National Parks are established to preserve for all time, scenic beauty, wilderness, native wildlife, indigenous plant life and areas of scientific and historical importance, and to provide for the appreciation and enjoyment of those things by you in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the future. CONTENTS PAGE HISTORY 2 AREA & CLIMATE 4 GEOLOGY & SOILS 4 THE CAVES 5 VEGETATION 6 FAUNA 8 DISPLAY OF NATIVE ANIMALS 12 APPENDIX I - PLANT LIST 13 APPENDIX II - MAMMAL LIST 16 APPENDIX III - BIRD LIST 17 APPENDIX IV -AMPHIBIANS & REPTILES LIST 20 Cover Photo: ~'Jewel City", Crystal Cave NATIONAL PARKS AUTHORITY HACKETT DRIVE, NEDLANDS WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 6009 TELEPHONE: 386 8811 During 1930, Philanthropist Sir Charles McNess made a grant of £11,600 for the alleviation of distress and this act of benevolence, along with the good management of the State Gardens Board, saw the commencement of major develop­ ments in the Reserve. Later on, Sir Charles was to make further grants to the State and Yanchep continued to benefit. Among works undertaken in 1931 were:- * The sealed road extended from Wanneroo * A contour survey of the Reserve completed * A single wire telephone connected * Reclamation and ramping of the Lake foreshore * Power and water supplies reticulated * Internal road and pathways constructed * Crystal Cave fitted with electric lights * Children's playground set up near caves house * Locations 626 and 422 acquired for inclusion in the Reserve "Crvs1al Poof" in the ear!v da vs. On December 20, 1931, a Grand For centuries prior to European With the realization that the area was Opening of the Reserve was held and settlement, Aborigines extensively quite attractive, the·Government saw Yanchep commenced to become the used the wooded wetlands of the fit to reserve 5640 acres (2283 ha) of well known recreation park that Yanchep area to hunt, camp and the district which enclosed the lake Western Australian's now know. meet for periodical corroborees. The arid flats approximately 8 km long, huge Tuart trees and limestone for the "Protection and Preservation During the depression years of the caverns in the district provided them of Caves and Flora and for a Health 'thirties', sustenance workers were with excellent shelter and protection. and Recreation Pleasure Resort". employed on road construction, the The res.erve No. 9868 was vested in dredging of Lake Yanchep and the The name Yanchep is derived from the native name Yanget, applied to the Caves Board in August 1905. bullrush Typha orientalis which "Tram " couage. of the 'thirties'. grows prolifically in many south­ During the succeeding years that the west swamps and is abundant in the Caves Board functioned, efforts were lakes of the district. made to develop Yanchep but owing to distances and sand track The area was first visited by conditions, it was without success. Europeans in 1834 when John Butler The Board was dissolved in 1910 and searched for stray cattle 53 km north the newly formed Immigration, of Perth and recorded the lakes and Tourist and General Information an abundance of game. Then four Department took over. years later, Lt. George Grey explored the area and reported the existence of In 1912, there was yet another some "remarkable" caves. change, in that the State Hotels In the period 1899-1902, the first Department was formed and it actual settler, Henry White, built and. absorbed the Tourist Section of the took up residence in a cottage Immigration and General opposite Lake Yonderup adjacent to Information Department. The State the south end of Lake Yanchep. Just Hotels Department continued to prior to and during 1903, most of the manage Yanchep under serious major caves in the area were disadvantages until 1931 when the explored, named and recorded and State Gardens Board with Mr. L.E. Henry White was made Honorary Shapcott as Chairman, assumed caretaker/ guide. control. 2 caves during the same year and The late sixties and early seventies,· excavation in Yonderup Cave whilst not realizing many new unearthed a human skull and facilities, saw Yanchep National assorted animal bones. Park become the training centre for many new Rangers who were World War II (1942) saw the need for employed to cope with the Board's armed services occupation in the acquisition (in that period) of Reserve and the R.A.A.F. took over additional new Parks and Reserves the Yanchep Inn and the Gloucester throughout the State. Lodge. The Army also established facilities. For the duration of the In 1976, administrative changes were War, Yanchep was run by a again instigated and the National Superintendent, a mechanic and a Parks Board became as it is today, groundsman. After the War, and the National Parks Authority. In the following the withdrawal of same year, from Government Grants, servicemen, eight