Bunbury

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Bunbury

12^th to 21^st January 2012

Bunbury sits on the western end of the Leschenault Inlet. It was named after the botanist Jean Baptiste Leschenault who accompanied the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, the first to site this coast in 1803, and commander of the Geographe after which Geographe Bay is named. Bunbury Port was originally known as Port Leschenault. It gets better…In 1836, seven years after the founding of the Swan River Settlement (now Perth), Gov. Sir James Stirling accompanied an expedition by ship to explore the Port Leschenault and Busselton regions. Lieutenant Henry William St.Pierre Bunbury, (got to love that name!), then in charge of a military detachment in Pinjarra, ‘blazed’ the overland trail to meet his boss (The Govenor) in 1836 at Port Leschenault. It worked!, for his efforts, Gov. Stirling told the 24YO Lieutenant that Port Leschenault would be renamed Bunbury in his honour! I wouldn’t mind but to say he ‘blazed a trail’ is ridiculous because all the remnant natural forest is open woodland in this region so basically all you had to do, (in my opinion), would be to walk in the right direction and not get lost! Bunbury went on to write in his diary that the district would become a thriving and important part of the colony, he was right, but boy he was also vain!

Although the Gov. had announced the town, it was not until 1841 that the first town lots were surveyed. Convict labour and the Donnybrook gold rush saw the small colonial outpost became a town. The Port of Bunbury developed into the south west’s main export hub bringing growth and prosperity to the town. Bunbury is now the regional capital of the South West and offers an enormous variety of shopping, light industry and entertainment. The area that attracted us with its cafes and eateries was the original main street when Bunbury was a Port town, Victoria Street. Many of the old buildings have undergone restoration and the majestic Rose Hotel was a magnificent example of these past times.

Bunbury is also famous for its long white sandy beaches which are bordered on the west by Geographe Bay. Bunbury’s Back Beach on Ocean Drive is an epicentre for activity being so close to the centre of town. Other beaches worth visiting are Peppermint Grove and Myalup. Koombana Bay Beach, a non surf beach, is a safe swimming beach that is famous for its Dolphins that visit the shoreline (but not when we visited!).

Bunbury is a large cIty offering every service required of a major centre. We found the café strip of Victoria Street to be vibrant and the old buildings gave it a feeling of strong historic roots. The new shopping areas centred around major national brand outlets within Plaza complexes kept the girls busy and happy, whilst Neil and I found plenty to see in the camping, fishing, caravan and hardware stores.

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