On a sunny day in early November, my friends and I decided to head down to Araluen Botanic Park, south-east of Perth, Australia.

Araluen Botanic Park is a 50-minute drive from the Perth CBD on a good day. It’s often overshadowed by the more famous Kings Park, by dint of the latter’s proximity to the city, and its spectacular views of the Swan River. However, Araluen distinguishes itself through its impressive collection of exotic flora. ‘Exotic’, in this case, meaning Australian non-natives. According to the park’s website, the Darling Scarp on which Araluen is located facilitates a microclimate (high rainfall, loamy soils, cold winter) particularly suited to growing cool-weather plants. Compelling stuff.

I admit that I’m more familiar with Araluen because of the nearby golf course. I’ve spent many an idyllic afternoon there lounging in a golf cart appreciating the gentle breeze and nonchalant kangaroos, while my family became increasingly frazzled over a small white ball. As the saying goes, “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” Or in my case, a leisurely golf cart drive.

Both the gardens and the golf course are very pretty. Araluen is an ideal day trip, and visiting is an excellent excuse to pack a picnic and ramble around the country.

The route to Araluen meanders through the semi-rural suburb of Roleystone. We passed hobby farms and boutique restaurants, all sitting picturesquely in the shadow of the Brookton valley. At the entrance to the park, there is a ticket booth where visitors must pay an admission fee (although on the sleepy Sunday on which we went, the operator simply waved us through, much to our surprise.) There’s ample space for cars – we were able to traverse quite deeply into the park and find a spot by the Rose Garden.

It was a typically gorgeous Perth spring day. The weather was sunny and cloudless, but temperatures only reached a high of 26ºC. This meant that we were perspiring walking around, but recovered quite quickly once we had reached the shade.
It didn’t help that the park itself is quite hilly due to its position on an escarpment. Water bottles are a must – I didn’t notice any drinking fountains during our sojourn.

There is a café in the park that sells food and drink all week, but it is only open from 10am to 2pm, and according to the website, those hours may vary due to staff availability and events.

But before we proceed, a history lesson:

As I learned later on, Araluen was originally founded as a camp for the Young Australia League. Fun fact: this youth organisation started life as the Young Australia Football League in 1905, and is credited with popularising AFL in Western Australia. There are memorials in the surrounds to young members of the League who were killed in the World Wars.

The Young Australia League was eventually forced to sell the land back to the state government in 1990 due to lack of funds. The current owners are the Araluen Botanic Park Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and restoring the heritage structures in the park, and maintaining the gardens.

Araluen Botanic Park boasts a wide range of roses, camellias, tulips and hydrangeas. We arrived too late for tulip season, but we were treated to roses and sunflowers in full bloom.

The main concourse at Araluen is located right by the Pool of Reflection and the Grove of the Unforgotten. The Grove consists of cascading steps alongside a waterfall, culminating in a pretty basin covered in lilies at its foot.

We chose to have our picnic in the Rose Garden, where we witnessed the glorious breeding season plumage of Splendid and Superb Fairy Wrens as they attempted to woo ladies amongst the flowers. The only worry was dodging the local bull ants, who have a strong socialist policy regarding food brought to the park.

To be perfectly honest, Araluen is not the novelty one might expect. The gardens would be more exciting for someone who sincerely appreciates exotic flora, but the vast majority of Perth gardens are already comprised of roses, hydrangeas, camellias and foreign fruit trees. The main thrill for me was watching the bird life, which never fails to entertain.

This isn’t to say Araluen Botanic Park isn’t worth a visit. I’ve heard it’s beautiful in the springtime, especially when the tulips (one of the species not commonly seen in the metro area) are in bloom. I need to go back to see the Tulip Festival in early September, which is one of the main draws in the Araluen calendar. The gardens also host ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ plays performed by the Roleystone Theatre Company each year, and often run workshops for children during school holidays. They’re all good reasons to head into the bush to appreciate nature and the hard work of the Araluen staff and volunteers.

For more information about Araluen Botanic Park, click here.