4 October 2024
From Bunbury we drove the roughly 60km south to Busselton, where we would spend the next five nights. We’d originally only planned to stay three nights, but we extended our stay to line up with some work being completed at Bruce & Michael’s Beach House at Myalup, where they had kindly offered for us to stay before we left WA.
In the end it was a good thing we stayed for the extra two days, as there was plenty to keep us busy.
Upon arriving in Busselton our first stop was to the Busselton Visitor Centre located in the Busselton Foreshore Precinct. It’s a great area with lots to see and do including the famous jetty, a nice restaurant and a brewery. All to be sampled in time …
The advice from the Visitor Centre was that the main things to see were the Busselton Jetty and Foreshore (right where the Visitor centre was), a walk around the CBD, and Cape Naturaliste. We decided to start with Cape Naturaliste.
First trip to Cape Naturaliste
The Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse was nowhere near as impressive as the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. We didn’t even go directly to it as you had to pay to access the precinct, which we didn’t feel was worth it. So instead, we did the Lighthouse Loop Walk with a detour out on the Whale Lookout Walk. It was a stunning day and the walk to see the whales was definitely rewarded, with whales breaching, spouting and playing all over the place. Nicole really enjoyed seeing the whales; one of her ‘favourite things’ as Maria from The Sound of Music would say.
Our next stop was nearby Sugar Loaf Rock Lookout to see this spectacular rocky outcrop. It was difficult to get any good photos as it was late morning, so we vowed to return for a sunrise or sunset visit before we left the area.
Bunker Bay Beach looked like a wonderful spot. While we didn’t walk out to look around, we did have a nice chat to a couple visiting from Mackay.
Eagle Bay has a wonderful beach coastline with many places to stop along the way. We took advantage of one of these stops to make some nice chicken and salad wraps to eat while we enjoyed the view, before we headed back to Busselton to set up the motorhome. And no, unfortunately we didn’t stop at the Eagle Bay Brewery. Maybe next time.
RAC Busselton Holiday Park
This was very nice caravan park (no MotoX bikes), which is actually in Abbey, a suburb of Busselton about a third of the way from Busselton to Dunsborough. We were allocated a great site right in the back corner. But, as expected, the park was very busy with families on school holidays.
We spent some relaxing time here, plus got to watch the Brisbane Lions win the AFL Grand Final! That was a great day for someone who has watched just about every Lions game for the season, and nearly giving up on them in early June when we were in Kununurra. Nicole has been an active supporter too, so it was nice to watch it together.
We sat outside under my newly acquired Lions scarf, however we both needed 3 layers plus a beanie as it was so cold with the wind ripping through. I think the maximum temperature for the day was 16 degrees, with ‘feels like’ temperatures of around 8-10 degrees during the game.
Second trip to Cape Naturaliste + Dunsborough
We rose very early and left the caravan park at around 5:30am to see Sugar Loaf Rock at sunrise. We got there at the right time, and managed to get some nice photos, however the weather was a bit ‘iffy’ and chased us away a little earlier than we’d planned. Beautiful spot though!
We were hungry after rising early, so stopped at a lovely bakery in Dunsborough for breakfast on our way back (yes, a sausage roll). We had a nice chat to the owner, who interestingly bought the bakery with her daughter (a pastry chef) off her sister.
We also had a wander around the markets and bought a wine bottle holder in the form of a duck lying on its back, who proceeded to drink heavily in the motorhome when we returned.
Third trip to Cape Naturaliste
On our last afternoon we decided to head back to Cape Naturaliste for a third time, as Nicole needed a whale watching fix. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon with nice calm weather; perfect viewing conditions. The only problem was … no whales! You can see Nicole’s forlorn look in one of the photos below. Oh well, maybe next time.
Busselton Jetty + Underwater Observatory
We booked ourselves on a tour of the Busselton Jetty, where you get access to the underwater observatory at the end of it. The jetty has been lengthened many times over its history, because Geographe Bay is extremely shallow and only around 9 metres deep at the end of the jetty’s current length — a whopping 1.8km long!
We enjoyed a nice breakfast looking over the bay, before the tour started with a miniature train ride down the jetty in a brand new, locally built, electric train. It felt a bit ‘kiddy’ to ride in but was fun. I did feel a little embarrassed though as we slowly passed a number of senior women power walking out along the jetty. We actually decided to walk back after the observatory tour, partly for exercise and partly to avoid further embarrassment.
The observatory itself is essentially a huge steel cylinder with super thick and strong Perspex windows along the side. It was constructed in Fremantle and took three days to float it down to Busselton for installation. The observatory is around 9 metres tall, however the anchors holding it to the floor of Geographe Bay go around 18 metres deep!
What we saw through the windows wasn’t too much of a surprise (jetty pylons covered with weed and coral, and fish swimming around), but it was interesting. And they do see the odd shark and manta ray there too, apparently.
Busselton Foreshore and Jetty at Sunset
On our last evening in Busselton, we headed once again to the Busselton Foreshore and Jetty area. The weather was great, and the Shelter Brewing Company was beckoning. Nicole and I shared a beer tasting paddle, with their Lager winning top votes from both of us. We had planned to cook dinner in the motorhome when we got back, however the beer had weakened our resolve and so we ordered a pizza to share, which was awesome!
Then I wandered over to start some sunset photography of the jetty. Nicole though hung back at Shelter Brewing Company for a schooner of their Lager (nice work Nicole).
I managed to get some photos I was happy with, and then it was time to head back to the caravan park. This had been a great place to finish our time in Busselton, a place we both really enjoyed.
Next stop, Myalup Beach House.
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