INDIGENOUS HERITAGE TOUR: included in your placement (free)

Discover the oldest stories of the Dream Times and the first Australians, the Aboriginal people.

Indigenous Heritage Tour:
On the tour you’ll learn about the indigenous heritage and History of Kings Park, the importance of Swan River and Botanic Garden. Learn about the traditional implements, tools and weapons, bush medicines and bush tucker.

The Kings Park Indigenous Heritage Tour is an enjoyable and fun way to understand the strength of connections between the indigenous people, the land and the original West Australians who used and loved Kings Park for tens of thousands of years.

If you do any placement with Travellers in Perth, an Aborigine Indigenous Heritage Tour is included in your itinerary, free of charge.  Once you've taken the tour, we strongly recommend that you spend the rest of the day there and explore the many things there to see and do.

Kings Park is No. 1 on the tourist map of Western Australia. It gets over 5 million of visitors every year, including local residents who pack up picnic baskets and spend the day there. This huge Park overlooks the city of Perth and the Swan River and is only a few minutes from the city Centre. The Park has much to offer with its sweeping parklands, Botanic Garden, wildflowers (which are spectacular, especially in Spring), and native bushland (two-thirds of the Park).

The Kokoda Track Memorial Walk in Kings Park in Perth

Click here to see the Kings Park Heritage Tour Photo Gallery

TOP TEN THINGS TO DO IN KINGS PARK:

1. Lotterywest Federation Walkway
Enjoy the wonderful views of the city of Perth and the Swan River while walking among the treetops in the Western Australian Botanic Garden. The Walkway is currently one of Kings Park and Botanic Garden's most popular tourist attractions. It extends 620 metres through the Botanic Garden along a combination of on-ground pathways and a spectacular elevated 52 m glass and steel arched bridge suspended amongst a canopy of tall eucalypts.

Various points en route give exhilarating views of the Swan and Canning Rivers with spectacular views of Perth City. The Mt Eliza Lookout overlooking the Mount Eliza escarpment is another spectacular lookout with panoramic views.

2. Aspects of Kings Park
Need some retail therapy? Browse through uniquely Australian arts and crafts. Sales of products from Aspects of Kings Park support the Park's conservation work. Aspects is arguably Perth's most unique retail outlet. It bridges art and design, ecology, conservation and education. The range of goods includes:-

• Ceramics both local and national artists.

• Jewellery by over 70 Australian designers

• Glass.

• Art & Sculpture that is quite uniquely Australian.

• Books – Lots of them!

• Textiles & bags, as well as scarves and wraps.

• Wood - local craftsmen display beautiful Australian Jarrah, Marri and Sheoak timbers crafted into bowls, pens, trays and Jewellery boxes.

3. The Botanic Garden and Gija Jumulu - the Mighty Boab.
For Western Australians and for the many interstate and international visitors, Kings Park and Botanic Garden is a place of inspiration, relaxation, recreation and wonder. The Garden is unique from those around the world primarily because of the extraordinary diversity of Western Australian wildflowers found nowhere else on earth. About 2,000 of Western Australia's 12,000 species of plants are displayed. The magnificent landscaped gardens and parkland lawns of the Botanic Garden are a favourite for weddings, quiet picnics, resting in the sun, or attending outdoor music and drama events in summer.

The Baobab tree, named Gija Jumulu, needed to be relocated due to work on the Great Northern Highway ... so it journeyed over 3200 kilometres, from Warmun in WA's Kimberley region, to Kings Park in Perth and attracted world-wide media coverage. It is estimated to be 750 years old and its trunk measures 2.5 metres in diameter. The tree is a special gift to all Western Australians from the local Indigenous people, the Gija, who are the traditional land owners.

Boabs (Adansonia gregorii) are deciduous trees that are highly valued by Indigenous people for their edible fruits, medicinal uses and water-holding properties.  Along its journey, almost entire towns came out to see Gija Julumu and people honked horns and waved the whole way down.

4. Synergy Parkland
See the footprints of dinosaurs and discover ancient fossils. This is a playground both exciting and challenging for children to explore, discover and play or for adults to enjoy wonderful coffee and meals at Zamia Cafe.

Zamia Cafe is an energy efficient cafe utilising the latest building techniques to conserve energy and minimise greenhouse gas emissions. The cafe is in a striking setting overlooking the lake and picnic areas of the Synergy Parkland.

5. Guided Walks through the Park

• Botanic Garden Walk (All Year) 1-1.5 hrs

• Kings Park - Past and Present (All Year) 1-1.5 hrs

• Water Views and Wilderness (May - Oct) 2-2.5 hrs

• Wilderness and Wildflowers (July - October) 1-1.5 hrs

6. Climb the DNA Tower - all 101 steps to the top
The DNA Tower is so named because it resembles the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) double-helix molecule, which is found in all cells and control the development of life.

With stops along the way to enjoy the views, the climb is well worth the effort to get to the highest point in Kings Park. On a clear day you may even be able to see the beach. The 15m high staircase has 101 steps and was inspired by a double staircase in a Chateau at Blois in France. The paving and wall surrounding the DNA Tower has, incorporated into it, stones sent from 11 towns and 80 shires within Western Australia.

7. The Bushland Nature Trail and/or Law Walk
Bush in the Heart of the City - an easy 25 minutes loop walk. This walk offers an encounter with Western Australia's famous wildflowers, trees and birdlife living in the wild as they have done for millions of years. If you are lucky you might see a bobtail lizard or some of the other bushland fauna.

An eye-catching open mia-mia structure marks the entry and draws upon the key architectural elements of the temporary shelters built by Nyoongar people - an aspect of Aboriginal culture in a unique and interesting way.

8. The State War Memorial precinct.
For many thousands of years, Aboriginal people have been visiting Kings Park. It remains an important ceremonial and cultural place for the Indigenous people of Western Australia.

10. The Kokoda Track Memorial Walk
A tribute to the bravery of Australian troops who fought through atrocious conditions and against vastly superior numbers in the Papua New Guinea campaign of July 1942 - January 1943.

To read more about Kokoda, click here

Traditional Aborigine tools and weapons

The spectacular Lotterywest Federation Walkway

Gija Jumulu, the famous Baobab, in the Botanical Garden

The DNA Tower

The Kokoda Track Memorial Walk