Dunsborough - Day 2 - Ellensbrook at Mokidup & Meelup Beach

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Last night while we were out playing cards our Librarian/Researcher actually read one of the brochures we picked up somewhere along the way and noted that there is a National Trust property that we can visit today. As luck would have it, it is open Thursday to Sunday, and they run a tour on Sundays. Fortuitous indeed that Cathy advised us of this discovery about 8.00am this morning leaving us ample time to get organised to drive back down to Mokidup to join the 10.30am tour.

Ellensbrook tells that story of the Wadandi people, the Bussel family and others who called the homestead home. Originally the summer camping spot for the Wadandi people it was a Wadandi guide who led Alfred Bussel to this sheltered valley with a permanent spring in 1857. Alfred and Ellen Bussel established a dairy farm with assistance from the indigenous population, ticket of leave men, servants and whalers who jumped ship.

Alfred and Ellen lived at Ellensbrook until 1865 when they moved to Wallcliffe at the mouth of the Margaret River. Fanny, one of their daughters, took over the dairy farm with her husband, John Brockman. When her mother died in 1877 at only 44-years-old Fanny moved to Wallcliffe to care for her younger siblings.

Edith Bussel was three years old when the family moved to Ellensbrook in 1857. After growing up at Ellensbrook and Wallcliffe she returned to Ellensbrook as an adult. She never married and led an independent and self-suffient life running the dairy. This was unusual for the times when women were expected to marry and have children.

In lieu of having children of her own, Edith, with the support of the Aborigines Department and Henry Princep, the Chief Protector of Aborigines (and her first cousin by marriage) established a home for Aboriginal children. Although Edith could be criticised for being part of the system that removed Aboriginal children from their parents she also wrote frequently and passionately to the department to protect the interests of her charges. As the caves of the Margaret River region opened up for tourism, Edith also offered accommodation to visitors to the area to supplement her income. A very enterprising woman.

Descendants of the Bussel family gifted Ellensbrook to the National Trust in 1978. The National Trust has worked with the Parks and Wildlife Service and the Wadandi people to tell the story of Ellensbrook at Mokidup from the perspective of the traditional owners and the European settlers.

After exploring the homestead, we walked the 600-metre Meekadarabee Trail. In the Wadandi language Meekadarabee means the ‘Bathing Place of the Moon’. The trail follows the brook inland to a cave behind a small waterfall that was a place of importance to the Wadandi women. Although it was a lovely walk alongside the brook, it is unfortunate that the site is currently overrun with an introduced fig tree.

After our walk we drove down to Ellensbrook Beach. As we arrived there were surfers changing out of their wetsuits at the tailgates of their 4x4s. While we were at the viewing platform there weren’t any surfers in the water at all, although Bernie said there looked to be some good sets of waves. Tracey was too busy trying to focus her camera on (possibly?) a white-bellied sea eagle soaring overhead. As we returned to our vehicles another group of surfers were struggling into their wetsuits to head down to the surf.

We drove back to the house collecting some lunch on the way from the Dunsborough Bakery. We put our feet up for a while and then ventured down to Meelup Beach for a swim. A sign was displayed at the car park warning that shark activity increases when it is WA salmon season March/April/May. Despite the warning we carried on into the water. Bernie and I needed to be able to say that we had swum in the Indian Ocean!

We thought that we had left it late in the day to head out for a swim, but it actually seemed that we were early with many other swimmers joining us in the water. By the time we left, the beach was quite busy … gone 4.00pm in the afternoon. We had to laugh at one guy though who wasn’t swimming just lunge-walking back and forwards along the water line. He was pretty ripped and obviously needed to do some leg work this afternoon?

Back at the ranch Cathy did a marvellous job of turning last night’s Italian leftovers into tonight’s Mexican dinner. Simply take bolognese sauce, add kidney beans and chilli flakes, make some guacamole and serve with taco shells, diced tomatoes, some green leaves and sour cream. Yum!

After we tidied up the dinner dishes, we headed over to the other holiday house again to play cards again with Ross, Sharon, Kath and Albert. Victors tonight were Bernie x2, Albert, Ross and Tracey.



Steps: 6,587 (4.27kms)

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