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The other day at family dinner we were talking about the upcoming visit of my wife’s sister and brother and his wife. We were discussing all the places in Western Australia we planned to take them – Margaret River, Rottnest Island, Fremantle, and the Caversham Wildlife Park to see kangaroos.
“Oh,” piped up Emma, “you can see a lot of kangaroos at the Pinnaroo Cemetery.” She went on to explain that the cemetery was in a park-like setting surrounded by wilderness and that it had beautiful paths for walking along and even had a cafe and small restaurant. Just drive around until you see some roos, park the car and take a look.
So we thought we would check it out yesterday. She was absolutely correct. The Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park is a beautiful park set in the midst of wilderness. It is very large. And yes, we saw a lot of kangaroos, at least fifty of them, probably closer to seventy-five or a hundred.
Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park is located within easy travelling distance from downtown Perth. Just head north on the Mitchell Freeway (Highway # 2) and take the Whitfords exit. The cemetery comes up almost immediately on your left. It’s about a twenty minute drive from downtown.
The park’s website says it is the most environmentally responsible cemetery in all of Australia. “The park, which received its first burial in 1978, has been developed and maintained as a natural bushland cemetery planted only with native species. No monuments are permitted but each grave is marked by a flat bronze plaque.”
We drove along the road until we saw three kangaroos, so we parked and got out of the car. We watched them for a bit and then they hopped off to the other end of the field they were in. We then headed over to a park-like area of the cemetery and walked along the shore of an artificial lake. The area was beautifully landscaped with long open grassy spaces, almost like the fairway of a golf course. Along the shore we saw many memorials, many festooned with flowers. We didn’t see any roos here though.
But after a ten minute walk, we spotted some through the trees on our left. The path also turned in that direction so we followed it along and as we emerged through the trees to the other side we saw about three dozen kangaroos, all grazing among the cemetery plots.
While we enjoyed seeing the kangaroos at the Caversham Wildlife Reserve, these kangaroos were special. They were actual wild kangaroos. They looked different than the Caversham roos. The zoo roos looked rather lazy and dusty. Almost zoned out. Mind you, we were at Caversham during an earlier part of the day when roos are usually sleeping.
The wild roos emerge to feed after it starts to cool off around five in the afternoon. They are much more active, grazing and occasionally bounding along. I love watching them move. They have a certain grace to their movements. The wild roos also had a sleeker coat – darker and glossier. Healthier looking.
And driving through Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park doesn’t cost you a dime. Although you get to see more than roos at Caversham – still worth a visit. But if it’s just roos you want to see, drive through the Pinnaroo park.
After a half hour or so of watching the roos, we headed for Hillarys Boat Harbour which is a short drive away and had dinner at one of the fine restaurants there. Then a short walk along the pier to see the sunset. All in all, a great afternoon.
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