If you remember from the previous post about Kings Park, I mentioned that for the first time they had some foreign language visits scheduled. Today I joined the Portuguese guide plus seven other Portuguese and Brazilian nationals in front of "Aspects of Kings Park" this wonderful boutique next to the Information Centre.
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| "Aspects of Kings Park" |
Our guide, Fernanda, talked to us about the Western Australian flora from the North to 4000km down to the South all compacted in a small area of Kings Park while we "travelled" through it in 1 hour.
I learned that Kings Park has 120 volunteer guides, that do guided walks with visitors,
man the Information Centre or do other projects in the park. They have other volunteers that help with the gardens, weeding, seed collecting, etc, and anyone can join to help out
in various roles.
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| An artist's impression about the far reach of some roots (painted on the grass) |
The park has a Biodiversity Conservation Centre that is involved in the collection, storage and testing of Western Australian native plant seeds with over 10,600 collections. They also propagate through cuttings, grafting or tissue culture for research or for display in the Kings Park gardens.
Seeds from some of Western Australian plant species are also stored at the Millenium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew (England) ensuring that WA's unique plant diversity is safeguarded.
I loved this next one about the park being the best "home" for bees and birds, even mentioning the "fly in/ fly out" lifestyle so endemic to some Western Australia's workers in some fields of work.
This giant 750 year old Boab tree was transported 3200km in an epic journey from the Kimberley region in the North to Perth in 2008, when space was needed for the construction of the highway.
It had to be cut and trimmed to enable it to travel through various sites and has now settled well in it's position, although with some dents on its trunk. There are another 14 smaller Boabs around Kings Park, and seeds from this giant one have been collected to be replanted in the Kimberley region.
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| A couple of Rainbow Lorikeets nested in the giant Boab tree |
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| A tree with an aerial root system |
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| Can you spot the bee and the ladybird in these flowers? |
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| This ones looks like cotton wool |
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| The everlasting "strawflowers" |
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| My favourite Kangaroo Paw in black and green |
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| This bird didn't mind our presence and was happily sucking the nectar from the flowers |
Have you enjoyed the visit? I loved the time spent learning a few more things about Kings Park and of course loved to see the park in it's Spring coat!
Beautiful pics again! 2006 we had such a volunteer guide, too, he was great! Wonder why we didn´t do it last time... But... come next time, soon, right!
ReplyDeleteLove the comic-styled signs, is that new?
Oh, boy. Though we didn´t do exactly FiFo... (one Perth-friend did), well, we were close to that, too... Good to see this pic, makes it less bad in the aftermath!
Awwww, the Lorikee... so beautiful!
And I haven´t seen the aerial root system-tree - it´s on the list! Clever tree!
And, certainly to answer your question: Yes - I did enjoy this visit, thank ou heaps, Sami! :-)
Thanks Iris. They change the "decor" every Spring festival, so the signs would be new this year. Last year they had some Yarn bombing and two old Holden cars full of wildflowers.
ReplyDeleteYes, you certainly had a sort of Fifo going on as well, just like my husband and I had for the last 3 years...
There were 3 Lorikeets around that tree, but only one in each place.
Sami, great shots! Your blog is a marvelous guide of Perth. I'm already taking notes of things and places to visit ;)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations
Obrigada Miguel, ha imenso para ver, so e preciso tempo e por vezes dinheiro!
DeleteLovely nature shots! I especially like the Baobab and the rooting system below.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jose, they are amazing trees!
DeleteSo happy that the Boab tree survived Sami, looks like its doing really well there. Super shots, looks like I might not get there this year :) So enjoyed your visit.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity, there are still a few days left, I was hoping to return this weekend to have a look at the "Adorable Florables" but I think it's going to be raining on the weekend...
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed my 'guided tour', Sami :) That lemony flower beneath the straw ones is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteYes they are beautiful Joanne, I took a notepad but forgot a pen, so couldn't write down the names of plants...
DeleteWhat a nice post and a nice tour in Kings Park! It must have been nice to have a tour in Portuguese so far away from home. I liked the flowers, the colourful bird and of course, the story of the big tree that has been moved.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sara, glad you enjoyed the visit!
ReplyDelete