I was eager to visit the
DNA Tower in King’s Park for quite some time; myself and Ram made it last
weekend. It was not as difficult to reach the tower as reviewed by some people.
We just had to follow our humble TomTom navigator. We scurried through the
city, crossed the fantastic Mounts Bay road and took the Forrest Drive. This
route is a sight for those sore eyes!
The beautiful tower loomed to our right. There is a small car park near the base of the tower and we parked our car. The tower has 101 steps (did not count them; the info panel had that info!) and is 15m high, resembling the DNA double helix structure. I thought it would be a tough climb to the top but I figured it is a cinch for anyone who can easily scale a three storey (approx!) apartment.
The tower has three
small viewing platforms and a bit larger fourth platform at the very top. It is
not quite large; only a max of 6 or 7 people can stand there comfortably.
Bang
on the centre of the platform is a compass that points to all the famous places
around. I squeaked when I saw Rottnest island—a thin strip of land if you
really squeeze your eyes a tad hard. It felt good!
It boasts a decent view of the Swan
River and the Perth City Centre.
Leave aside the views
and the climb up the tower; they are definitely for the thrills! The best part
of this place, for me, was the Broadwalk to Synergy Parkland. The Broadwalk
from the tower is bliss. I would compare it to looking out from the balcony of
some English palace and feasting our eyes on the wide palace grounds below and
beyond. It was stunning!
Here is a dismally bad take of the Broadwalk; curse my mobile cam for that!
The Broadwalk stretched
for as far as the eyes could see with wild bushland on both sides. Of course, I
would not have ventured out there had I not seen at least a few people walking
out from the other side. We took the walk and man was I chuffed. As you walk
you notice that the ground level faintly slopes down making it quite easy to
cover the 1.5km to the park on the other side. We reached a beautiful road that
curved graciously on either side, crossed it and had a decent view of the park,
some 100m or so beyond. We were quite surprised by the crowd that greeted us.
In contrast to the few
aboard the tower, those playing, chatting, lying down or simply watching their
kids play on the park were quite high. The park itself is a beauty. There is a
small pond with a fountain, a small island and a boardwalk around it. To be a
hit with kids, there are a lot of play things around and the park is based on prehistoric
eras. So yes, I spotted one dinosaur with a few eggs around her and some other
prehistoric creatures were around. I am positive every kid on earth would
totally adore it. We took the boardwalk past an enchanting weeping willow and
learnt about stromatolites and lycopods. Many ducks were wading through the
pond. We took a few snaps, here, there and everywhere. It was exquisite!
We sat
on the island and took in the ravishing beauty of the place and promised
ourselves that we would make it again sometime soon. We just had some 20
minutes before sunset and had to take the Broadwalk for the car. And mind you,
there are no lights throughout the Broadwalk. It is you, the moon (if your are
lucky!) and yeah, the thick forest sandwiching you. At one point, I imagined a
huge T-rex or a pack of velociraptors to confront us. Am I so glad we are past
that era!
It was a totally
awesome experience that visitors or natives of Perth should take. I vouch for
the eventual enjoyment!
