Overview

This page has a full description of this section of the trail, including supporting photographs. You can read this page and/or

• Download a PDF summary of this (click on this link); and

• A JPEG version of the map only (the figure below).

Starting point

 The starting point is point the South Beach Cafe.

Getting there using public transport

The best way to get using public transport is to catch the Blue Fremantle CAT, getting off at stop 11 and 12. The CAT leaves for Fremantle Station. Click on this link to download the map.

Turn around point

The turn around point is the Dome Café within the Port Coogee marina area.

Getting back to the start from the turn around point – if you don’t want to do an out-and-back walk

The best way to get back to the start using public transport is catch the bus 548, which stops outside the Woolworths shopping centre – see Figure 1. The bus travels down Hampton Road, so you can either get off at the bus stop near Douro Road, and walk down Douro Road to get where you parked your car, or continue on to the Fremantle Train Station, and then take the Blue CAT to where you parked your car – stop 11 or 12.

Summary of the walk

Figure 1 below shows the route. The total one way distance is 4.9km, making it a 8.2 km out and back walk (no need to re-do the walk along the rock groyne).

Water and toilets

Any toilet blocks are noted below in the text in italics. These are also sources of potable water. Any additional drinking water taps and showers are also noted in italics.

Walking guide

From the bus stop or carpark, head north for about 100m to cross over the railway line at the entrance to the Fremantle Sailing Club. Follow the path that runs parallel to the railway track (Plate 1) until you reached the main part of South Beach, where the South Beach café is located (Plate 2).

The South beach carpark is a favorite place for campervan overnight stops (Plate 3).

There is a toilet block just south of the café decorated with some impressive art (Plate 4).

Just ahead is the northern edge of a relatively new housing estate with multi-storey apartments located closest to the beach (Plate 5).

The path continues to the west of the apartments, passed another Café (Plate 6).

From here, the coastal path proper begins, which is quite winding and undulating, and has views of the ocean from the high points. Most of the beach adjacent to this part of the path is a dog beach, and there are many people walking their dogs on the path as well as on the beach, not all of them on a lead (Plate 7). The path is also popular with cyclists.

It’s worth noting that in the warmer months, snakes are often seen crossing the path and there is a warning on the path to remind people of this (Plate 8).

Along the way there are a couple of elevated sites with nice views over the ocean, where seats have been provided (Plate 9).

The land to the east of this section of the path is old and now rehabilitated industrial land. One of the main industries here was the Robb Jetty abattoir, and the remains of the jetty can still be seen on the beach at low tide (Plate 10) as well as the remains of an unknown shipwreck (Plate 11).

Just off shore is a statue of a horse and horse rider, which celebrates the historic use of this section of the beach for horse training (Plate 12). The beach still gets regularly used by at least one horse trainer.

On the path adjacent to the above there is some art that recognizes the former abattoir (Plates 13 and 14).

As you continue, the old South Fremantle power station becomes the obvious landscape feature. Before we got there, there is a larger grassed area, carpark, toilet and drinking water tap part of C Y O’Connor Park (Plate 15).

As you approached the park, there is a sandy track off to the right, so you can take this track or continue on the bitumen path (Plate 16). The track goes to west of the park and the bitumen path goes through the park.

The path effectively ends here, as the old power station and associated substation needs to be walked around (Plate 17). There is a path and old road that is to the east of the old power station and sub-station, but it is more interesting to take the sand track at the southern end of the carpark or walk on the beach towards the marina (Plate 18). The mapped trail is the along the sand track.

As you walk passed the power station you will come across a pond, or water body, that seems to be an old cooling pond for the power station (Plate 19). There is also an old jetty-like structure on the beach adjacent to the pond (Plate 20).

Continue either along the path near the fence that protects the power station, or along the beach until you get to the marina rock wall (Plate 21). It easiest to climb the wall up passed the vegetation line, near where the sand track ends (Plate 21).

Once you climb up the wall, you should be near a car park (near the right angle bend of Caledonia Loop), and there should also be a formal path and park (Plate 22), which then turns into a crushed limestone track. Take this path heading west

The wall is popular for fishing (Plate 23). There are many vacant blocks in the marina, but less so in the land-backed part of the marina, and there doesn’t seem to be any vacant boat pens. (Plate 24)

Once you reach the southern tip of the seawall (Plate 25), turn around and head back and once you get to the spot where you climb the wall, find the right angle bend of Caledonia Loop, and head South.

Continue along of Caledonia Loop until it turns sharp left and intersects with Medina Parade. Turn south along Medina Parade passed and artificial beach and grassed foreshore inside the marina (Plate 26), which is popular with families.

The end and turn around point of the walk is ahead of you at the Dome Café. Alternatively, you can walk a few hundred metres further along to catch the bus back (see above).

The photos were taken when the trail was originally walked in July 2014.

Garry Middle, July 2017