Cherry Lake
December 27th, 2010 at 9:29Length: 3.7 km
Time taken: 50 mins (including breaks for pictures)
Grade: Easy
Climb: n/a
Cherry Lake is a relatively short and basic walk around a lake, with a view of Altona’s industrial structures in the background. Half the walk is parkland, and the other half is a conservation area with a bird hide and some wetlands. The walk was flat but thanks to the change in scenery between the conservation and recreation areas there was enough variety to keep it interesting.
Map
Fisherman sitting on a short pier over the lake
A map of the lake
Altona's industrial area in the distance.
Cute ducks in the lake
The official separation between the conservation and recreation area.
The conservation area
A nice tree along the path
The bird hide
.
.
The path through the conservation area
.
July 8th, 2011 at 5:38 am
Annually, as the days slowly shorten and winter approaches, the first of our wattles burst into bloom then, gradually throughout winter and into spring, more and more acacias don their party dresses and flaunt their beauty. A walk (or a drive) around Altona on a chilly winter’s day always seems a lot less gloomy if I catch a glimpse of a few plants in flower …. and what could be more cheering than a sunny golden yellow wattle?
When aiming for a brisk walk around Cherry Lake, I am invariably overtaken by determined fitness fiends because my “exercise†usually degenerates into a stroll. This is because I invariably become sidetracked examining the intricacies of the plantings or watching the activities of the birds that inhabit the park. In general, the gardens around Cherry Lake are not brilliantly colourful, rather they could be classified as “quietâ€. But, when the wattles are in bloom, they really do brighten up the landscape. My favourite Cherry Lake wattle is Acacia pycnantha, Australia’s official floral emblem. Next time you walk around Cherry Lake, stop and look at this tree that is situated near the pathway entrance at the park’s north-east corner.