Point Walter facts for kids
Point Walter (called Dyoondalup by the Noongar people) is a special place on the Swan River in Western Australia. It's famous for its long sandbar that stretches far into the water. Point Walter is on the southern side of Melville Water, marking its western edge. You can find it in the suburb of Bicton, about 12 kilometres southwest of Perth city and 7 kilometres northeast of Fremantle. It sits across the river from suburbs like Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove, and Dalkeith.
Point Walter is important to Aboriginal people because of its role in their Dreamtime stories. It was also a key place for the local Whadjuk people. James Stirling named it in 1827. For a long time, people loved coming here for fun activities and to use its facilities, like tea rooms and a bathing house. Over time, fewer people visited, especially around World War II. After the war, the area was fixed up. An army camp was built there, which later became a place for new migrants. Since 1972, the facilities have been used for many different things.
Since 1912, the Melville City Council has looked after Point Walter. Today, it's part of the Point Walter Reserve. Both the reserve and the sandbar are vital for plants and animals, especially birds. Many people enjoy various activities here, and it hosts the yearly Point Walter concert.
Contents
History of Point Walter
Indigenous History
Before European settlers arrived, the Beeliar people, who are part of the Whadjuk Noongars, lived in the Point Walter area. They called it Dyoondalup. In the Noongar language, this means "place of long flowing white hair" or "place of white sand." This area was traditionally a place for women and children. It also served as a meeting spot when the clan needed to move to another part of the river. Women from Point Walter would meet men who swam across from Mosman Park to the sandbar.
The sandbar was a key crossing point for the river. To cross as a group, they would cut down a tree. Children would float across the river on the log, while adults swam beside them. Aboriginal people often used controlled burning here. This helped keep the understory (low plants) clear and made it easier to find animals for hunting. During summer, the area provided lots of food and resources from its many plants and animals. Fishing was common, and they used many fishing traps. They also used local plants, like making string from native wisteria (Hardenbergia comptoniana) and gum from the marri tree (Corymbia calophylla).
Early European History
James Stirling explored the Swan River to find good places for settlement. He named Point Walter after Walter Stirling. It's not clear if Walter was James's uncle or brother. In 1830, settlers Lionel Lukin and Alfred Waylen bought the land. Waylen built a house in 1830, which later burned down. In 1831, his land grew to include part of Alfred Cove.
These early settlers faced difficulties with the local Beeliar people. Waylen's house was burned down in 1833. One of Waylen's workers was killed after another worker killed an Aboriginal person for stealing potatoes. This, along with poor soil, led these early settlers to leave. Waylen moved to another land grant before returning two years later. He then started a more successful property. While at Point Walter, Waylen built an inn called the Halfway House. It was named this because it was between Perth and Fremantle. In 1837, he dug a canal through the sandbar. This made the boat trip between Perth and Fremantle about 2 miles shorter. He charged a fee to use it. In 1843, Samuel Caporn and his family moved to Point Walter. They took over running the Halfway House. The Caporns left Point Walter in the mid-1850s because the canal became silted up (filled with sand).
The site became popular after the canal was built. People often came for crabbing, camping, swimming, and picnics. At first, the only way to get there was by boat, so a jetty was built. Point Walter's popularity led to the building of two tea rooms and a timber bathing house. These were for people arriving by ferries and yachts. Later, a limestone road was built, allowing access by horse-drawn carriages. Sources differ, but either in 1895 or 1907, the State Government bought the land. They made it a Class A reserve. In 1912, the Melville Roads Board (now the Melville City Council) was chosen to manage it. The reserve officially opened on November 30, 1914.
Decline of Popularity
The canal at Point Walter kept filling up with sand. The difficulty of keeping it clear led the Caporns to leave. After they left, local authorities did not maintain the canal. It fell into even worse condition. Steamers on the Swan River stopped using the narrow and shallow canal. Instead, they traveled the full distance around the sandbar. By the 1860s, the canal was no longer used. A businessman named George Randell tried to reopen the canal. He controlled river traffic because he owned a steamboat service. But the cost of £2,000 was too high, so it was not finished.
The lack of steamer traffic meant fewer people visited the tea rooms. Also, the Fremantle-Perth railway opened on March 1, 1881. This made Point Walter a "quiet backwater" as people chose other ways to travel. In January 1923, a three-day carnival was held at Point Walter. This was to raise money for a memorial avenue. By this time, the Melville Roads Board received £100 a year for maintenance. This was not enough to keep the grounds in good shape.
Fewer people visited because ocean beaches became more popular. As a result, control of the site went to the Parks and Gardens Board in 1929. In 1914, a tramway was built between Canning Road and Point Walter. This tramway was not very successful. It rarely made a profit except in summer. Despite this, the line stayed open until 1939. More problems came during the Depression of the 1930s. Recreational use dropped again. World War II further decreased visitors, and Point Walter became run down.
