Pouring rain this morning as we got up and dressed and drove into Busselton centre for breakfast — a lacklustre coffee and a toasted sandwich. Coffees still cost $3, even for bad ones out here in country towns…
We walked out to the Busselton jetty to see whether the new underwater observatory is open yet — no, it’s due to open in October. The thought of paying $7.50 for a four kilometre walk in the rain was a bit off putting, especially since there’s nothing out there to see, so after a brief look around the shop we ducked into the art galleries in the old police station and courthouse.
A quick look around, then back into the car to drive to Dunsborough(-33.5833333,115.0833333) to check on accommodation. The railway carriages at the home-stay were recommended by a friend, but we felt that we hadn’t come far enough today and they were a long way out of town — and quite expensive. We stopped in the town anyway, an essential visit to the bakery to stock up on hot cross buns for lunch.
The Cape Naturaliste lighthouse
Then back in the car to drive out to Cape Naturaliste to look at the lighthouse and walk to the end of the cape. It threatened to rain the entire time, but we never quite got wet. Out on the cape there were almost no other people, and no sounds at all except for the waves on the rocks and the ever-present ravens. Nothing man-made to be seen either, as far as we could see in any direction, quite a desolate area.
The lighthouse has been cordoned off, where it used to be possible to walk up to the building, they’ve now built an ugly 3m fence around it and now charge $8 admission to walk there from the park’s tourist office and be escorted inside. I managed to take a photo through the gaps in the fence, the resulting picture looks better than the reality did!
Time to start heading towards Margaret River, with a detour out to the coast to see Canal Rocks — hardly a canal you would want to take a gondola through!
Boutique beers near Margaret River
Winery country, and we tried to visit one winery, but just couldn’t find the way in — a huge pretentious mansion and restaurant façade, but no cellar door to be found. Maybe we were meant to go into the restaurant, we’ll never know, no signs anywhere, so we drove back out again. Next corner we came to had a small roadside sign “tastings and sales, so we drove in. Sandstone Winery couldn’t have been more different — relaxed atmosphere and down-to-earth facilities, just a big shed with a bench in one corner for tastings. They’ve only had the cellar door sales since January, but the wines tasted good and the people were friendly, which meant far more than the sandstone mansions up the road!
As well wineries, other gourmet delights fill the region. Inspired by the visit to Fremantle’s , we made the detour down the road to a brewery and restaurant to see what they had to offer — unfortunately one that I’ve forgotten the name of! The Wheat Beer and Tom’s Ale that we sampled were both good, and very enjoyable to drink while sitting on their lawns.
Conscious that we hadn’t made any accommodation bookings, we thought it was getting a little urgent to get to Margaret River and sort out somewhere to stay. Mad Fish winery intervened, somehow saying to us “just this one last tasting, then on your way.” An enormous place, a lot of money has been made here, and a lot of it has gone back into it. A special offer on a 3-bottle pack of their red blend was attractive, but nothing else seemed to be special — except the $75/bottle Cabernet-Sauvignon — yum yum!
Mad Fish are also highly successful with their merchandising — tee-shirts, hats, glasses, even custom-painted surf boards! The bus loads of visiting Americans can’t seem to get enough of the combination of the quirky name and aboriginal motif.
We needn’t have worried unduly about accommodation. The first B&B that we stopped at had a vacant room — although warning us that it was “the last one (presumably in case we wanted to book a second room). An almost overwhelming rose and floral motif, but very comfortable. They were obsessed that we book immediately if we intended to eat out anywhere for dinner — it didn’t take long before we too started to believe that the whole town was booked out over the Easter weekend.
Gathering up all the delicacies that we had accumulated, we headed back to the coast to see the fabled Margaret River surf beach. Twenty or so surfers were out on the waves, the sun gradually setting out to sea.
Dinner in a three-star restaurant, a stylish old farmhouse converted to a restaurant for visitors from Perth. The food was very good, but I feel that I better enjoyed a hearty meal in a country pub. Walking home we spied a kangaroo through the mists on a vacant block.
Tourism
- http://www.watercorporation.com.au/marinecam/: Webcam on the Busselton Jetty.
Where?
Busselton(-33.65,115.3333333), Dunsborough(-33.5833333,115.0833333), Margaret River(-33.95,115.0666667)
