WE'RE AT BUSSELTON

 

Duke of Orleans Bay

Duke of Orleans Bay

Hello everyone,  I was in a real rush to publish the last issue of our Travel Blog that I forgot to put in the photos of Duke of Orleans Bay – I mean how could I possibly say it was the most beautiful, best beach and scenery we’d ever seen without including some photos!!!!  I did publish them on Facebook.  Sorry for that folks – photos now in this issue.  Also, we forgot the camera when we were in the Underwater Observatory (hence no photos to publish) – we’re pretty hopeless sometimes I know!!!

THURSDAY 30^TH MAY   -  We left Albany at 9am.  It had been pouring rain all night and it was still raining very heavily when we left. We intended to go to Denmark about an hour’s drive from Albany for our next destination to free camp there or at Peaceful Bay a bit further up the coast.  Driving through Denmark, it was still raining and it was very cold too. We decided to keep going for a bit longer, hoping the weather would change or ease off. We stopped at Walpole for lunch at midday.  The temperature was 6 degrees outside and absolutely freezing, so we decided to head straight to the warmth and comfort of a caravan park at Busselton.  We arrived at The Four Seasons Caravan Park at Busselton at 3pm and quickly set up and put the heater on to warm us up.  I put on a pot of pumpkin soup and couldn’t wait for it to cook to warm us up inside too.  

The park was a large older style one, with lots of space in between the vans.  There were a lot of permanent vans also.  They were very friendly and helpful in the office and the managers were making an effort to spruce the place up considerably, with verandas added to the cottages for rent and new outdoor furniture around the camp kitchen and a new flower bed at the front of the park and yellow sandstone walls around the park.  It was fairly quiet at the park when we arrived, but they were expecting quite a few people for the WA Foundation Day long weekend.  There was a 7 day special winter rate of $190, so we decided to stay for 7 days.

Busselton has a population of 25,000 people

FRIDAY 31^ST MAY   -   Thankfully the weather improved.  The rain stopped and the sunshine came out and we could take Sally for a long walk on the beach which was a 5 minute walk over the road from the caravan park.  Geographe Bay is a very big calm bay, stretching for 30 kilometres up to Cape Naturaliste.  It was named in 1801 by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin after his ship called The Geographe.

People were coming into the park all day and it was starting to get quite busy.  The caravans set up their outdoor firesas they were allowed open fires so long as they were off the grass.  They were all huddled around their fire pots by mid-afternoon.  Richard was interested in one called the OzPig that he’s looked at in the camping shops.  It folds up in a carry case.  He wants Daniel to help him convert a 9kg gas bottle into a portable fire pit which he’s seen at many of the campsites we’ve stayed at.   

We went for a drive around town in the afternoon and parked close to the world famous Busselton Jetty.  Busselton Jetty is 1.8 kilometres long and is the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, and the second largest in the World.  It is heritage listed.  It was built 146 years ago and recently had a $27 million overhaul, with an Interpretive Centre, Underwater Observatory, fish cleaning stations and a train being added.  We paid $29 each for a return trip on the train to the end of the Jetty and admission into The Underwater Observatory which is 8 metres below sea level.  Prior to the Observatory being built, only divers or snorkellers could appreciate the artificial reef and the variety of tropical and subtropical corals, sponges, fish and invertebrates beneath the water.  The Observatory can hold 40 people at a time in its 9.5 metre observation chamber.  There were 11 viewing windows on the three levels; below sea level, mid-level and sea level.  We could see lots of different corals and sponges on the wooden pylons and it was amazing to watch all the different species of fish swimming around.  We saw a school of taylor passing by, followed by a school of anchovies and lots of leather jackets.  It was fascinating watching them from the different windows on the three levels. The guided tour lasted for an hour and was really interesting.

Busselton Jetty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half way back on the train, we were lucky enough to spot 4 dolphins jumping in and out of the water.  It was so awesome to watch them frolicking around.

SATURDAY 2ND JUNE   -   We met up with our friends Alan and Sandra that live in Busselton (we met them the first night we free camped on The Nullarbor).  We called around to their beautiful home and had morning tea with them.  That stretched into lunch, and it was late in the afternoon when we left them, loaded up with large lemons (the size of balls), oranges, mandarins and 2 huge sweet potatoes from their garden.

SUNDAY 2ND JUNE   -   We went for a drive to Dunsborough a lovely little town a 20 minute drive west from Busselton.  They had a 2 day Jazz Festival for the WA Foundation Day long weekend.  The town was very busy with tourists and their dogs and we stopped to listen to the jazz band in the park.  People were dancing and having a good time.  From there we went to Yallingup to watch the surfers from the top of the hill looking down onto the water and the jagged rocks and high cliff faces.  It’s a popular surfing beach. The waves weren’t huge but there were a few surfers trying to catch them.  Yallingup is an aboriginal word meaning “Place of Love”. The waves are so good here that pro surfer Taj Burrow calls it home.

TUESDAY 4TH JUNE   -   Alan and Sandra invited us to meet their bowling/caravan group of friends at a local Chinese restaurant.  The lunch specials, all $10.50, were massive helpings and the food was really fresh and tasty. The group were really friendly and we had a very enjoyable lunch with them all and swapped caravan stories.  We were told about so many different places to visit in WA.  After lunch, we all ended up at Alan and Sandra’s for coffee and more stories.  What a fun-loving crowd. We were really pleased to meet them.  Alan is to give us the details of their forthcoming caravan group gathering in early February 2014.  We’d love to go away with them all if we can make it.

WEDNESDAY 5^TH JUNE   -   We went for a drive to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse in Cape Leeuwin National Park.  We took the Lighthouse Loop walk (about 4 kilometres) with spectacular views of The Indian Ocean.  The Humpback and Southern Right Whales can be spotted from this path from May to September.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any today. The Lighthouse is 116 years old and is the tallest on mainland Australia.  It is a working lighthouse and overlooks where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet.  We took the scenic drive through Bunker Bay, Eagle Bay, Meelup Beach and Castle Rock – all with stunning scenery and back to Dunsborough and Busselton.

NEXT WEEK:   We will be heading to Perth to catch up with our Son Daniel, Richard’s Brother Bob in Sorrento and some of our friends.   Our daughter Karina and her boyfriend Kieran are coming to Perth on 13^th June for a week’s holiday.  It will be so good for us to be together again and we’re really looking forward to seeing both Karina and Daniel again. We will probably spend 3-4 weeks in Perth before moving north.