Have just returned from WA where as part of a conservation effort to preserve the Southbank of the Moore River from a massive housing development which will include a marina etc etc. I undertook several walks on the Southbank with the aim of organising more formal bushwalking tracks to promote and highlight the area.
A little background info. Moore River or the township of Guilderton is 100km North of Perth, just 40km North of the metro areas unstoppable urban sprawl.
The town is rising in popularity as a summer holiday spot, a place I have been going for 34 years - I have seen massive changes in the town but the Southbank has remained untouched by development and IMHO it would be a catastrophe if this were to happen.
I want to get an idea of how many people would undertake walks like this IF they were to visit the area A simple response to this topic or a PM would be greatly appreciated, the level of interest in terms of numbers will be passed on to FOMRE http://www.savemooreriver.org/index.php as part of their efforts to protect this area.
A quick trip report for a 2.5hr circuit walk on the Southbank.
Starting at the Mouth of The Moore River a wide sandbar is crossed(this is present 99 days out of a hundred - a couple of times a year the river will fill to bursting point and break the bank). This sandbar is home to pelicans, terns, silver gulls and several types of ducks and cormorants. There are often people fishing in the ocean for Tailor/King George and Sand Whiting, Herring or Flathead, on the river side people will cast in for the famous MR Black Bream.
After crossing the bar a track leads up the dunes to the left above some limestone cliffs - from the top the views over the estuary, ocean and township are pleasing.
Turning South you follow the ridgeline of the highest dunes on the riverside giving pleasant views up the Southbank as far as the first major bend in the river. The track soon swings back towards the coast and takes you through several glades of Eucalypt and Banksia's, there is some nice open camping spots in this area, although at this point this is not allowed to my knowledge. Through this area there is plenty of birdlife and lots of evidence of Western Grey Kangaroos.
Half an hour of travelling through this country which would be thick with wildflowers at the right time of year I chose a Kangaroo pad back in the direction of the river which eventually bought me to the bend in the river I previously described.
At this bend there are great views back up to the river mouth and east to the opening of Silver Creek a tributary of the MR, there is a stand of large Eucalypt's here and making my way around the bend to the South is a series of trees that can only be described as Cormorant and Pelican Heaven, countless numbers use these high dead trees and logs as a place to preen/sleep and hunt from, it is also directly across the river from an area where Heron's, Crane's and Ducks breed in the swamps around Silver Creek.
- Cormorant tree.jpg (289.32 KiB) Viewed 66205 times
Such thinking would allow such areas to be considered green space.
