If I managed to convey the impression in my last that we liked Rockingham, I am pleased. We did enjoy our time there. Obviously catching up with the young Lieutenant was the highlight of our stay, but 'Rocky' has much to offer we discovered, and, we suspect, suffers from a somewhat undeserved reputation. Indeed we did spy the odd 'dero' or two in the seafront parks, and instances of hoon driving were not entirely uncommon, but apart from that we were very pleasantly surprised by what we found.
The front gate of our park leads to the Rockingham Esplanade which stretches some 2 kms or so south to the foreshore cafe and restaurant area. A well developed and maintained linear park lies between the roadway and the beach.
Immediately across the Esplanade from the front gate of our park at the northern end of the beachfront park we found a very well set up Naval Memorial Park in which the feats and sacrifices of many navel vessels and their crews are recognised. As is obvious, this is the memorial to Perth and her crews.
This park, which fittingly overlooks Cockburn Sound and the Naval Base on Garden Island, stretches south along the foreshore for two hundred metres or so.
I was particularly interested to find the stone block and plaque (pictured) which is a memorial dedicated to the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam, a group of navy aviators who flew Huey gunships and troop carriers between the years 1968-69. My special interest lay in the fact that a number of these pilots later flew with Lloyd Aviation, the company which provided the aircraft for the SA Helicopter Rescue Service, the organisation which I helped found and develop from late 1979. The feats of this extraordinary group of men have been wonderfully recorded in the book "A Bloody Job Well Done" which I had the pleasure of reading some years ago. Sadly, these brave navy pilots (they often flew where the RAAF refused to send their choppers) were shunned for many years by the RSL members at Nowra when they returned home as 'not having fought in a real war'. Thank heavens the wretched treatment of all Vietnam Vets by the Australian society of that era has been largely rectified.
The southern end of the park is marked by this old 'O' class submarine fin and a gun turret (ship unknown to this author).
From here we could either wander along the footpaths of the Esplanade or toddle along the smooth expanses of the cement pathway of the linear park.
As we found in Perth itself, this park is liberally dotted with highly functional BBQ and picnic areas, all with adequate parking nearby. They do this very well in the west.
And why would one not want to come to the beach at Rockingham? The blue and clear waters of Cockburn Sound, sheltered here by the length of Garden Island, and bordered as you can see by a pristine white fine sand beach, make for as good a seaside spot as we have found anywhere. And the water is warm!
We were not surprised on the weekend to find that the entire length of the Esplanade park was jam packed with visitors enjoying the beach and other facilities on offer.
Our jaunt along the beachfront to the cafe area took us past varied housing. It is obvious that many of the original homes of 'old Rocky'
are now being demolished to make way for structures of a much grander design...some totally 'over the top'. These two were but three houses apart...what a contrast!
As the beachfront path approaches the cafe district, the history of Rockingham is depicted in a series of plaques set into the cement,
and whilst these were very informative, they did have the tendency to challenge our ability to 'step it out'.
A couple of high rise apartment buildings mark the beginning of the Rocky Beach cafe district,
where things do become a little crowded as traffic squeezes its way along the Esplanade between the food outlets and the park. This is one area where I actually support the 40 kph speed limit.
A southerly run along the Esplanade ends here at this intersection, where, to the east the road leads to one of the more commercial areas of Rockingham.
Walking to the beachfront here provides a great view of the park and coast back to the ever present bulk of the grain silos some 2 kms away to the north.
At this point the coast of Cockburn Sound sweeps away to the west at its southern end and here, at what is known as Palm Beach, we find another row of cafes and restaurants, including 'The Sunset' where Liz, Stu and I enjoyed a fine evening.
Panning a little more to the right, the Palm Beach jetty and the local yacht moorings come into view. At the risk of repetition, I have to comment that this really is a spectacular beach.
Why the yacht mooring basin? Simple really....the building seen here at the end of the cafe strip is the well positioned Rockingham Cruising Yacht Club.
From this same point, looking directly to the west, the main docking facilities of HMAS Stirling on Garden Island can be seen across the waters of Cockburn Sound. On the left side of the shot the high arch of part of the lengthy access causeway also comes into view.
And, again from this same point, a last look northwards along the Rockingham beach where the silos and the loading gantry continue to dominate the distant skyline.
The good citizens of Rockingham are obviously proud of their patch and its history. In addition to the walkway plaques, the seafront park is dotted with items of historical interest of which this anchor is but one. This chunk of iron originally served to anchor the 200 tons wooden Norwegian brig 'Dato' until she sank in the nearby Careening Bay in the late 1880's. Interestingly the wreck was not discovered until 1968.
A stroll through this park also brings one past other 'pieces of interest', of which this is probably the most notable.
At first glance I couldn't fathom why the seagulls were congregated around the base of this granite ball. A closer inspection revealed all. Hewn from a 3 tonne piece of green granite, the 1200 kg ball 'floats' on a water bed where the pressure of 90 kPa allows it to continually rotate. This more than interesting feat of engineering was commissioned by the city in 2000 to mark the new millennium....the gulls were putting the water to another use entirely...a drink!
