In a first for this channel, we're heading to the Serpentine National Park in... Serpentine! We'll be hiking a 17km+ loop that will take us to Serpentine Falls, along the Serpentine River, past Spencer's Cottage, through fields, into dense bush (the trail nearly disappears) and along fire tracks. We'll see plenty of pipeline infrastructure and even the Munda Biddi. It's probably the most varied hike on this channel yet.
I'll investigate the history of Spencer's Cottage in the park (built 1860), along with Serpentine in general. Once a small settlement for mail and a stop for coaches at the intersection of the Serpentine River and the road to Bunbury (now the South Western Highway), it was made obsolete by the railway in 1893.
The modern day townsite developed around the railway, but after the hike we will see what's left of the original Serpentine. This consists of several additional cottages from the mid-1800s (Turner's Cottage and Baldwin's Cottage), the Serpentine Bridge Primary School and St Stephen's Church (built 1913).
And if we're lucky, we might even have time for a pint at the Serpentine Falls Tavern ;)