extra staff were came the construction of a modern taken on, some of these being housed walk-through enclosure for the in the tram bungalows. Koalas. Rewiring and lighting of the Crystal and Yonderup Caves offset A new colony of Koalas was re­ the unfortunate closure of Gloucester established at Yanchep in 1948, (the Lodge for health and structural previous group having perished prior reasons. The magnificent Lodge to 1940) and immediately became a building was not lost however and major attraction at the reserve once Gloucester Lodge. after extensive renovations and the agam. collection of district artefacts, the erection of various residential In 1949, recognition was given to Sir Wanneroo Shire took over the facilities . McNess Hostel George Grey's first recording of the building and opened the Gloucester (incorporating the original Caves Yanchep Caves by the dedication ofa Lodge Museum. House), the swimming pool and a plaque in the reserve near Crystal Yanchep National Park is the most number of roads were completed in Caves. The Reserve was also patronised of all Western Australia's 1932. provided with a new facility that National Parks. Local, Interstate and year; tpe launch "Eleanor" in which overseas visitors nearly always make The works continued and in 1933, the thousands of visitors over the next 13 Lodge (in the following year to be a point of visiting the Park to see the years enjoyed scenic trips around the only Koala colony in the State, renamed Gloucester Lodge after a beautiful Loch McNess. visit by the Duke of Gloucester) was experience the magnificent built. Further accommodation in the wildflowers in season, and tour the On April 13th, 1956, the State ancient limestone caves. Reserve was provided with the Gardens Board became the National placement of eight tramway units as Parks Board and this resulted in the On the 20th December, 1981 , cottages near Boomerang Gorge. strengthening of the conservation Yanchep National Park celebrated These were also used as accommo­ policy and a general review of all an official 50 years as one of the dation for sustenance workers. management procedures. The State's most popular environmental, historical and recreational establish­ In 1935, Lake Yanchep was renamed following year, construction of six as "Loch McNess" in honour of Sir staff houses, a machinery shed, ments. Charles McNess's contribution to the change rooms and a plant nursery To commemorate the event in the Reserve's development. A further were necessary in Yanchep to keep "International Year of Disabled highlight of that year was the abreast of the visitor and main­ Persons", the "Boomerang Gorge inauguration of a bus service to tenance requirements of the ever Disabled Persons Nature Trail and Yanchep from Perth. popular reserve. Shelter" was opened by the Premier The famed Yanchep Inn, a hotel Four years passed with the of Western Australia, the Honourable having English style character and popularity of Yanchep's environ­ Sir Charles Court. ment and facilities catering to many sumptuous accommodation, was Launch ·-oa isv·· Loch McNess. completed in 1936 for a total cost of of Perth's families and overseas £15,828.1.11, and further visitors. A nine-hole golf course was constructed and opened in 1961, with development continued with the the commissioning of a new launch joining by tunnel of the Bebo Moro the "Miss Yanchep" in the following and Mambibby caves. year. Although Koalas became extinct in Western Australia long before the · The year 1969 was rather an coming of the white man, a colony of important one for Yanchep in that it eastern state's animals were first was finally given full status and introduced to Yanchep in 1938 where proclaimed a National Park. This in they became a major attraction to year also saw the reconstruction of a all Yanchep visitors. The reserve new swimming pool inside the recorded its I 00,000th visitor to the original pool's structure. To the west of these sands lies the (less than 6000 years) windblown Area and Spearwood Dune System. This sands which are not yet fully leached. deposit consists of yellow sandy soils These latter dune systems occur near Climate still rich in iron, but from which the the coast and are only partly lime has been leached, and vegetated. Yanchep National Park is roughly redeposited at depth, cementing the triangular in shape, 8.4 km long by sand into limestone. The bedding of Yanchep National Park is located on 4.1 km wide at its northern end, and the original sand dunes is still visible the Spearwood Dune System and covers an area of 2799 hectares. The in the limestone and is known as contains extensive outcrops of Park has an altitudinal range from Cross-bedding. The slow movement limestone and areas of yellow and about 6m above sea level to 88m of water through the rock over white sandy soils.