Let us leave this sort tour of the 'Rocky' foreshore with a quick look at one of the many car parks which allow visitors to stay well off the narrow roadway where the entrance is marked by these two dolphins.
Next, a look at the nearby Cape Peron, the grain loading operation and a spot of socializing.
The front gate of our park leads to the Rockingham Esplanade which stretches some 2 kms or so south to the foreshore cafe and restaurant area. A well developed and maintained linear park lies between the roadway and the beach.
Immediately across the Esplanade from the front gate of our park at the northern end of the beachfront park we found a very well set up Naval Memorial Park in which the feats and sacrifices of many navel vessels and their crews are recognised. As is obvious, this is the memorial to Perth and her crews.
This park, which fittingly overlooks Cockburn Sound and the Naval Base on Garden Island, stretches south along the foreshore for two hundred metres or so.
I was particularly interested to find the stone block and plaque (pictured) which is a memorial dedicated to the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam, a group of navy aviators who flew Huey gunships and troop carriers between the years 1968-69. My special interest lay in the fact that a number of these pilots later flew with Lloyd Aviation, the company which provided the aircraft for the SA Helicopter Rescue Service, the organisation which I helped found and develop from late 1979. The feats of this extraordinary group of men have been wonderfully recorded in the book "A Bloody Job Well Done" which I had the pleasure of reading some years ago. Sadly, these brave navy pilots (they often flew where the RAAF refused to send their choppers) were shunned for many years by the RSL members at Nowra when they returned home as 'not having fought in a real war'. Thank heavens the wretched treatment of all Vietnam Vets by the Australian society of that era has been largely rectified.The southern end of the park is marked by this old 'O' class submarine fin and a gun turret (ship unknown to this author).
From here we could either wander along the footpaths of the Esplanade or toddle along the smooth expanses of the cement pathway of the linear park.
As we found in Perth itself, this park is liberally dotted with highly functional BBQ and picnic areas, all with adequate parking nearby. They do this very well in the west.
And why would one not want to come to the beach at Rockingham? The blue and clear waters of Cockburn Sound, sheltered here by the length of Garden Island, and bordered as you can see by a pristine white fine sand beach, make for as good a seaside spot as we have found anywhere. And the water is warm!
We were not surprised on the weekend to find that the entire length of the Esplanade park was jam packed with visitors enjoying the beach and other facilities on offer.
Our jaunt along the beachfront to the cafe area took us past varied housing. It is obvious that many of the original homes of 'old Rocky'
are now being demolished to make way for structures of a much grander design...some totally 'over the top'. These two were but three houses apart...what a contrast!
As the beachfront path approaches the cafe district, the history of Rockingham is depicted in a series of plaques set into the cement,
and whilst these were very informative, they did have the tendency to challenge our ability to 'step it out'.
A couple of high rise apartment buildings mark the beginning of the Rocky Beach cafe district,
where things do become a little crowded as traffic squeezes its way along the Esplanade between the food outlets and the park. This is one area where I actually support the 40 kph speed limit.
A southerly run along the Esplanade ends here at this intersection, where, to the east the road leads to one of the more commercial areas of Rockingham.
Walking to the beachfront here provides a great view of the park and coast back to the ever present bulk of the grain silos some 2 kms away to the north.
At this point the coast of Cockburn Sound sweeps away to the west at its southern end and here, at what is known as Palm Beach, we find another row of cafes and restaurants, including 'The Sunset' where Liz, Stu and I enjoyed a fine evening.
Panning a little more to the right, the Palm Beach jetty and the local yacht moorings come into view. At the risk of repetition, I have to comment that this really is a spectacular beach.
Why the yacht mooring basin? Simple really....the building seen here at the end of the cafe strip is the well positioned Rockingham Cruising Yacht Club.
From this same point, looking directly to the west, the main docking facilities of HMAS Stirling on Garden Island can be seen across the waters of Cockburn Sound. On the left side of the shot the high arch of part of the lengthy access causeway also comes into view.
And, again from this same point, a last look northwards along the Rockingham beach where the silos and the loading gantry continue to dominate the distant skyline.
The good citizens of Rockingham are obviously proud of their patch and its history. In addition to the walkway plaques, the seafront park is dotted with items of historical interest of which this anchor is but one. This chunk of iron originally served to anchor the 200 tons wooden Norwegian brig 'Dato' until she sank in the nearby Careening Bay in the late 1880's. Interestingly the wreck was not discovered until 1968.
A stroll through this park also brings one past other 'pieces of interest', of which this is probably the most notable.
At first glance I couldn't fathom why the seagulls were congregated around the base of this granite ball. A closer inspection revealed all. Hewn from a 3 tonne piece of green granite, the 1200 kg ball 'floats' on a water bed where the pressure of 90 kPa allows it to continually rotate. This more than interesting feat of engineering was commissioned by the city in 2000 to mark the new millennium....the gulls were putting the water to another use entirely...a drink!
Let us leave this sort tour of the 'Rocky' foreshore with a quick look at one of the many car parks which allow visitors to stay well off the narrow roadway where the entrance is marked by these two dolphins.
Next, a look at the nearby Cape Peron, the grain loading operation and a spot of socializing.
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