Songs in the Quay of Sea: Mini Piccolino Holiday-ette-chen Kecil (The 3rd)

A week of lurgies, storms and resultant housebound-ness gave rise to a compulsive need to flee towards sunshine and the great outdoors again today, another Tourist in My Own Town small adventure. I've taken to calling these day trips 'mini piccolino holiday-ette-chens kecil' as tribute to all the languages-other-than-English that I speak. I figure if I 'talk global', I will feel more like I am on holiday somewhere exotic!

And so, Bryn, Oupa (my Dad) and I headed for Heathcote, via the scenic river route.

Heathcote, an ex-psychiatric hospital, was built high on a cliff in Applecross, in the Melville district, south of the river here in Perth, and east of where we live. It was born in 1929, an era progressive in its thinking about the milder forms of 'mental illness'. The theory was that in-patients would benefit from the calming vistas of a spacious, green-gardened facility overlooking the water. I dare say they were right. A friend of mine once spent some time there as a vulnerable young adult and reports having enjoyed it because of its riverside location and comparatively 'softly softly' approach to her well-being. How lucky we are to have access to such gorgeous sites, reclaimed as public-access open spaces, with such a rich history, south of the river in Perth.

Even Charlie Brown didn't entirely miss out on today's reprise of (mostly) splendid blue sky- Heathcote itself is a dog-free zone, so he slept in the car awhile, however we made various stops en route to and from, on the flat land down by the river, that were dog-friendly, with plenty of interesting river weeds and stinky fishy things for him to sniff.

The playground at Heathcote is sensational- all timber and corrugated iron, with tunnels and bridges and a maritime-themed allusion to shipwrecks. The Lad spent a happy couple of hours there before coming a-cropper on a bridge, at which moment (at least after a consoling cuddle), I decided it was time to point the car back towards Fremantle, via as watery a route as we could manage.

Said lad turns seven in ten days, and I'm pondering the what and where of a party. I toyed with Heathcote, which has barbecue facilities and a café for the grownups...but I'm inclined towards something closer to home - a Sensational Seven Sausage Sizzle - and to keep it simple- 'hotdogs' on the barbecue, vegetarian and non, popcorn, hot drinks for the grown-ups, Yours Truly's annual cake creation, and some free play.