Busselton

BUSSELTON 22^ND – 27^TH MARCH

                                  GEOGRAPHE BAY

 We have had to do a bit of planning because we have booked into Flinders Bay (near Augusta) for Easter which is back down South so we have decided to come up to Busselton to stay for a good break since a lot of people we have met along the way all tell us that Geographe Bay is a lovely spot. So from here we can slowly make our way back down and explore all this West cape before school holidays and the madness begins.

We stayed at a C.P called Peppermint Eco Park out of town down the Bussel Hwy on the way to the West coast. It was a lovely quiet C.P. no dogs allowed and nice grassy sites. We were spoilt with these new toilet blocks that were like family rooms that had a toilet, shower and hand basin all in the one room, it was like having our own private ensuite so yes that was exciting for us!!

The only down fall to where we chose to camp under these lovely Peppermint Tree’s was that every night we had possums wee and poo on our tent, ha!

Geographe Bay runs from Cape Naturaliste right around to Bunbury and is a stunning Bay. Busselton is one of the main towns on the bay and the beaches all along Busselton are all the same, clear blue shallow water safe and fun for the kids to have a swim and play in. There is a great bike track which runs all along the beach front and is flat all the way. We rode from our C.P. into Busselton then out to the Marina then back to camp. It was a casual 30km ride. We stopped at the jetty where Tom and Charlie had a swim then at a playground where they had a play, and then when we got back to camp we walked over to the beach for a swim. We all slept very well that night!

The big draw card for Busselton is the jetty because it is the second longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, it is 1.8km’s long. It was started in 1865 then by 1965 it had reached 1841 metres long. The main use for the jetty was for timber loading and later it was used for tourism. The jetty has had its share of ups and downs over the years but thanks to the community it has been saved and restored. I have added this web site which tells you about the history of the jetty which we found very interesting

 http://www.busseltonjetty.net/Jetty-History.aspx.

During business hours there is a gate at the start of the jetty where you have to pay $2 per adult, (kids free) just to walk onto it. This all goes to maintenance and the up keep of the jetty. The locals have to buy an annual pass if they want fish off the pier during the day all year long. I think it is around 5pm when the shops close then gate is removed and the jetty is free to walk and fish on.



The jetty, this shows how long and how much it curves.





 The buildings at the start of the jetty are the museum, gift shop and ticket office. We bought our $70 family pass which gives you access to the jetty, a train ride both ways and entry into the Under Water Observatory at the very end of the pier. We caught the train out to the Observatory but walked back after the tour.



A good view of the lovely beach area on the foreshore
from the jetty train.



Looking back from further out.



The train coming to the end where the Observatory is to unload the next group and pick up
those who dont want to walk the 1.8kms back.

The Under Water Observatory was great. It is only small but very well done. It is in a circular building and you walk down 5 levels, each with a small window showing the different types of fish/ plant life that grows in each layer. In all it is 8 meters below sea level. They do not feed the fish at all so what you see out the windows is purely there on its own accord. We were lucky to see a large school of Taylor fish swimming around as well as plenty of other different types. Our guide was very knowledgeable, both her and her husband are divers and passionate about the observatory and the ocean. Her husband is also one of the divers that clean the windows each Wednesday at the Observatory.  

Views from out the windows from the Under Water Observatory



The ground level of the Observatory.



This is looking back to the mainland, really shows how far 1.8km is
out at sea!



Cape Naturaliste and the Lighthouse

From Busselton we did a day drive out to Cape Naturaliste to have a look at the lighthouse. You could hardly get near the lighthouse without having to pay. It was a very small lighthouse so we decided not to bother and did one of the walks around the out skirts of the lighthouse, but even that was very disappointing, the heat and flies didn’t help.



This is as close as we could get to the lighthouse. It is only
about 15 meters high. 

From the lighthouse we did a small drive to have a look at the coast facing the West for the first time this trip. It was a lovely sight. This coast running down the West Cape to Cape is very popualr with surfing because of the winds and many bays with the reefs close to the shore creating good waves.

Looking south along the West coast, the furtherest rock out crop is called
the Sugar Loaf.



This was from the same spot looking North, this area is called "the other side of  Moon".



On the way back we drove around the beach road which again had lovely areas to swim. Meelup Beach looked lovely and was very popular and crowded being a weekend.

The small town of Dunsborough has been and is still ongoing getting updated and looking quite modern and 'rich'. We went for a drive down the esplanade in Dunsborough to see where all the rich people live or have their holiday homes, quite an assortment of designs. Apparently many people who live here do the fly in, fly out mine thing via Busselton airport!

For the first time this trip we had fish’n’chips for tea. Charlie and I went and got them and brought them back to the jetty where Tom and Pete were fishing (no luck ).  We sat down on this little platform and ate our tea in the moonlight watching these huge schools of little fish swimming around. It was quite fascinating being able to make out the fish by the reflection and dark shadows moving in the water.