From World War II to Today
In 1941, the Melville Army Camp was built on the land. It was used to train soldiers for water-based warfare. In 1947, the camp became a migrant reception centre. This center was run by the State Government until 1969. From 1969 until it closed in mid-1971, Commonwealth Hostels ran it. While the migrant center was open, some people thought most migrants were not welcome. The West Australian newspaper wrote an article in 1950 to address and correct this idea.
The area remained run down until November 1952. Then, the Melville Roads Board took control of the reserve again. They made many changes. They removed all old buildings and added new changing rooms, toilets, and a kiosk. The Board also brought 30,000 tonnes of clean sand to Point Walter Beach. This was to fix problems with erosion, which had exposed many limestone rocks in the shallow water. In 1972, there were hopes for a bridge between Point Walter and Point Resolution. However, the high costs and other issues meant this bridge was never built.
After 1972, the Department of Education used the facilities to house the Graylands Teachers College. In 1980, control of 6.5 hectares of land, previously used for army training, went to the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR). In 1986, the DSR removed all remaining hostel buildings. They spent a lot of money developing the sports and recreation facilities you see today. The official reopening happened on September 26, 1986. The first people to use the new facilities were members of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. This was an Italian team that took part in the 1987 America's Cup in Fremantle. In 2005, the facilities were updated again with money from the DSR Capital Works Program. Today, the only part left from the army camp is a watch-house from 1941. The Melville Council currently manages Point Walter.
Geography of Point Walter
Point Walter is located within the Point Walter Reserve. This reserve mostly includes the Point Walter bushland. The bushland has three main types of natural areas:
- A limestone ridge that appears on the lower slopes.
- Deep yellow sand covering the ridge.
- Woodland higher up with jarrah and marri trees.
Flora and Fauna
Different parts of the Point Walter bushland have different types of plants. The deep yellow sand supports rare plants like the acorn banksia (Banksia prionotes) and tree smokebush (Conospermum triplinervium). In the higher areas, there are jarrah and marri woodlands that are less disturbed. You can find several types of orchids there. These include a rare group of albino fairy orchids (Caladenia latifolia) and several red spider orchid (Caladenia areicola) groups. The Point Walter area also has swamp sheoak trees (Casuarina obesa). At the bottom of the slope, outside the bushland, you'll see large Morton Bay figs (Ficus macrophy) and tall Norfolk pines (Arauccaria heterophylla). Poplars are also common, but they are considered a weed.
Point Walter bushland is important for plant history. Early botanists first collected couch honeypot (Dryandra lindleyana) and cottonheads (Conostylis candicans) here. In 1839, the Cryptandra glabrata species was found at Point Walter. This plant has not been seen there since.
Birdlife
In the Point Walter bushland, galahs and Port Lincoln parrots use tree hollows for nesting. Carnaby's black cockatoos eat parrot bush in the area. The area is also home to native frogs, small reptiles, and various insects. However, there are also pest animals like rabbits, cats, dogs, and foxes.
The sandbar is a nesting place for several bird species. These include the pied oystercatcher, the red-capped plover, the black swan, and the fairy tern. The local government has a campaign called Don't buzz that bird. It tells people not to get too close to the birds to help protect them.
Erosion Control
In February 2012, the City of Melville hired an environmental company. Their job was to fix the erosion that had happened over the past ten years. This erosion caused beaches and grassy areas to shrink. It also undercut tree roots. Work started in March 2012. The first part of the project finished in 2013, and the whole project was completed in early 2014.
The Point Walter Sandbar
Point Walter is famous for its sandbar or spit. This sandbar stretches over 1 kilometre into the river. Parts of the sandbar are often underwater when the tide is high. The sandbar formed from sand and dirt collecting along a band of rock called aeolianite that crosses the river mouth.
Dreamtime Story of the Sandbar
The sandbar is very important in the Dreamtime stories of the local Aboriginal people. They believe the sandbar was the hair of a Dreamtime figure named Djunda (also spelled Junda). She was a Charnok woman. The nearby cliffs at Blackwall Reach were her footprints. Djunda is said to have carried spirit children in her hair. When these children fell out, they formed rocks.
According to Dreamtime stories, when she reached Wave Rock in Hyden, she jumped off it into the sky. At that moment, her hair became the Milky Way, and the spirit children became the stars. Because of this story, Blackwall Reach is known to Aboriginal people as Jenalup. This word means "the place where feet make a track."
Public Activities at Point Walter
Point Walter has several important cultural monuments, including a war memorial avenue. It also hosts the free annual Point Walter concert. This concert started in 1996 and features bands from Perth. Sometimes, famous people like James Morrison perform there. This event used to be called "YAC it up" because Melville's Youth Advisory Council organized it. Bands like Birds of Tokyo and Bob Evans have played there.
The general public uses Point Walter for many different activities. These include kitesurfing, kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, fishing, swimming, and diving courses. People also come for prawning and picnics. The area has public facilities like two shaded playgrounds, paths for cycling and walking, a jetty, a boat ramp, and barbecue areas. Point Walter also has a cafe called Walters River Café. Point Walter is part of the Point Walter Reserve, which includes the Point Walter Golf Course and Blackwall Reach.
