Busselton, mark 2, and then to Mandurah

---

---

The morning kept improving, so by the time we'd packed up ready to leave, we'd decided we'd head back down to Busselton and see it in the sunshine. What a difference a day makes - and so great to actually get some vitamin D which we've been missing these last few days.

We parked and went into the shops on the edge of the Busselton jetty where, not only souveniers of the better variety were sold, there was also a museum telling the story of the long jetty. It was built in 1865, taking 95 years to complete the total 1841 metres length and what a busy jetty it was for a century. maintenance ceased when operations stopped and the jetty began to deteriorate, then in 1978 a cyclone destroyed a good deal of the jetty.

There is an underwater observatory at the very end of the jetty where visitors could descent eight metres below sea level to view the marine environment. However, maintenance has begun to bring the jetty back to its former glory, and, as luck would have it, we could only walk part of the way out onto the jetty. Still, we've been there, seen it, walked it, ticked it off.

People we'd met in the caravan park at Bunbury suggested we drive north on the inland road rather than the coastal one, saying it was much prettier. And it was. We drove through beautiful farmland, very green paddocks, healthy looking sheep, cows, lamas, and some nice looking farms. We were enjoying the quiet bucolic surroundings.

What a surprise then when we turned towards the coast to Mandurah where we are staying the night. There were big buildings in the town, probably a city, and many canals and big houses, all with big boats tied up the front .... the Gold Coast comes to WA! We've found there are a lot of new housing estates opening up in WA, probably as a result of their mining boom. I like their architecture so much better than the Q'ld McMansions too.

We drove to Mandurah's beachside, decided we needed somewhere quieter and found a nice little caravan park with lots of trees, lots of birds and it's quiet. It's so nice to see the end of the mad weather - long may it stay away.

---