. Wheelchair access is good, but it is a standard toilet. Parking is available on the highway in eight Acrod bays. However because the parking is so tight with few ramps off the busy highway I would suggest that is safer to park in the Bennian beach carpark just 100 metres south of Mettams.
Queens Gardens
Corner Hay and Plain Streets
East Perth
Tucked away to the east of the city is this serene English-style park, complete with a replica of the famous Peter Pan statue which graces London's Kensington Gardens. This leafy oasis feature tranquil water gardens and shady seats to enjoy the bird life or admire the gardens.
Wheelchair access around the gardens is good and parking is available. The toilets in the north east corner have a disabled sign and ramp, but I was unable to enter the designated cubicle with my wheelchair as it was too small. Despite this I highly recommend these lovely gardens.
Rockingham Beach
Rockingham Beach Road, (off Patterson)Rockingham
The Rockingham Beach foreshore park is in the heart of the town centre and easily accessible. It is surrounded by restaurants, al fresco cafés and shops. The carparks, which adjoin the park, each have a couple of Acrod parking spaces. Wheelchair access to the park and surrounds is good.
The foreshore park banks onto the beach and provides unobstructed views of the ocean and Garden Island in the distance. A wide flat footpath allows easy access and the seats lining the footpath provide the perfect perch to watch the sea birds and the ocean. On the day we visited we were lucky enough to be able to watch a dozen dolphins frolicking off-shore. The park has playgrounds, barbecues, picnic tables, gazebos and plenty of shade trees.
The park has a toilet block at the jetty end, which has a disabled toilet. The toilet is roomy, has wall-mounted rails, but standard fittings. In the same room is also a shower with a wall-mounted seat, again with standard fittings.
Walyunga National Park
Great Northern Highway
Bullsbrook
The first picnic site on the right upon entering is wheelchair friendly only. There is an entry fee. Two Acrod parking bays. The site itself is lovely, surrounded by native bush and overlooking the river, and there is an abundance of native birds and wildflowers. There are gas barbecues, tables and adequate shade trees. Access beyond the picnic site by wheelchair is impossible.
The toilet is 100m from the picnic site at the other end of the bitumen carpark. Accessible by wheelchair, but it is on a slope. Dedicated unisex disabled toilet roomy enough with one wall mounted grab-rail. Toilet and fittings standard. Very clean for a public loo.
Watermans Beach
West Coast Highway
Waterman
Just a couple of kilometers north of Mettams Pool. The beach is not accessible and there are no disabled toilets, but on the south end of the beach is an accessible park. Somewhat hidden from the highway this little park is quite secluded and is bordered by the rugged limestone and the lapping surf.
The best place to park is in the carpark before the beach, traveling north turn left before the pine trees. There is an Acrod parking bay at the end and a footpath to the park. The park consists of a playground, benches and a small grass area where dogs are allowed
Go a couple of hundred metres further along and there is a lookout over the beach with benches, and over the road a café. Get someone to pop over for cappuccino to go and sit and watch the sun set over the breaking waves.
Whiteman Park
Enter off Beechboro Rd or Lord St
Whiteman
Phone: 92096000
The park has a vast array of things to see and do, or just enjoy the bush setting for that family picnic. Entry is free and there is many sites with tables & chairs with shelter or shade. The main picnic area is mussel pool and the other main area is the village, where you can also picnic, but there is also a café. Situated at the village is a few arts & crafts shops, a visitor information centre and a children’s wading pool. It is also one end of the tram line, which you can ride to mussel pool – it is not wheelchair accessible. There is also train rides, which are wheelchair accessible, but I was unable to try this day. Adjacent to the village is a motoring and a tractor museum, and both are wheelchair friendly. There is a maze of footpaths around and between the village and mussel pool, and they were all wheelchair friendly.
The park provides ample disabled parking and wheelchair friendly access throughout, but unfortunately it is lacking in good toilet facilities. Both the village and mussel pool have toilets with a larger cubicle in the respective toilets, but they were not big enough for me. There was an unisex toilet at the back of the café, but again it was small.
Nevertheless, toilets aside, a great place to explore in your wheelchair.